The Deal Sheet
Trammell Crow and PrinREI have reached the beginning of the end. The JV duo broke ground on Energy Center Five, the final office tower in the Energy Corridor complex (or a great name for a boy band).
EC5 is a spec Class-A, 18-story tower totaling 524k SF. It was designed by Kirksey and slated to deliver in Q2 ’16. TCC and PrinREI entered the Energy Corridor over eight years ago, and this is the final project they have planned in the submarket. The first three floors will have expanded 18’ floor heights to accommodate planned amenities (including dining, conference rooms, and fitness center), and the double-story lobby will wrap around two sides of the building displaying a custom art installation. It’s pre-certified LEED Gold. Wells Fargo and US Bank provided construction financing, and Balfour Beatty is GC. TCC’s Aaron Thielhorn, Brandon Houston, Kevin Schmok, and Tommy Lee will lead development with PrinREI’s Joe Wanninger. CBRE’s Cody Armbrister and Steve Rocher are handling leasing.
EXECS
Crescent promoted a slew of people, including naming Joseph Pitchford managing director. He will ID new development opportunities in Houston and Dallas and is overseeing construction of 6 Houston Center. He’s been with Crescent since '06 and has 25 years of CRE experience. Crescent also promoted Mark Cox to VP of finance, Kevin Crum to VP of development, Jeff Dyer and Chris Hanrattie to VPs of investment, and Dan Novelli to VP of construction (he’ll also be working on 6 Houston Center).
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Wood Partners promoted Kim Small to SVP for the Central Region of Wood Residential Services (the property management arm). As such, Kim oversees 4,000 units, more than half of the company’s nationwide portfolio.
SALES
Phillips Edison purchased Spring Cypress Village, a 101k SF grocery-anchored retail center in northwest Houston. HFF’s Rusty Tamlyn (who repped seller Delaware Life Insurance Co—formerly Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.)—through its advisor Guggenheim Partners with colleagues Ryan West and Matt Berry) says Sprouts revitalized this older but well-located property, a trend he’s seeing in other centers across the metro including Kirkwood Marketplace (which he recently helped sell) and Copperfield Village (which he’s marketing now). Matt says the regeneration of the assets is a result of pent-up tenant demand in a tempered retail development environment, which is allowing buyers to underwrite significant rent growth. (Any new retail project will often require nearly double the rent that established small shop tenants are paying.) Spring Cypress Village sits on 16 acres at the intersection of SH 249 and Spring Cypress Road. It was renovated in '07.
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John Beeson, John Stephen Ford, and Steven Webster purchased 620 acres of undeveloped land north of I-10 and west of the Grand Parkway—it’s bordered by FM 529, Katy Hockley Road, Beckendorff Road, and Pitts Road. The Beckendorff family was the seller and for years used the site as a rice farming operation. David Frishman and M Kidd Properties’ Mark Kidd Sr and Mark Kidd Jr repped the seller.
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LP Developing purchased an eight-acre unimproved land tract on Wagg Way at Jackrabbit Road in Westland Business Park. Southwest Realty Advisors’ Steven O’Connor, Emilee Shepherd, and Marc Drumwright repped the buyer. The seller was SIC River Park.
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Affiliates of Braun Enterprises purchased a collection of retail properties totaling 16k SF at 1515-1707 West Gray. Marcus & Millichap’s Derek Hargrove and Justin Miller facilitated. The assets are between River Oaks and Montrose and just east of the historic River Oaks Shopping Center. In addition, Braun assembled a fifth tract adjacent, creating a development site totaling 44k SF of land. It will redevelop the site, its sixth such project in the Montrose area.
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An undisclosed buyer purchased 155 acres at the SEC of Highway 59 and Kroesche Road in Rosenberg. McAlister Real Estate’s Matthew Herring, Chris Hutcheson, and James Kadlick repped seller Rockspring Capital and BW Development’s Bernie Fredregill repped the buyer.
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Odessa Pumps & Equipment purchased a 15k SF Class-A industrial property at 6614 Petropark Dr. It previously housed ORBIS RPM. The project sits in the northwest submarket. Avison Young’s Patrick McCaffrey and Kent Willis repped the seller and CBRE’s Bill Rudolf and Gray Gilbert repped the buyer.
LEASES
UTMB leased 10k SF at the SEC of Highway 6 and Alvin Bypass in Alvin. Evergreen Commercial Realty’s Lilly Golden repped the landlord. The building is under construction and should be open by the end of the year.
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Sherwin Williams leased 12k SF at Beltway 8 Service Center. Sherwin Williams Real Estate’s Ray Starbuck repped the tenant and The Richland Cos’ Mickey Meyer-Sturgis repped the landlord in-house.
DEVELOPMENT
Peska is opening this fall in BLVD Place. Gensler designed the restaurant, which will include fresh produce and seafood offerings in a marketplace setting. The 6,000 SF restaurant is at the corner of San Felipe and Post Oak Lane across the street from the 29-story luxury residential tower being built by Hanover.
THIS AND THAT
Springbok, the new restaurant at Boxer Property’s 711 Main, is open. It features traditional South African fare and a rugby pub atmosphere and is a partnership between restaurateur Peter Walker and Boxer Property CEO Andrew Segal. It includes a 100-person dining room and two patios and a cocktail lounge that accommodate 60 to 80 more people.
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AIA announced the winners of its Houston Design Awards, culled down from 108 submittals. Congrats to Morris, which won the architecture greater than 50k SF category for Lone Star College EMI-University Park (pictured). Taniguchi & Associates, Kendall/Heaton, and Geoffrey Brune were recognized for their work on the Asia Society Texas Center in the under 50k SF category. Kirksey came home with two awards—its work on the Beth Yeshurun Day School and the Harris County Precinct Two Sylvan Beach Pavilion both were recognized in the renovation/restoration division. Kinneymorrow architects won an interiors award for its design of Daryl Howard Art’s studio, and the Rottet Studio was recognized in the same category for the Seyfarth Shaw office.
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NAI Houston was selected as exclusive leasing agent for the Binz Building (1001 Texas Ave), a 14-story, 127k SF building in the CBD. Doug Pack negotiated the agreement for NAI in-house, and Drew Crawford will lead marketing.
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Asset Plus was awarded management of Tara Oaks, a 126-unit multifamily community. It’s 100% occupied and is slated to be renovated.
