Behind the Deal: Titan Doubles Down
in Schertz and Selma

Titan chairman Kevin Reid (here with CEO Ben Spencer) tells us his firm pounced on this site when it came available because it considers Texas head and shoulders over the rest of the country and the I-35 Corridor tops in the state. (Flattery will get you everywhere.) It first purchased 124 acres in Schertz last August and promptly sold 15 acres to Weeks Robinson, which will build a 315k SF spec facility there. It has another 18-acre parcel going under contract in a week or two. And Kevin tells us he's looking at another piece for acquisition now a little farther north in the I-35 Corridor.

Kevin and his leasing rep, CBRE's Rob Burlingame (here with his wife Anna at Alaska's Exit Glacier), tell us Titan is primarily looking for build-to-suit opportunities (although it'll consider other land sales when they make sense). Plenty of users are contemplating it—4M SF of potential occupants have reached out to the team (which includes Endura) since October. One draw: the strong business-friendly environment in Selma and Schertz. 1.3M SF are in active discussions now for build-to-suits.

Titan is hoping to grab the really large users, a unique offering for the area. Rob says there are limited opportunities for industrial users bigger than 100k SF in San Antonio, and pretty much nothing larger than 200k SF. But the smallest building Titan has master planned is 180k SF, and it's happy to accommodate users looking for 1M SF or more. (The team's gotten a prospect this large already.) Kevin says these big users haven't been the norm in this area, but Amazon and Caterpillar (both adjacent to Titan Industrial Park) have both proven major logistics hubs can be successful here.

LEASES

Athenahealth will lease the entire 103k SF office space at the Seaholm Power Plant from CIM Group and Seaholm Power. Construction began on the redevelopment of the 1950-era, Art Deco Seaholm Power Plant project in April 2013, with all Seaholm Residences fully reserved by November and anticipated to be available for occupancy in the Q2 ‘15. The low-rise office and retail building should be completed by the end of this year. It includes 11k SF of ground-floor restaurant space, 3,500 square feet of public space, and a coffee shop, as well as four floors of open, creative office space.

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Gold's Gym Texas Holdings Group inked a 40k SF lease at 601 Middle Fiskville Rd in Austin from 6001 Middle Fiskville. CBRE's Daniel Taylor and Edge's Daren Nix repped the tenant. Aquila Commercial's Joe Simmons repped the landlord.

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The Aveda Institute is relocating from University Park to 6001 Middle Fiskville in Austin with a 17k SF lease. This new location will be adjacent to Highland Mall at the corner of I-35 and RR 2222. UCR's Jon Smalling and Jack Breard represented the tenant and Aquila Commercial's Joe Simmons represented the landlord, Middle Fiskeville.

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BusinessSuites (Echelon) IV inked a 17k SF lease renewal at 9442 Capital of TX Hwy in Austin from OTR. CBRE's Troy Holme and Katie Ekstrom repped the landlord. Herron Partners' Pat Herron repped the tenant.

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Cloud Imperium Games subleased 14k SF at 13420 Galleria Circle. The sublandlord, Fired Up, was represented by ECR's Jason Steinberg and Matt Fain. The subtenant was represented by Aquila Commercial's Jon Wheless and Sloan Spaeth.

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Texas Organ Sharing Alliance inked an 11k SF renewal at 8122 Datapoint Dr in San Antonio. CBRE repped the tenant. NAI REOC San Antonio broker Gabriel Gutierrez, along with Michael Sawtelle, repped the landlord, Ashford Oaks Properties.

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Chalk Mountain Services renewed its 97k SF lease and Overhead Door renewed its 15k SF lease, both in the Lanark Distribution Center. NAI Global's Ryan Weiser represented Overhead Door. Endura Advisory Group's Charlie Hargis represented Chalk Mountain. Stream Realty Partners' Jason Schnittger represented the landlord, 610 Lanark Partners.

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Wounded Warrior Project leased 19k SF at 12672 Silicon Dr in San Antonio. Stream's Jason Schnittger and Lindsay Meche Kopplow represented the landlord, Brookwood Tech Ridge I. CBRE's Scott Herbold repped the tenant.

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Blast Fitness leased 25k SF at 6703-6759 NW Loop 410 in San Antonio. Retail Solutions' Tim McBrearty represented the tenant. Transwestern represented the landlord.

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Vendicator Technologies inked an 11k SF lease at 3019 Alvin Devane Blvd in Austin from TAAB Texas. CBRE's Greg Marberry repped the tenant. St. Croix Capital Corp repped the landlord.

FINANCING

BMC Capital's Patrick Short arranged for a $1.3M supplemental loan for a 48-unit multifamily property in Austin. The loan featured an eight-year fixed rate at 5.79% and a 30-year amortization, co-terminus with the existing first lien. The loan was arranged through one of BMC Capital's preferred FNMA DUS lending relationships. Patrick also arranged a $1M loan for the 31-unit Viking Villa multifamily property in Austin. The loan featured a 12-year fixed rate at 5.75% and a 30-year amortization. The loan was arranged through one of BMC Capital's correspondent agency relationships.

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Berkeley Point Capital closed a 35-year fully amortizing $10M loan for the refinance of the 346-unit Aguila Oaks Apartments in San Antonio for the sponsor, Cesar Chavez Foundation. The refinance provided funds for near-term capital improvements and large initial deposit to reserves for future capital needs.

THIS & THAT

The Real Estate Council of Austin's Knock Out Night (on Thursday) included this group of knock-outs from Winstead: Kristi Stotts, Amanda Baxter, Kendra Roloson, Rebecca Cantu, Jewels Watson, Greta Goldsby, Amanda Swor, and Katie Ogden.

KUDOS 

CBRE's Katie Ekstrom is taking over the helm of the Commercial Brokers Association of Austin as the 2014 president. She is serving her fourth term on the CBA board, following terms as vice president, social chair, and membership chair. 

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Russell Young joined the CBRE Austin occupier practice group as SVP. He comes to the firm from JLL.

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David Berndt joined The Retail Connection as development partner in TRC | Connected Development Services and will lead the company's development platform in Central and South Texas.

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Peloton Commercial Real Estate added Andrew Price as sales associate. He comes to the firm from CASE Commercial Real Estate Partners.

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Britt Morrison was promoted to VP with the commercial retail division of The Weitzman Group. He joined the firm in 2008 and specializes in retail project leasing and retail tenant representation. TWG also promoted Logan Reichle to assistant VP with the investment sales division of The Weitzman Group.

CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

USAA Real Estate Co and its development partner, Patrinely Group, broke ground at WestRidge at La Cantera. The master-planned office development led by Patrinely Group, is located on La Cantera Parkway. The 128k SF building is designed for LEED Silver certification with completion slated for Q4. Crimson Services managing principal Dean Patrinely, an affiliate of Patrinely Group, will oversee leasing and property management of WestRidge One. Travis Commercial Real Estate is the local listing broker on the project. RealCo is the master developer and owner of La Cantera.

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A JV between MedProperties Holdings and The LaSalle Group will build the 46-bed Autumn Leaves of North Austin. The one-story, 27k SF residential care community will be at the southeast corner of Anderson Mill Road and Swan Drive. The memory care community will be operated by The LaSalle Group. Texas Gulf Bank is providing construction financing. 

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CyrusOne breaks ground tomorrow on its second data center at 9500 Westover Hills Blvd in San Antonio. The new site will have 180k SF of raised floor space along with 22k SF of Class-A office space.

SALES

Admiral Capital Group and its JV partner, Crimson Real Estate Advisors, sold Aspen Lake, Tower of the Hills, and Tower Point office buildings (total 380k SF) to Fortis Property Group. The partnership acquired the assets in 2011 and this exit represents the first realization for Admiral Capital Real Estate Group and partner USAA Real Estate Co. Admiral and Crimson strategically executed a value-add business plan to reposition and stabilize these assets. Among the portfolio includes the 205k SF Aspen Lake, which was vacant at acquisition and is now fully leased.

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World Class Capital Group acquired a 99k SF former semiconductor manufacturing facility on a 118-acre parcel at I-35 North extending to Cypress Boulevard, directly behind the IKEA retail development in Round Rock from Cypress Semiconductor Corp. WCCG will renovate the property in phases for multiple uses including office, retail, flex, and residential.

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San Antonio Columbia Square purchased a 10k SF building on two acres at 1711 Columbia Square in San Antonio from Brisend Investments. The building will be repurposed into a kidney dialysis center for San Antonio Dialysis. The seller was represented by Cavender & Hill Real Estate's Joe Caroll. Henry S Miller's Jim Turano and Keith Coelho brokered the sale.

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American Bank of Texas sold 2.8 acres at the northwest corner of Loop 1604 and I-10 East, northeast of San Antonio to Environmental Alternative Fuels. Stream Realty's Ryan Harrison represented the seller. Bruce Baumann Real Estate's Bruce Baumann repped the buyer.

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Stream Realty Partners purchased an 80k SF MOB on the Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center campus in the South Texas Medical Center in Northwest San Antonio. The four-story, Class-A MOB is immediately available. Stream's Carolyn Hinchey Shaw and Jason Schnittger will lead leasing efforts, and Stream Realty will also provide management services for the property at 5109 Medical Dr.

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Atlantic | Pacific Cos purchased the 300-unit, Class-A The Palazzo apartments on Wonder World Drive in San Marcos. The buyer plans to make upgrades to the property. Atlantic | Pacific Management will handle all property management responsibilities.