IT'S FOR THE KIDS
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman, msdf.org) – Work has begun on the 150,000-square-foot Dell Pediatric Research Center, which will provide research, teaching, laboratory and office space.
The center will be near the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, a new Ronald McDonald House and several other medical facilities rising at the former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport.
Hensel Phelps Construction Co. expects to complete the center in late 2008.
SPUDS ON ICE
CARROLLTON (globest.com) – Pro Health, a new supplier for the food industry, has leased the remaining 124,950 square feet of a 249,900-square-foot building owned by Carrollton-based Billingsley Co.
Pro Health’s corporate and distribution center will occupy space that had been built for HomeGrocer.com in Valwood Industrial Park, just north of I-635 and west of I-35. About 25 percent of the leased area contains ready-to-go freezer and cooler space. Pro Health’s five-year, flat-rate lease also includes about a dozen dock-high doors and 7,000 square feet of ready-to-use office space.
Pro Health has bought the potato division of Idaho-based Larsen Farms Inc. to launch the operation.
HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER BREAKS GROUND
SAN MARCOS (Austin American-Statesman) – Hammons Hotels & Resorts LLC broke ground this week on a 77,300-square-foot conference center and a 250-room hotel off I-35 near outlet malls.
The city, which will own the conference center, is spending more than $25 million to build the center on five acres donated by local developer Terry Gilmore.
Hammons, which will manage and operate the center, will repay the city 30 percent of its construction costs as well as about $515,000 a year for its lease. Hammons also will pay about $50 million to build a ten-story, 250-room Embassy Suites Hotel next to the conference center on ten acres bought from Gilmore.
Both the hotel and conference center, at I-35 and McCarty Lane, are scheduled to open in October 2008.
STONEHENGE BUYS RIVERSQUARE
WACO (Waco Tribune) – Stonehenge Development of Houston has bought nearly all of RiverSquare Center, the restaurant row and shopping center at Franklin Avenue and South Third Street.
Bland Cromwell, a Waco real estate agent, represented the seller, Waco builder Mike Clark.
The center stretches from South Second to South Third streets along Franklin Avenue and includes several restaurants, professional offices, the Spice furniture store and The Shops of RiverSquare Center. The Ninfa’s building, owned by Ninfa’s, was not included in the sale.
Stonehenge had previously announced it will spend $50 million to develop the eight acres in front of city hall and extending across Washington Avenue. The land is owned by the city. Under its agreement with the city, Stonehenge plans lofts, retail shops, offices and restaurants. The city is making prime land available for 80 years at $10 a year, after which it will own the development.
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
HARKER HEIGHTS (Austin Business Journal) – Direct Development’s Austin office is breaking ground on an $80 million retail project on 82 acres about three miles east of Killeen.
The 700,000-square-foot Market Heights development at the northwest corner of US Hwy. 190 and FM 2410 is the firm’s first in Central Texas since opening the local office in October.
Target will open a more than 132,000-square-foot store at Market Heights and close its existing store near the mall in Killeen. Other major tenants will include a 16-screen Cinemark theater, Circuit City and Barnes & Noble.
The majority of the project is slated to open in July 2008.
PROMISE KEPT
LUBBOCK (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) – Promise Land Dairy, making good on last year's promise, will begin construction on a dairy operation, the county's first in about 20 years.
David Christopher of Phoenix is building the $8 million, 320-acre dairy on land currently in use as a cotton field, located on East CR 5500, ten miles northeast of Idalou.
Christopher, originally from Vernon, is bringing 1,200 cows from a dairy he rents in Phoenix. Milk production on 2,000 cows should begin by the end of the year. The permit allows for up to 3,200 cows, so expansion is already planned, he said.
For more than a decade, dairy operations have been moving into eastern New Mexico and West Texas as real estate prices in dairy-heavy states like California and Arizona have skyrocketed. Cheaper land and an economy that is responsive to the needs of agriculture are spurring the dairy's push into Texas.
BEACHFRONT TRACTS HITTING AUCTION BLOCK
CORPUS CHRISTI (Corpus Christi Caller-Times) – Developer Paul Schexnailder has submitted several tracts on Padre Island for an absolute auction to be held March 10.
Mark Scott with the city council said the tracts do not include property where Schexnailder and his company, Gulf Shores Joint Venture, recently proposed a master-planned $1.5 billion resort development.
City voters in November decided against granting Schexnailder a ban on vehicular traffic on 7,200 feet of beach (see related article), a concession he said was necessary for the development.
Syler Sales in Burton are listed as brokers for the properties. The Auction Way Co. of Georgia will direct the auction.
FEDERAL FUNDS FOR BEAUMONT HOUSING
BEAUMONT (The Enterprise) – Carleton Development Ltd. has been selected by the Beaumont Housing Authority to build 401 housing units at Fair Park. The homes are funded in part by a $20 million HOPE VI grant the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the authority in October.
This marks a major step toward the authority’s plans to replace the Magnolia Gardens complex with new housing. Some units will be rented, while others will be sold.
Dallas-based Carleton Development Ltd., the development arm of Carleton Residential Properties, must complete several steps before beginning construction, such as getting site plans reviewed and approved. Carleton will then hire engineers and contractors for the project.
One condition of the negotiations was that Carleton draw from local labor, said Robert Reyna, executive director of the authority.
H-E-B REPLACING EAST RIVERSIDE STORE
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – H.E. Butt Grocery Co. will build a new 125,000-square-foot store at East Riverside Drive and South Pleasant Valley Road.
The new H-E-B will be built behind the existing, 68,000-square-foot store, which will be razed to make room for parking.
Construction is projected to start early next year.
NYC DUO TAKES BAYBROOK GATEWAY
WEBSTER (globest.com) – New Plan Excel Realty Trust and JPMorgan Investment Management Inc., both based in New York City, have purchased the Baybrook Gateway center from local seller Eastfield Realty Inc.
The 19-acre, Class-A center at 1345 W. Bay Area Blvd. has almost 237,000 square feet. Tenants of the ten-year-old center include Barnes & Noble Inc., CompUSA Inc. and Old Navy Inc.
TRIO BUILDING TOWER
DALLAS (globest.com) – Lincoln Property Co., Corrigan Properties Inc. and Texas Capital Bank have broken ground on a 20-story office tower and five-story residential-and-retail building.
The development is on almost three acres at 2000 McKinney Ave. Construction on the 445,000-square-foot, Class-AA tower, which is already 40 percent leased, will begin in March and be completed in September 2008. The 15 condos and 6,500 square feet of street-level retail will follow in 2009.
HKS Inc. of Dallas designed the complex. The Dallas firms of the Beck Group and SWA Group are general contractor and landscape architect, respectively.
PARK WEST QUARTET SOLD
DALLAS (costar.com) – Transcontinental Realty Investors has purchased more than one million square feet of office space from Pennsylvania-based Brandywine Realty Trust for just over $107 million, or $99.90 per square foot.
The purchase includes four buildings at the Park West office complex at the intersection of the LBJ Freeway and Luna Road. Together, the E-1 and E-2 buildings contain 383,000 square feet. They are currently 70 percent leased. The C-2 and C-3 buildings contain 689,000 square feet and are currently 86 percent leased.
The purchase also included 4.7 undeveloped acres.
SUMMIT REGISTRATION INCREASES FEB. 17
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Registration for the Texas Development Summit, to be held March 2 at Texas A&M University in College Station, will increase to $175 per person Feb. 17. The cost is currently $150 per person.
The Summit will feature guest speakers discussing the Texas economy, Texas real estate investment markets, real estate development, urban area land markets and impact fees. There will also be a legislative roundup, and the Counselors of Real Estate, summit co-sponsors, will host a roundtable discussion. Texas real estate licensees can apply for continuing education credits upon completion of this seminar.
To register, go to www.recenter.tamu.edu/register.
EASTCHASE SHOPPING CENTER SELLS
FORT WORTH (Star-Telegram) – Diversified Developers Realty, an Ohio real-estate company, has sold the real estate it owned in Eastchase Market Shopping Center.
The sale included most of the 350,000-square-foot, 29-acre center, which is on the west side of Eastchase Parkway between Ederville Road and I-30. Target, Office Depot, McDonald's and Wendy's are owned by their respective companies.
The center includes a Ross Dress for Less, a United Artists theater, Famous Footwear, Home Depot Floor Store, RadioShack and several restaurants.
The purchaser is Equity Alliance of Fort Worth, a venture of Grand Sakwa Properties and Lormax Stern Development, both headquartered near Detroit.
TEXAS LAND CONFERENCE THIS APRIL
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The 17th Annual Outlook for Texas Land Markets conference will be held April 11–13 at the Hyatt Regency on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.
The conference will provide information on a variety of legal, economic, social and natural resource issues influencing current land market dynamics. The cost is currently $200 per person, but it will increase to $220 March 16.
For more information about the conference, including a downloadable brochure, go to http://recenter.tamu.edu/events/. To register, visit http://recenter.tamu.edu/register/.
SOFITEL JOINING CROWNE PLAZA FAMILY
HOUSTON (globest.com) – Davidson Hotel of Memphis and the Carlyle Group of Washington, D.C., have purchased the 334-room Hotel Sofitel at 425 N. Sam Houston Pkwy.
The partnership will rename the hotel Crowne Plaza Houston North Greenspoint and invest another $12 million into upgrading and converting the hotel.
Renovations to guest rooms, common areas and the exterior will begin in late 2007. Completion is slated for April 2008.
The seller, Accor Worldwide of France, was represented by Miami-based Plasencia Group Inc.’s Houston brokerage office.
CENTEX PORTION PURCHASED
DALLAS (The Dallas Morning News) – Locally-based Centex Corp., builder of large commercial projects such as Dallas' Azure condominium high-rise and buildings in the Victory complex, is selling its commercial construction division to Balfour Beatty PLC of Britain.
The $362 million sale, which includes an additional $60 million in cash over a 15-year period, is expected to close by the end of March.
While Centex's core business is in decline, this sale comes as the company's commercial construction business is up 5 percent in the most recent quarter. Centex Construction's annual revenue tops $1.7 billion a year.
Centex Corp., reporting its first quarterly loss ever of $228.2 million, has made several moves to shed secondary operations. Last year, Centex sold its housing operations in the booming U.K. market. The company also sold its U.S. home equity lending division.
No comments:
Post a Comment