This Week's Houston Deal Sheet
Forget about oil prices. Foreign investors still love Houston, according to AFIRE's new survey.
The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate's annual survey tracks what countries and metros investors plan to spend money in. (Pictured is AFIRE CEO Jim Fetgatter in Shanghai.) The US again tops the list for foreign investment (90% of respondents plan to maintain or increase their US portfolio), and Houston is holding steady in the third-place slot for US cities. We did drop off the top five global list, though, nudged out by Tokyo and Madrid. Keep your eyes on China--AFIRE's study predicts it'll be the largest source of capital into the US by 2016. One last finding that surprised us: Foreign investors are dying for multifamily again. Last year, US multifamily was the fifth most popular asset class, but now it tops the list of planned investment in 2015.
EXECS
Marilyn Lucas joined PMRG as SVP and director of asset management. She will oversee the firm’s national office portfolio. Marilyn was previously with CWCapital. Over the past four years, she handled a 10M SF portfolio with an outstanding loan balance of $1.6B.
SALES
Steadfast Development purchased 5.1 acres at Willow Place North and Willow Place West. It will construct spec industrial buildings, similar to what it built across the street. NAI Houston’s Travis Land and John Ferruzzo repped the buyer, and Caldwell Cos’ Keith Grothaus repped seller Revo II.
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Rockspring Capital purchased 157 acres in Katy. The tract is off of Katy Hockley Road just north of FM 529 (adjacent to Newland Communities’ 2,700 acres) and is ideal for single-family homes. The deal comes quickly on the heels of Rockspring’s Inner Loop acquisition in November.
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A foreign private investor purchased the Holiday Inn Express Houston N-1960 Champions Area, a 70-room hotel. Marcus & Millichap’s Rahul Bijlani, Eric Guerrero and Michael Yu listed the asset at $7.2M, and received multiple offers from out-of-state buyers drawn to the strong Houston hotel market, premium brand affiliation and location.
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A private investor purchased J&D Boat Storage, a 32k SF self-storage facility at 1422 Brittmoore Rd. Marcus & Millichap’s Jonathan Okies, Nicholas Ling and Jon Danklefs listed the property.
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Phoenix Capital Partners purchased The Villas at West Oaks, a 342-unit multifamily community. It’s the first acquisition for the firm’s sixth fund, and was acquired at a significant discount to replacement cost and an above-market cap rate. The new owner will renovate the property.
LEASES
BMZ Oil Tools leased 25k SF in Prologis Park West by Northwest. JLL’s Devin Rogers repped the tenant, and Jacob Milligan repped Prologis.
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Newland Communities leased a 10k SF office in Legacy Park (10940 W Sam Houston Pkwy). Betz Commercial Brokerage’s Gloria Parrino repped the landlord, and New Regional Planning’s Adam Strauss repped the tenant.
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Industrial Alloy Fabrication leased 18k SF at 7210 Harms Rd. NAI Houston’s Travis Land repped landlord Harms Road Development Group, which has four new buildings delivering in July in the same industrial park. Lighthill Commercial’s Donald Fincher repped the tenant.
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Alfa Laval leased 103k SF in Pinto Business Park. JLL’s Jarret Venghaus and Jeff Venghaus repped the tenant and NAI’s John Simons repped landlord Hines Interest LP.
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Klevenberg USA subleased 45k SF in East Belt Business Park (1465 E Sam Houston Pkwy). JLL’s Ryan Fuselier and Travis Secor repped the subtenant, and Jackson & Jackson’s Bob Jackson and Kincaid Jackson repped sublessor Doerle Food Services.
DEVELOPMENT
Cinco Auto in Katy is open. The 12k SF car wash and automotive center was designed by Three Square and used upgraded materials to be exceptionally aesthetically pleasing. DMAC is GC, Dawson Van Orden did MEP, and H2B was the structural engineer. The property is owned by Kevin and Diana Pishkar.
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The Houston Marriott West Loop by The Galleria has completed its multimillion-dollar renovation. The two-phase project was the largest in the hotel’s 38-year history. The lobby, main restaurant, business center, Sapphire Room, front desk and lobby restrooms all were redone, and the hotel created a three-meal Greatroom as a public space. The hotel also raised ceilings four to six feet.
FINANCING
Berkadia’s Andy Hill originated $40.3M in financing for two Texas multifamily properties. He worked with borrower AHC Thornbury to close $29M for the acquisition of Thornbury Apartments (7055 Hollister Rd). It secured a sub-2.5% interest rate, three years of I/O and a 30-year amortization schedule. The property has 408 units and was 96% occupied at closing. Andy also closed a deal in Fort Worth.
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JLL’s Mark Brandenburg arranged a JV with Knightvest and Highland Capital to acquire La Mirage apartment community. The total capitalization was $22.7M, and JLL arranged a $5.25M JV structure.
THIS AND THAT
CREW Houston awarded scholarships to three graduate students for the spring 2015 semester—here’s 2014 CREW Houston president Laurie Baker; winners Sarah Beth Davis, Michelle Kobelan and Martha Smith; and CREW Houston scholarship committee co-chairs Julie Caggiano and Mary Axelrad at the awards ceremony. Sarah is a student in the real estate program at the A&M Mays Business School, Martha is in the graduate real estate program at UH’s CT Bauer College of Business, and Michelle is a student at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business. Each was given a $2,500 scholarship and a student membership in CREW Houston.
