Galleria's Mixed-Use Darling
Westcreek, the next mixed-use complex in the Galleria, came out of the gates hard with three rapid-fire land sales. CBRE SVP Brendan Lynch (pointing over his desk to the River Oaks District, a sort of Phase 1 for the project) is representing Cypress Real Estate Advisors, which purchased 30 acres east of 610 in ’05 and ’06 for the complex. It sold 15 acres to Oliver McMillan in 2007 to develop the River Oaks District, and then created a master plan (including 80 pages of guidelines) for the remainder. Brendan says Cypress could’ve sold the whole tract but had a vision of creating something special. (Meanwhile, the Beanie Babies we purchased in '95 have yet to reach their full potential.)
They must've snapped this pic after St. Patrick's Day last year. Cypress has sold four tracts and has one more under contract. Two are available for purchase, and Brendan tells us it’s reserving one. Cypress may sell it or develop the site itself; it’s waiting to see how the 658k SF River Oaks District does. Pelican Builders purchased two sites in December and is developing one mid-rise multifamily project (timeline TBD) and a gated townhome community. The latter will be similar to a Pelican property just east of this, and construction will start in the first half of this year.
Novare Group snagged a tract to develop SkyHouse River Oaks, a 25-story, 353-unit luxury multifamily tower. As with the SkyHouse community under construction Downtown, it’s in partnership with Simpson Housing, Batson-Cook Development, and Pete Dienna. It’ll deliver in Q1 ’15. Last but not least, Peloton has 3.7 acres under contract to develop Westcreek Center, a 368k SF office project. Two two-acre tracts are still available for sale, and Brendan tells us Cypress would really like to see a hotel on one. But it’s also gotten interest from condo, retail, and multifamily investors, and it’ll let the market dictate. Elsewhere, Brendan is marketing the Downtown US Post Office site for sale. (Call for offers on those 16 acres is mid-February.)
