This Week's Houston Deal Sheet

Hines announced plans to develop a master-planned community on 954 acres it bought, along with partners Trez Capital and various limited partner investors, in Iowa Colony, south of Houston in Brazoria County.

The development will have about 2,100 single-family homes varying in lot sizes and offer hiking and biking trails, a 5-acre amenity area with a resort-style pool, a large playground and a clubhouse, with parks planned in future phases. Hines' future plans also call for the on-site Alvin ISD school. 

Phase 1 will consist of 400 lots with homes of various sizes and styles. 

The project is Hines’ largest lot development project in the Houston area since First Colony, its 9,700-acre master-planned community with a population of more than 60,000 in Sugar Land.

Construction is anticipated to begin this quarter, with the first phase expected to deliver in late 2024.

Derek Graber with Dosch Marshall Real Estate represented Hines, and David Cook and Meredith Cullen with Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller. The project was financed by Flagstar Bank and Rocky Lai & Associates.

PEOPLE

Moody Rambin promoted Stephen Ghedi and Sam Rayburn to vice president positions. They were both senior associates at Moody Rambin.

Ghedi specializes in industrial and investment services. He has completed over $75M in transactions covering 1M SF of real estate since joining Moody Rambin in 2018.

Rayburn also specializes in industrial and investment services. Since joining Moody Rambin in 2018, he has completed 186 transactions and sold or leased 4.1M SF of land totaling $150M of consideration. 

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Partners Capital, the investment platform of Partners Real Estate, hired Adam Lair to lead its hospitality investment strategy and launch Partners Hospitality Fund I in the summer. Lair will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the fund's operations, including investment strategy, deal sourcing, due diligence, asset management and investor relations.

Prior to Partners, he served as managing director at HVS, where he spearheaded the strategic growth of HVS’ U.S. operations and underwrote more than 2,500 real estate transaction and development deals totaling over $20B in asset value.

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Cushman & Wakefield hired Kelly Landwermeyer, John Kruse and Carter Holmes. They will be based in the firm’s Houston office as part of the industrial team. Landwermeyer and Kruse join as managing directors, and Holmes is a senior associate. 

Landwermeyer brings more than 28 years of experience to the firm as both an owner and third-party service provider, including leasing, acquisitions, dispositions and new development. 

Kruse has more than 17 years of experience and has completed more than 600 lease transactions totaling over $300M in value. 

With three years of experience, Holmes was most recently a market associate at Holt Lunsford, representing both landlords and tenants throughout Greater Houston. 

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Partners Development, the development platform of Partners Real Estate, hired Courtney Jeffrey as development and leasing manager. Jeffrey will be responsible for managing the operational and leasing functions of Partners’ development projects. She will report directly to Carter Perrin, the firm's partner and managing director.

Jeffrey has 16 years of experience in management of development projects and has worked at firms such as Midway and Slate Real Estate Partners. Prior to joining Partners, she served as the regional development manager for Houston and Austin at RESIA.

Jeffrey’s notable development projects include CityCentre Three, Four and Five, Kirby Grove, 803 Fannin and The McKinley at Memorial City.

LEASES

Whitestone REIT signed four leases totaling about 26K SF throughout its Houston-area properties:

• Volcano Hot Pot and BBQ signed an 11K SF lease at Shops at Williams Trace in Sugar Land. The Tallahassee, Florida-based hot pot chain will be adjacent to Williams Trace Plaza where EoS Fitness recently announced plans to open a 51K SF gym. Volcano Hot Pot opened in March.
• KPOT, another hot pot restaurant that merges traditional Asian hot pot and Korean barbecue, signed a 10K SF lease at Lion Square in Houston's Chinatown district. The all-you-can-eat experience opened in March. 
• Dough Zone Dumpling House signed a 4K SF lease at BLVD Place in Houston’s Uptown. The transaction brings BLVD Place to 99% occupancy.
• China King Express signed a 2K SF lease in Town Park Plaza in the South Gessner/Town Park area. Town Park Plaza is now 100% occupied. 

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Lightbridge Academy signed a 10-year, 9K SF lease at NewQuest Properties’ Shops at Katy Reserve in Fort Bend County for its first Texas location.

It is the first of three locations to be locked in by franchisees Samit Darne — who has owned and operated multiple franchise businesses, including Marble Slab Creamery, Graze Craze and Petland — and Bhautik Patel and Premal Dhebariya, both experienced operators of Lightbridge Academy centers in New Jersey, according to NewQuest.

Lightbridge Academy has more than 140 early education and childcare centers open, under construction or in development in the U.S., primarily in the Northeast. 

Cory Darden of Mohr Partners represented the franchisees. Lara Lee LaMendola and Kevin Sims of NewQuest lease the shopping center.

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Partners Real Estate arranged a 25K SF lease with Monarch Power Supply at 12010 FM 529 in Jersey Village. Partners’ Shaffer Braun represented the tenant in the transaction. The landlord, William T. White III, was represented by Ed Frantz of CBRE.

SALES

Silver Star Properties REIT, formerly Hartman Short Term Income Properties XX, sold its industrial warehouse facility at 2300 Quitman St. in Houston to a real estate and development platform with a national focus.

Silver Star initially purchased the 734K SF property in 1998. Built in 1920, the property has experienced many uses because of its proximity to Downtown Houston and the Port of Houston.

Much of its rental revenue is generated from anchor tenants Liberty Tire Recycling and Sunbelt Warehouse.

The value-add facility and its property have the potential for redevelopment or tenant lease continuations as the property is fully occupied.  

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The Tomball Economic Development Corp. purchased the First Baptist Church property at 401 Oxford St. in Old Town Tomball for $4.6M. The corporation is leasing the 4.63-acre property back to the church for 36 months.

Tom Condon Jr. of Colliers represented TEDC in the purchase. The corporation and its stakeholders will consider how to best utilize the property to align with TEDC’s commitment to redeveloping and revitalizing Old Town Tomball.

CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Skanska USA is progressing on its 1550 on the Green office tower downtown. Earlier this month, in a four-hour time frame, landscape architects installed:

• 55 trees ranging in size from 65 to 200 gallons.
• 85% Texas-native wooded, floral and arid plant species on over 16K SF of terraces.
• A 48,000-gallon rainwater collection system.
• A robust drip irrigation system throughout the project, including on all terraces. 

1550 on the Green is a 28-story, 375K SF office building adjacent to Discovery Green. Construction topped out in February. 

THIS & THAT

Jetstream Communities completed renovations, adding resort-style amenities at Jetstream RV Resort – Pearland, formerly known as Advanced RV Resort, at 2850 South Sam Houston Parkway E in Pearland. Citystreet Residential acquired and rebranded the community in 2022.

The resort offers long-term and short-term rentals, with no leases required, across 20 acres. It has 234 RV spaces and four fully furnished tiny houses, which are available to rent for those who do not have an RV.

Amenities include a heated swimming pool and hot tub, two clubhouses, a fitness center, a free play arcade room, a dog park and wash, RV storage and a security gate with controlled access.