This Week's Houston Deal Sheet
WeWork is doubling its footprint in the Houston metro.
The shared workspace provider is delivering 1,000 desks at 1725 Hughes Landing Blvd. in The Woodlands. It is also adding 775 desks at WeWork Galleria and with pending leases will bring an additional 1,000 desks by the end of the year.
WeWork had two Houston-based locations in 2018.
“In this next year, WeWork will build a constellation of opportunity through new spaces spread across Houston and opening in The Woodlands is key to that effort," WeWork Community Director Roneil Bencosme said in a release.
The 52K SF office at Hughes Landing will comprise two floors and feature amenities include views of Lake Woodlands, a modern fitness center and landscaped courtyard with seating and water feature.
“Recent data shows that 83% of WeWork members in Houston are in the innovation economy, compared to 12% in the region as a whole, and one out of every 20 of the city's first-time entrepreneurs are WeWork members,” Bencosme said. “The average job growth rate across small and medium-sized WeWork member companies in Houston is 32% compared to 1% for all companies in Houston. We have moved the needle for the growth of the tech and innovation sectors in Houston, but we’re just getting started.”
EXECS
CBRE hired Jon Farris as executive vice president to focus on occupier representation in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. With over 30 years in the industry, Farris served as managing director at Stream and represented the sale and lease of over 22M SF of industrial real estate totaling more than $2B.
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Greystone expanded its Houston office with the hiring of two senior loan originators, Ed Gray as a managing director and Brooks Steele as a director. With 15 years in the industry, Gray has experience in originating agency and bridge loans, evaluating debt, CMBS underwriting and managing due diligence teams. Steele has five years of underwriting and lending experience, including managing J.P. Morgan's $1.2B portfolio of assets across the multifamily, office, retail and industrial sectors.
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Morgan named David Whitby as vice president of capital markets. He will be responsible for working with Morgan's development partners and senior management team to raise equity capital needed to finance Morgan's future growth initiatives. He previously worked for Elite Street Capital, where he led the team that acquired and managed 26 assets totaling over 6,500 units across a seven-state region.
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The Howard Hughes Corp. promoted Jim Carman to senior vice president of commercial development, and Heath Melton to senior vice president of master-planned communities, residential. Joining the company in 2012, Carman has led his team in the phases of development for Hughes Landing, a mixed-use urban center on Lake Woodlands. Melton has been with the company since 2015 and has led Bridgeland to various awards such as the No. 18 best-selling master-planned community in the nation and No. 2 in the Greater Houston area.
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Cushman & Wakefield promoted Eric Lestin as managing director to lead Houston’s newly formed Retail Services group. With more than three decades of experience at the firm, Lestin will advise clients on diverse aspects of real estate, including investment and lease evaluation and analyses, acquisition counseling, marketing, financing, tenant representation, site selection, strategic planning and general consulting.
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Transwestern Commercial Services Director of Business Development Jodie Jiles has been confirmed to The University of Texas System Board of Regents. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed four new regents from across the state. The Board of Regents, composed of nine members and one student regent, is responsible for oversight of the university system’s academic, health and business affairs.
SALES
An undisclosed buyer acquired Bissonnet Corner, a 13K SF neighborhood shopping center in Houston. Bissonnet Corner is at 5427 Bissonnet St., in the Bellaire submarket. Cushman & Wakefield's Chris Harden, Kris Von Hohn and Ryan Duffie represented the private seller.
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An undisclosed buyer purchased the 13K SF Auto Zone building at 8090 Long Point Road in Houston. Retail Solutions' Jim Thompson represented the undisclosed seller. Retail Solutions' Jeff Fralick and Martin Turner represented the buyer.
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Hrise LLC purchased Centre One, a 218K SF, 11-story office building at 9800 Centre Parkway in Houston. Built in 1983, Centre One features a multilevel parking ground and a 3.5-acre surface lot across the street. Captex Commercial's Bill Oates represented the buyer. Colliers International's David Carter represented the seller.
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A limited liability company acquired Knights Court, a 41K SF retail property at 7746 Highway 6 in Missouri City. Marcus & Millichap’s James Bell and Watt Harrison represented the buyer and the seller, a limited liability company.
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JBI Investment LLC purchased a 12K SF, single-story office building at 2415 Town Center Drive in Sugar Land. Radius Realty Advisors' Blake Propst represented the buyer. ICO Commercial's Larry Indermuehle and Jane Nodskov represented the seller.
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Axiom Capital Management purchased 13111 Westheimer Road in Houston. The four-story, 60K SF office building has Comerica Bank as a major tenant. LandPark Advisors' Bill McGrath and Peter Wall represented the seller. LandPark will be responsible for executing Axiom Capital’s value-add strategy by upgrading the building and common areas.
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A buyer acquired the Cypresswood Kroger Center, a 35K SF retail property at 19724 State Highway 249 in Houston. Marcus & Millichap’s James Bell represented the seller, a limited liability company.
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An undisclosed buyer purchased The Ivy at Clear Creek, a 244-unit apartment complex at 300 Cyberonics Blvd., in the Clear Lake area of Houston. The sale price has not been disclosed. JLL’s Chip Nash, Bob Heard, Todd Stewart and Greg Austin represented the seller.
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An undisclosed buyer acquired Hollister Business Park, a 241K SF industrial business park at 16261 Hollister St. in Houston. The asset had a listing price of $9.4M. Marcus & Millichap’s Thomas Costello represented the seller, a limited liability company.
LEASES
Specialty RTP LLC signed a 67K SF industrial lease at 13125 Royal Drive in Houston. NAI Partners’ Nick Peterson represented the tenant, and NAI Partners’ John Ferruzzo and Ryan Searle represented the landlord.
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Coastal Shower Doors inked a 10K SF industrial lease at 4747 South Pinemont Drive in Houston. NAI Partners’ Jake Wilkinson represented the tenant.
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Common Bond Cafe & Baker, owned by Houston-based entrepreneur George Joseph, signed a lease at CityPlace, a mixed-use district anchoring Springwoods Village. The restaurant will feature a spacious patio on the ground of CityPlace and open in the first quarter of 2020. Chodrow Realty Advisors' Alan Chodrow and Shane Karstendiek represented Common Bond. Transwestern's Nick Hernandez and Crystal Allen and Patrinely Group's Dennis Tarro represented the landlord, CityPlace, a joint venture of Patrinely Group, USAA Real Estate and CDC Houston.
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Kids Empire, a children's indoor playground facility, signed an 11K SF lease of retail space at 5621 Beechnut St. The third Houston location is set to open in the third quarter. Weitzman's Robin Barrow and Transwestern's Wade Greene represented the tenant.
FINANCING
An undisclosed buyer purchased The Park at Clear Lake, a 342-unit multifamily property on Bay Area Boulevard in Houston. NorthMarq's Warren Hitchcock arranged the balance sheet bridge loan for the borrower.
DEVELOPMENT
Greystone provided a $32M FHA-insured loan to finance the construction of The Vic at Southwinds Apartment Homes, a market-rate 265-unit project at 1900 Kilgore Parkway in Baytown. The ground-up construction loan converts into a 40-year permanent, fixed-rate, nonrecourse fully amortizing loan after completion and stabilization. The property will include eight three-story garden-style buildings and will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units. On-site amenities include a fitness center, an indoor playground, a clubhouse, a pool, a conference room, a business center, a beer garden, two dog parks, attached garages and parking for boats and recreational vehicles. Greystone's Jason Stein and Hunington Properties' Sanford Aron secured the FHA construction-to-perm loan.
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Daroff Design and OTG recently completed two new restaurants, El Premio and Forno Magico, at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. OTG Vice President of Culinary Nate Appleman, a James Beard Award-winning chef, designed both concepts. El Premio offers Houston-inspired Tex-Mex, and Forno Magico has a selection of Neapolitan style pizzas, salads and small plates.
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Elkus Manfredi Architects, Transwestern Development Co. and Vaughn Construction will serve as the architectural and development team to construct the 37-acre TMC3 research campus. TMC3 founding institutions are Texas Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
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Eastern Union has secured a $26M bridge loan to support the acquisition and redevelopment of Park Texas Apartment, a 587-unit, two-story, garden-style community at 11911 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The loan amount represents 75% of the purchase price and 100% of capital expenditures associated with redevelopment. Eastern Union's Michael Wyne and Boruch Mandel secured the financing.
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Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown opened as a newly rebranded property with several upgrades and extensive theming throughout the park. Houston's largest waterpark features over 40 slides and attractions including an all-new six-story water slide, Wahoo Wave.
THIS AND THAT
The Market at Springwoods Village is the first multi-tenant retail development in Houston to earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The development is a joint venture between Regency Centers Corp. and Coventry Development Corp.
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Artavia, a 2,200-acre master-planned community in the Montgomery County area, has teamed up with San Jacinto Elementary School. They kicked off a Bright Futures campaign to encourage reading with a donation of 710 books totaling $9K to the San Jacinto Elementary School Library.
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Transwestern and Ronald McDonald House Charities have formed a national partnership to support the philanthropic organization’s mission to improve the health and well-being of children and their families. Transwestern has committed to raising funds to support RMHC core programs and team members will volunteer their time for Ronald McDonald House programs.
