This Week's Houston Deal Sheet

Greystar Real Estate Partners is offering a new kind of leasing experience at Ltd. Med Center, where move-ins began April 18. Ltd. Med Center features a leasing process that includes self-guided or virtual tours and limited rent increases.

Renewals will be capped at 3% or tied to the 12-month change in the consumer price index, whichever is greater, so residents will always know what their renewal rate will be months in advance. The aim of the community is to provide lower rents for Houstonians in quality housing.

The community has two base floor plans available in one- and two-bedroom layouts. The uniform design allows for quicker construction that keeps costs — and rents — lower than typical multifamily building projects, according to Greystar. The leasing process has also been streamlined and can be completed quickly.

Ltd. Med Center residents have additional options like a personal garage, reserved parking and storage units. Apartment homes offer keyless door entry and app-enabled thermostats as well as access to communitywide WiFi, Fetch package delivery and valet trash service.

The complex is at 12806 Buffalo Speedway.

SALES

Meritex closed on the purchase of Century Plaza DC IV, a 120K SF, Class-A industrial building at 250 Century Plaza Drive in Houston. The building is in the deed-restricted Century Plaza Business Park. 

The building includes 2.6K SF of spec office, multiple high-volume, low-speed industrial fans and speed-bay lighting, and is move-in ready. Other features include 22 dock-high doors, two drive-in doors, a 32-foot clear height and space for two single storefronts. It is now leasing to tenants.

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Omni Plaza LLC sold 72K SF of office space on 3 acres of land at 397 North Sam Houston Parkway E. in Houston to VBR Asset LLC. Fritsche Anderson Realty Partner’s Brandon Wuntch, Drew Altmann and Jim McGonigle represented both the seller and buyer in the transaction.

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John Saucer and Will Murchison of Junction Commercial Real Estate represented Houston Badminton Center LLC in the purchase of a 24K SF industrial facility on 2 acres at 12233 Robin Blvd. in Houston. The seller, LHI 2, was represented by Thomas Leger and Mike Spears of Lee & Associates. 

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Lucas Properties & Investments sold 26K SF of industrial warehouse space on 10 acres at 22535 North Highway 288-B in Angleton to A Discount Mini-Storage Ltd. Fritsche Anderson Realty Partner’s Brandon Wuntch and Drew Altmann represented the seller. Capital Real Estate’s Carson Deer and Blake Deer represented the buyer.

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Emerson Charitable Trust sold a 182K SF manufacturing building on 10 acres at 5650 Brittmoore Road in northwest Houston. The seller was represented by Transwestern's John Ferruzzo, Nick Peterson and Matthew Morrison.

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Amsco Transportation sold a 35K SF building on 13.6 acres at 6100 Almeda Genoa Road in southeast Houston. Transwestern's John Feruzzo and Matthew Morrison represented the seller and Colliers' Walker Barnett represented the undisclosed buyer.

LEASES

Ion District has 10 new tenants leasing a combined 35K SF, plus it has begun construction on a new lab at the Ion, Houston’s innovation hub. The 266K SF building is now 86% leased.

New tenants include:

• Carbon Clean, a carbon capture company that opened its new Houston headquarters in response to a 64% leap in inquiries following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Cognite, a Norwegian software company for asset-heavy industries that turns industrial data into customer value. 
• OpenStax, a division of Rice University and the world's largest nonprofit publisher of free, open education resources for high schools and colleges. 
• Synopic, a startup building the next generation of depth-enabled cameras to improve visualization and decision-making during medical procedures.
• Motif Neurotech, a medical equipment manufacturing startup working to develop minimally invasive electronic solutions for mental health. 
• RedSwan CRE, a crowdfunding-style investment platform and marketplace of tokenized commercial real estate.
• Nauticus Robotics, which has created a sophisticated, ultra sustainable fleet of marine robotics and intelligent software to power it.
• Rice University’s Office of Innovation, designed to commercialize more Rice-developed research and technology in part by being close to tech-forward organizations that can utilize it, in addition to Rice’s Nexus Lab, which is under construction and designed for prototyping and scaling-up technologies. 

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Dutch Bros leased a 1.2-acre site in Marketplace at Ninety-Six, at the intersection of League City Parkway and Hobbs Road in League City, from NewQuest Properties. Rebecca Le and Heather Nguyen of NewQuest Properties represented the landlord. Greg Slusky of Sluco Realty Services represented the tenant.

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Museum of Illusions, an immersive and interactive experience featuring optical illusions and 3D holograms, signed a 6K SF lease in The Galleria. Construction began on the exhibit April 10. It will be next to the West Alabama entrance of The Galleria.

Transwestern’s Crystal Allen and Kim Bernick represented the landlord, IA Lodging Houston Galleria, in the transaction. 

Upon its opening in the summer of 2023, this location will join a family of over 60 locations worldwide, including museums in Dubai, London, New Delhi and Shanghai. Subhi Gharbieh of G+A Real Estate represented the tenant in the transaction.

Gulf Coast Commercial Group executed a 41K SF ground lease with 5Point Credit Union at Magnolia Village. The mixed-use project is currently under construction in northwest Houston and will ultimately span 60 acres at FM 1488 and Spur 149 — a key Magnolia-area growth corridor. The news comes as vertical elements of the 36-acre first phase are underway to accommodate projected debuts toward the middle of the year.

5Point Credit Union expects to unveil its new building in September. Jon Kantalis of Andronis Realty represented 5Point Credit Union, and Gulf Coast Commercial Group’s Danny Miller represented Magnolia Village.

Australian-born fitness concept F45 also signed a 2.5K SF lease. It is slated to open in July. F45 was represented by Lance P. Loker and the landlord by Gulf Coast Commercial Group’s Brad Kilbride. 

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Kelsey Seybold Medical Group renewed and expanded its lease at 1900 North Loop W., a 126K SF medical office building, to accommodate continued growth. The Houston Heights clinic's footprint is now 36K SF. Transwestern's Ashley Cassel Byrd represented the landlord of Physician Specialty Center, Welltower, in the transaction.

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Ozarké E-commerce LLC leased 26K SF at Pine Forest 3 in Houston's Garden Oaks neighborhood. Transwestern's Paula Musa and Craig Bean represented the tenant and Prologis represented the landlord, Morris Realty Associates LLC.

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American Western Steel leased 24.5K SF at 6750 Bender Road. Tyler Maner and William Carpenter of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, Outour Storage Investments.

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Issyzone TX Inc. leased 10K SF at Colony Crossing Business Park at 10207 South Sam Houston Parkway. Jeremy Lumbreras and Garret Geaccone of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, Ares Management.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Sueba USA broke ground April 10 on its first Montgomery County multifamily development project, Imperial Oaks Square. It is off the Grand Parkway between Interstate 45 and U.S. 59.

The Class-A apartments will be adjacent to the 100-acre Lake Holcomb, the Holcomb Family YMCA and the future Grant Imperial Marketplace retail development. It will be the first complex at the Falls at Imperial Oaks master-planned community, a 686-acre single-family development by Holcomb Properties offering amenities including parks, dog parks, covered pavilions and 3 miles of walking trails.

Located at 30020 Creekside Terrace Drive in Spring, Imperial Oaks Square will offer 269 Class-A apartment homes in a three-story, garden-style setting. Apartment units will range in size from 496 SF to 1.6K SF in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. 

Amenities include a resort-style pool and hot tub with outdoor cabanas and grilling areas, a lap pool, a spacious fitness center, an enclosed dog park with Paw Spa, an executive conference center with catering kitchen and a dock on Holcomb. 

Pre-leasing is expected to start in July 2024.

PEOPLE

McGlinchey Stafford hired Houston litigator and real estate attorney Gary L. Pate. He joins the firm’s Enterprise Litigation and Investigations section as a partner in the Houston office.

Pate focuses his practice on real estate disputes, product liability claims, trademark infringement, employment litigation and other specialties. He represents clients in state and federal courts and arbitration venues, including the International Court of Arbitration. 

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Dustin Devine was named principal at Avison Young’s Houston office. Devine joins the more than 27 principals that are being honored as part of the Avison Young Principal Class of 2023. 

Devine joined Avison Young in 2020 as a vice president on the tenant representation team led by Anthony Squillante. He specializes in all facets of tenant representation, including leasing corporate headquarters locations, acquisitions and dispositions. He represents tenants and occupiers in the greater Houston area and nationally.

FINANCING

Partners Capital, the investment platform of Houston-based Partners Real Estate, launched Partners Opportunity Fund V, the entity’s fifth commercial real estate investment vehicle. The Partners Capital team is looking to raise at least $150M in equity to identify and acquire high-quality industrial, retail and office assets in  major markets across Texas and the Southeast.

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Partners Real Estate launched a digital investment platform website. It will provide direct access to all Partners investment funds and projects to accredited investors. 

The platform offers interested accredited investors the ability to invest directly in Partners’ funds and development opportunities.

THIS AND THAT

The Association of Commercial Real Estate Professionals – Gulf Coast Chapter held its first Bayou City Brawl in conjunction with USA Boxing and Lou Savarese Promotions.

More than 600 guests attended to watch local commercial real estate professionals box to benefit the Building Tomorrow Foundation, a Houston-based nonprofit committed to helping graduate students gain a college education in all degrees related to the commercial real estate industry including development, lending, brokerage, architecture, engineering and general contracting.

The champions of the six bouts were:

• Matt “Money Maker” Banker with Burton Construction.
• Jared “The Tank” Tipps with Heights Venture.
• Payton “The Rock” Arens with Kimley-Horn.
• Steven “The Aztec Warrior” Ramirez with WGA Consulting Engineers.
• Owen “Iron” Rogers with Kimley-Horn.
• Pierce “Little Foot” Beyer with Partners.

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Spear Street Capital’s 10000 Energy Drive earned the IREM – CSP Designation Award for being a certified sustainable property. 10000 Energy Drive is made up of twin 10-story Class-AAA office towers totaling 590K SF on 26 acres located in City Place in Spring. It was delivered in 2015. 

In July 2019, Southwestern Energy Co. sold the building to Spear Street Capital. The building is LEED Gold Certified and was designed by Gensler. The building is managed by HPI Real Estate Management.

The property is nestled within 26 acres of natural woodland growth with a network of walking paths. Amenities include three levels of patio spaces; a dramatic 125-foot water feature; an 11K SF fitness center with locker rooms and a spin/yoga facility; 24-hour security; a market and café kitchen with an on-site vegetable and herb garden; and a conference center and meeting rooms that can seat up to 900 people.

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Citiscape relocated the sales gallery for Mimosa Terrace, a boutique luxury mid-rise development in the heart of River Oaks, in anticipation of breaking ground. The sales gallery, previously at 2240 Mimosa Drive, has opened its doors at its new location, 2237 Welch St., right behind where Mimosa Terrace will rise. 

The sales gallery features displays of all the floor plans and elevation of the building renderings and all floor plans, along with selections buyers will be able to choose from that reflect the high-end finishes available to them.