This Week's Houston Deal Sheet: SRS Distribution Leases Full Building Near Bush Airport

SRS Distribution Inc. leased all 52K SF of 19054 Kenswick Drive in Humble, near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Robert Alinger and Wes Williams of Colliers represented the landlord, Bertling Logistics. Sarah Pickup and Will Clay of JLL represented the tenant.

SRS Distribution is a building materials company headquartered in McKinney. SRS operates under a family of local brands encompassing more than 750 locations across 46 states. Home Depot agreed last month to acquire SRS for about $18B. 

The 52K SF warehouse will be the company’s ninth branch in the Houston area, the Houston Business Journal reports. 

PEOPLE

Cushman & Wakefield hired Kristie Luby as managing director and leader of property management efforts in Houston. Luby will oversee a team of 45 people and a portfolio of 28M SF. 

Luby has more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience. She was most recently a regional lead for the property management business across Texas for Avison Young. 

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SVN | J. Beard Real Estate hired Karyn Jackson Stephens and Robert Noack as senior advisors. 

Jackson Stephens has over 25 years of commercial real estate experience. She specializes in the acquisition and disposition of multifamily and investment assets. 

Noack has a decade of experience in Houston’s industrial commercial brokerage scene. He assists clients with the development and sustainability of industrial business parks. 

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Cushman & Wakefield hired Garrett Thomas as director of industrial brokerage in Houston. Thomas is the 13th brokerage professional to join Cushman & Wakefield’s Houston office in the past 14 months.

Thomas has completed industrial and land transactions valued at more than $135M in the last four years. Before entering commercial real estate, he served as director on the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety. 

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The Dinerstein Cos. promoted Clay Hicks to the role of chief administrative officer, spearheading efforts to streamline operations across TDC’s five company divisions. Hicks joined TDC in 2015 as president of apartment management. 

The Dinerstein Cos. also promoted Aryne Bailey and Crystal Jackson to executive vice presidents of TDC Management Co. They will oversee day-to-day operations of TDC’s portfolio, with Bailey focusing on student housing and Jackson on conventional and build-to-rent properties. 

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Eversheds Sutherland hired George P. Bernhardt to join its real estate practice group as counsel in the Houston office. Bernhardt brings more than 25 years of in-house legal experience. He has led initiatives focused on sale-leasebacks, global construction practices, solar energy implementation, surplus property sales and leases, outsourcing facilities management, and global real estate compliance matters.

Bernhardt was most recently executive counsel of global real estate at Baker Hughes, which he joined in 1997.

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Partners Real Estate hired Marc Peeler as a partner. He is the company’s first partner-level sales professional to specialize in retail brokerage.

Peeler was senior vice president in NewQuest's investment sales division and has more than 10 years of experience. He specializes in the acquisition and disposition of commercial properties. 

SALES

Ascendant Capital Partners and Culver Investment Partners acquired the Elle Collection portfolio, three multifamily properties in the Texas Medical Center, for about $60M. The properties, totaling 470 units, are Elle at the Medical Center, Vie at the Medical Center and Plaza Townhomes at the Medical Center.

The acquisition marks Ascendant and CIP’s first deal together and the first investment for CIP’s new platform. 

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Colliers announced the sale of an 82K SF industrial park at 6002 34th St. in Houston. The seller, represented by Jason Tangen and Paul Dominique of Colliers, was a local family that owned and operated the park since its construction.

The property has six buildings on nearly 4 acres and is 95% leased.

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Oxford Partners’ Jeffery Arnaud and Ryley Caton represented Rob Gardner of Associated Marble in the sale of a 10K SF building at 9306 Summerbell Lane in Houston. Rigoberto Juarez of Global Investment Realty represented the buyer.

LEASES

Newcor Commercial Real Estate represented Questco in the sublease of 28K SF of its offices at 480 Wildwood Forest Drive in The Woodlands. Questco sought to downsize its operations after transitioning to a flex schedule for employees, while LJA Engineering was interested in expanding, so LJA took over the full-floor lease, according to Newcor.

Ryan Dierker and Rob Banzhaf of Newcor represented Questco. Morgan Relyea Colt of Cushman & Wakefield represented LJA Engineering. 

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Kraken Resources renewed its lease and expanded to two floors totaling 48K SF at 945 Bunker Hill Road in Houston. Andrew Brod of Whitebox Real Estate represented the tenant.

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Oxford Partners’ Austen Buckalew and Dylan Stiteler represented Texas Bakery Supply Houston in the renewal of 24K SF at 4555 Airline Drive in Houston. Darryl Noon of Transwestern represented the landlord, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Newcor Development is nearing completion and delivery of a single-tenant 27K SF building on one of the last remaining sites in the Tomball Business and Technology Park. The tiltwall building is on 2.4 acres, has a 30-foot clear height, two dock-high doors and one oversized grade-level door.

The building can accommodate 7K SF of office space on two stories, which would increase the usable square footage to more than 30K. 

Banzhaf is marketing the building for sale or lease. Delivery is slated for May. 

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Urban Genesis announced the opening of the Warehouse District, three mid-rise apartments that will provide more than 500 new housing units to Downtown Houston. The Warehouse District opened its first building, Artist, at 813 McKee St. in February. The remaining two buildings, Muse and Icon, are slated to open in May and August.

In the new complex, 50% of the units are rent-restricted, while the other 50% are available to any renter. Urban Genesis aims to provide more economical housing with varied parking solutions and without what it says are unnecessary amenities.

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The Instant Group assisted Dow Jones in remodeling 11K SF in Town Centre One at 750 Town & Country Blvd. in Houston. The new workspace opened this month and will serve as the Houston hub of Chemical Market Analytics by OPIS, a Dow Jones company.

The space will include 64 workstations, nine meeting rooms, seven phone rooms and a large collaboration breakout space in a Class-A Houston office building. Shannon Unsicker and Brian Sapp of Fischer handled site search and lease negotiations for Dow Jones.