This Week's Houston Deal Sheet

The Howard Hughes Corp. announced three new leases, and construction company Webber LLC renewed its multifloor 46K SF lease at Hughes Landing in The Woodlands.

New leases included:

• Ring Energy Inc., an oil and natural gas exploration and production company, which leased 24K SF to expand its headquarters at 1725 Hughes Landing. 
• Haynes and Boone LLP, a corporate law firm, which relocated within The Woodlands and leased 7.5K SF at Two Hughes Landing.
• Plus Power LLC, which develops battery energy storage systems, leased 7K SF at Three Hughes Landing.

Ring Energy was represented by Charlie Neuhaus and Harry Holmes with Partners. Haynes and Boone was represented by Sanders Thompson with Transwestern, and Plus Power was represented by Abby Alford and Lucian Bukowski with CBRE.

Webber was represented by Jerrod McQuain, Paul Penland and Mark Reilly with JLL. The Howard Hughes Corp. was represented by Robert Parsley, Norman Munoz and Jillian Fredericks with Colliers.

SALES

Local developer TMC Grand Apts LLC sold the 326-unit, 258K SF Virtuo Med Center Apartments, which sits on 6.4 acres at 7110 Ardmore St. in Houston, to Virtuo Med Center Apts LLC. The buyer is a private investor from the Northeast. 

The four-story wraparound complex, completed in 2020, is close to NRG Park and the Texas Medical Center. 

The developer's modus operandi is build and sell, which is what fueled the trade to Virtuo Med Center Apts, per a press release. Tom Wilkinson of KET Enterprises represented the buyer, which closed on the acquisition within four months.

Brad LyBrand and Glenn Dickerson of NewQuest Properties represented the seller. 

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SVN | J. Beard Real Estate – Greater Houston facilitated the sale of Spring Hill Business Park at 322, 500 and 504 Spring Hill Drive in Spring. Situated in The Woodlands submarket, the 60K SF business park is less than a mile from Interstate 45, the Hardy Toll Road and Spring Woods Village.

Neal King, an adviser with  SVN | J. Beard Real Estate – Greater Houston, represented the two separate sellers, Spring Hill BP and Spring Hill BP II. The buyer, SHB Park LLC, is a private partnership.

SVN | J. Beard Real Estate will continue the leasing and property management of the business park for SHB Park.

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Partners Real Estate arranged the sale of a 50K SF freezer/cooler building in Sugar Land Business Park at 12501 Cardinal Meadow Drive in Sugar Land.

Partners’ Chris Caudill and Transwestern's John Ferruzzo represented the seller, Mainna Investments. The buyer, Gearment Investments, was represented by Will Austin at Bridge Commercial Real Estate.

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An undisclosed buyer purchased a 52K SF dock-high building at 10506 Kinghurst Drive in Southwest Houston from Positive Investments Inc. Patrick McKiernan and James Mashni with First Houston Properties represented both parties and are now marketing the building for lease. 

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MDH Partners acquired South Belt Central Building 4, a 603K SF, Class-A industrial building in Houston. The newly built warehouse facility increases the firm’s Texas footprint to more than 3.9M SF. Georga Rowe served as the acquisition lead for MDH Partners. Trent Agnew, Charles Strauss and Tom Weber with JLL represented the seller.

South Belt Central Building 4 is within South Belt Central Business Park, a 3.3M SF industrial park on 36.9 acres. 

LEASES

Civic Heart Community Services relocated its headquarters this month to One Emancipation Center at 3131 Emancipation Ave. in Houston’s Third Ward. The 34-year-old organization, the largest Black-founded nonprofit organization in the Gulf Coast region. The organization was formerly known as Change Happens!

Civic Heart outgrew its previous location on Elgin Street, home to the organization for the past 18 years. The new 10-year lease for 13K SF allows Civic Heart to remain in the historic Third Ward, while adding space to accommodate its growing number of programs and services. 

The new office space provides additional meeting rooms to host community groups and projects. The expanded technology center will provide resources for area residents to learn, apply for jobs, complete résumés or apply for health insurance. It also allows students without access to computers or internet at home to use technology to study, do homework and get tutoring on-site.

John Guess III, president of The Guess Group, represented Civic Heart in the lease transaction. Vergel Gay & Associates provided project management services and assisted throughout the lease, build-out and move-in process.

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Partners Real Estate arranged a 27K SF lease with Waste Management National Services at 3010 Greens Road in Houston.

Partners’ Chris Caudill represented the tenant, Waste Management National Services, and Brad Berry, Ryan Wasaff and Cole Bercher with Welcome Realty Advisors represented the landlord, Welcome Industrial Sub Seven.

Waste Management National Services will utilize the facility for its energy and environmental services division.

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Stream Realty Partners announced the following new leases:

• Smart Supply Chain Inc. leased 74K SF at Cravens Crossing at 737 South Cravens Road. Stream's Garret Geaccone represented the landlord, 16505 Realty Holding LLC.
• Rush Auto Works leased 30K SF at Brittmoore Business Park at 4541 Brittmoore Road. Stream's Tyler Maner and William Carpenter represented the landlord, Outour Storage Investments.
• Restore Logistics & Pallet Corp. leased 12K SF at Prologis IAH Logistics Center at 3340-C Greens Road. Stream's Carpenter and Woody Hillyer represented the landlord, Prologis.
• BerryKu leased 20K SF at Stafford Grove Industrial Park at 10643 West Airport Blvd. Stream's Jeremy Lumbreras and Garret Geaccone represented the landlord, Ares Management.
• Azteca leased 27K SF at Prologis Park IAH Logistics Center at 3340-C Greens Road. Stream's Carpenter and Hillyer represented the landlord, Prologis.
• Meyer Distributing Inc. leased 32K SF at Liberty Northwest Business Center at 5250 North Sam Houston Parkway W. Stream's Lumbreras and Carpenter represented the landlord, Prologis.

CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

The Howard Hughes Corp. announced that Waller ISD began construction on its first on-site elementary school in Bridgeland, its master-planned community. The 112K SF campus will serve 750 students living in Prairieland Village and Creekland Village. The yet-to-be-named campus will open ahead of the 2024-2025 school year.

Bridgeland offers seven existing and planned public schools across Cy-Fair ISD and Waller ISD. In addition, early childhood education providers Primrose Schools and The Goddard School are currently open, and Kids R Kids is slated to open in Bridgeland in 2024.   

THIS & THAT

The Life Properties, the property management and construction management affiliate of Olive Tree Holdings, announced the launch and first outcomes of its newly formed Water Warriors program, an ESG initiative focused on decreasing water consumption across its portfolio of communities.

Following the discovery that 65% of The Life at Timber Ridge’s 316 units had continuously running toilets due to the natural wearing of the flappers, property team members changed the toilet flappers in every bathroom across the community in a week. That reduced the property’s water usage by about 24%, according to recent property management-derived data.

The Water Warriors team will travel to the firm’s additional properties in the Houston region and other markets to ensure that water usage is reduced as much as possible.

In addition to the Water Warriors initiative, The Life at Timber Ridge recently underwent a $4.1M capital improvement program that included interior unit upgrades consisting of new paint as well as the implementation of new cabinetry, carpeting and HVAC systems. Across the community and its resident common areas, $1.5M was spent on roof replacements.