The Deal Sheet

Downtown has been a law firm stomping ground. One has ventured out—will more follow suit? (Ah, legal humor—it's up there with dad humor.)

Doyle Raizner purchased 2402 Dunlavy St, a 10k SF office building in the Montrose area. The law firm is moving from the CBD. JLL’s Louis Rosenthal and Anya Marmuscak repped the group and shared JLL's law firm report predicting a migration from Downtown. The CBD has the highest concentration of law firms, but they’re challenged by low vacancy and some of the highest rents in Houston (and they’re continuing to increase). That may drive an exodus to neighboring submarkets, and low interest rates may push more to consider acquisition in lieu of leasing. 

So far many law firms are sticking to leasing in the CBD: 20-year tenant of Pennzoil Place Ogden, Gibson, Broocks, Longoria & Hall just renewed 13k SF (Studley’s Kevin Hodges repped the tenant and Transwestern repped the landlord). And Ford+Bergner moved into the CBD from the Galleria in an 11k SF lease at Bank of America Center. (Cresa's David Price repped the tenant and PMRG's John Spafford repped landlord M-M Properties.)

SALES

AIN Enterprises purchased a 19k SF office building formerly known as GTE building at 8210 N Main St in Baytown. The seller was CR Woods, and Claire Sinclair Properties’ Claire Sinclair Gavrel facilitated.

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JAP Properties purchased 2.4 acres in Cedar Crossing Business Park to construct an industrial facility for OSR. Cushman & Wakefield’s Kelley Parker, John Littman, Coe Parker, and Tim Thomas repped the seller and Claire Sinclair Properties’ Jim Hargrove repped the buyer.

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Yolanda and Manuel Arias purchased a 45k SF facility at 1505 and 1519 Hill Rd. TNRG’s Thomas Leger and Robert McGee repped seller Athena Brassart. 

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Prime Contractors purchased a 10k SF office building at 17355 Village Green. TNRG’s Jon Sellers and Patrick Wolford repped seller ASE Holdings.

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H6 Texas purchased 7409 Wright Rd, a 21k SF industrial property. H6 HQs nearby and needed the space to expand its operations. Henry S Miller’s Doug Bates and Joel Hill repped seller Rich Damon Henry Trust, and MacDougall & Co’s Joe MacDougall repped the buyer.

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A California institutional investor purchased Mediterra at Westchase Apartments, a 312-unit multifamily complex. Marcus & Millichap’s Jeff Fript and Kyle Bruchmiller repped the seller. Jeff says it’s a stabilized asset with significant upside through continuation of a value-add program. The buyer will upgrade the property to capitalize on explosive growth in Westchase. The property was built in 1980.

LEASES

DepoTexas expanded to 17k SF in 13101 Northwest Fwy. Studley’s Jim Bell and Drew Morris repped the tenant and Rosemont Realty’s Carrie Powledge repped the landlord.

DEVELOPMENT

Midway is launching a $10M renovation of Levy Park as part of its Kirby Grove mixed-use project. The team is reinvigorating the park with year-round programming, landscaping, playscapes, water features, performance pavilion, event lawn, community garden, and dog park. It’s the culmination of 17 years of work since the Levy Park Steering Committee was established. The Office of James Burnett will oversee the park’s design. Midway secured a 99-year ground lease to develop Kirby Grove, which will include Class-A office space, multifamily, retail, and restaurants. Construction is underway on Kirby Grove; both it and Levy Park will deliver next spring.

FINANCING

NorthMarq’s Greg Duvall arranged $8.2M of supplemental financing for the Retreat at Steeplechase and Retreat at Steeplecrest (pictured). The two multifamily communities total 650 units. Financing was arranged through AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance and was in conjunction with the buyer assuming first mortgage debt.

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LMI Capital’s Brandon Brown arranged $6.2M for the acquisition of a 224-unit multifamily property in North Houston. The Class-B asset is located near Exxon’s campus. Brandon obtained a conduit loan with 80% leverage; the non-recourse CMBS loan includes rehab funds.

THIS AND THAT

1800 West Loop S earned LEED Gold recertification. The 400k SF building was first certified in 2008, when it was the first high-rise office in Texas to earn LEED-EBOM Silver. KBS owns the property.