Marq*E Sale Shows Retail Power

The Marq*E has a new owner and is getting (another) new look. It was a blazingly fast transaction, a trend that's spreading outside of our core retail assets to (finally) Class-B product. (Even more incentive for toddlers to learn the alphabet.)

We snapped Marq*E seller reps JLL VP Wendy Vandeventer, managing director George Cushing, and new teammate Meaghan Gallacher at their office. (Those cranes are for BHP Billiton’s new Four Oaks Place office.) The trio says retail assets are selling before they even get to best and final rounds. That includes the 352k SF Marq*E Entertainment Center, which never was marketed publicly. It was snapped up by a local firm, which plans to reconfigure the property. JLL also handled financing.

George, Wendy, and Meaghan also recently sold three properties that never got to the call for offers phase. One was Village at Northpark, a 25k SF center in Kingwood. It sold just as Gulf Coast Commercial was wrapping up development. (It’s 100% occupied and is shadow anchored by a Kroger.) The other two properties are under contract now—Spring Plaza (55k SF, 100% leased) and Shadow Creek Marketplace (43k SF in Pearland, 94% leased).

George tells us his team has a solid pipeline going into the summer. Next month, it’s bringing League City Plaza, a 127k SF asset, to market. (Pictured, it's 95% leased.) He expects to continue the rapid rate of sales; with lenders participating again, the market is a lot more robust than last year, and there’s demand for Class-B and high-C deals for the first time since 2008. (Class-D, start warming up in the bullpen. You may finally get into a game.)