This Week's Houston Deal Sheet
Leasing activity is picking up in one of Houston's slowest office markets. With a vacancy rate of nearly 40% across all asset classes, North Houston has struggled. More than 241K SF of new office leases and renewals have been completed in the North Houston submarket in the last 12 months.
Transwestern's Michelle Wogan, Evelyn Ward and Paula Musa were involved in the transactions, which included 62K SF at 16825 Northchase Drive, 40K SF at 2 Northpoint, 37K SF at 16825 Northchase Drive and 20K at 33 North Belt, among others.
In addition to the lease transactions, Wogan negotiated the sale of Northborough Tower with Transwestern’s Leah Gallagher and Hale Umstattd. The 14-story building at 100 Glenborough is 206K SF.
"The North Houston submarket is experiencing a significant increase in activity,” Wogan said. "With vacancy pushing 57%, the North Houston submarket is the best value in Houston for Class-A space that tenants from various industries are quickly recognizing.”
SALES
JLL’s Capital Markets team, including Mindy Berman and Rudy Hubbard, completed the sale of the five-building Pin Oak Portfolio in Bellaire. JLL represented the seller, a partnership between Investcorp and Griffin Partners. Norvin Healthcare Properties purchased the portfolio on behalf of its investment partnership, adding to its medical-oriented holdings in the Houston market. The 504K SF portfolio is 93% leased, 58% of which is to medical tenants.
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JLL's Dustin Volz, Kevin McConn, Rick Goings, Zane Marcell and Grant Matthews completed the sale of a 93K SF flex/R&D building at 7207 Gessner Road in Houston. GBP Industrial purchased the building from Goldrich & Kest. The building is fully occupied by Burlington, a healthcare diagnostics company.
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Marcus & Millichap’s Nate Newman and Logan Kelly completed the sale of YX Center, a 22K SF retail property at 16103 West Little York Road in Houston. The buyer, a limited liability company, was secured and represented by Newman.
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Marcus & Millichap’s Lisa Hankamer, Skyler Cooper, Chris Gomes and Allan Miller completed the sale of Comfort Inn & Suites FM 1960 Champions, a 56-room hospitality property at 3555 FM 1960 Road in Houston.
LEASES
JLL’s John Pruitt and Chrissy Wilson represented the landlord, BIT Holdings Forty-Six, in leasing a 22K SF headquarters lease renewal and expansion at Town Center I in The Woodlands. Palermo Corporate Real Estate Advisors’ Dan Palermo represented the tenant, a Houston-based homebuilder.
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Finial Group’s Dylan Schopper and Mitch Hall represented the landlord, Robert and Judith Locker, in a 20K SF industrial lease at 14223 Interdrive E. in Houston to Deshazo Co.
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Citi Trends renewed 10K SF of retail space in Fondren Southwest Village at the intersection of West Bellfort Avenue and Fondren Road in Houston. NewQuest’s Austen Baldridge and Brad Elmore represented the landlord in the direct deal.
HIRES/PROMOTIONS
Anat Zeidman joined AECOM as the healthcare deputy director for Texas. Zeidman will help spearhead the company’s business development and program management for all healthcare-related activities in the region.
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Studio RED promoted Micah Simecek to partner. Simecek joined Studio RED in 2012, and has notably worked on the Double LEED Platinum Treehouse Memorial City.
