NORTHWEST CROSSING TIC'D
HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – On behalf of five Oregon-based investors, A-Spire Financial Corp. has purchased the Northwest Crossing office building for $23.1 million.
A-Spire will manage the 112,000-square-foot, six-story building on five acres at the Northwest Freeway and Hollister Road. Major tenants include Pate Engineers, the U.S. government, Instromet, PipeLine Machinery and South Trust Bank.
The investors will own the building as tenants-in-common (TIC). TIC investments have grown in popularity since 2002, when the IRS ruled that they qualify for the 1031 exchange.
Yancey Hausman represented the seller, 13333 Northwest Freeway LP.
RIDING THE CREST
SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Business Journal) – Joint-venture company 242 Cresta Bella Ltd. will develop a $43 million community on 242 acres at I-10, just north of Camp Bullis Road.
Cresta Bella, which means "Beautiful Crest," will ultimately consist of 615 lots, with builders beginning construction on 136 lots in late spring. Home prices will range from $300,000 to $2 million.
Joint venture partners are Baruch Properties, Post Oak Development of Texas Inc., Cleveland-based NRP Group LLC and Lifestyle Homes of Broadview, Ohio. NRP will also serve as the developer for Cresta Bella. Subsidiary firm NRP Contractors LLC will provide construction management for the project.
REGENTS SELECT SA CAMPUS
SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Express-News) – Regents for The Texas A&M University System voted to start negotiations with Triple L Management and the city to acquire about 550 acres for a planned South Side A&M campus and irrigation technology center.
The land, half a mile south of Loop 410, is being donated by Triple L, an investment group of casino owners and executives. Triple L owns about 2,000 acres north of the Toyota manufacturing plant and will use the surrounding land to build Verano at City South, a housing, entertainment and retail development.
Ralph Lampman, a principal of Triple L. Lampman, said the 550-acre offer is flexible and could change depending on the needs of A&M and the city.
LUX LIVING TEXAS STYLE
AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO (uniquehomes.com) – What do Austin and San Antonio have in common with Idaho and Provence, France? In the world of luxury real estate, Austin scored fifth and San Antonio scored 19th of the 25 markets to watch in the coming year.
The recent issue of Unique Homes cited last year’s record home sales gains, the University of Texas, two lakes, and the bragging rights to the "music capitol of the world" as reasons to watch Austin’s luxury home market this year.
San Antonio, no longer just a military and tourist town, has also seen sales mushroom. The draw for out-of-state and out-of-country buyers? A beautiful climate and luxury that begins around $500,000.
Historic Annapolis, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay, took first place. Idaho’s growing resort markets in Coeur d'Alene, McCall and Sandpoint placed it at eighth. Provence’s villas and chateaus came in at 17th.
900 CONDOS FOR DOWNTOWN
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Novare Group Holdings of Atlanta and its partner, locally based Andrews Urban LLC, will break ground this fall on a 35-story residential tower that will also provide a new home for the downtown post office. A second tower will follow.
The first tower, at Sixth and Nueces Streets, will have about 400 condominiums and include ground-floor retail space. It will connect to a new two-story post office at Fifth and San Antonio Streets. The post office will have about 25,000 square feet and include a seven-story parking garage. The post office would open in 2008, and the residential tower would open in the fall of 2009.
The second high rise will be built at the former postal site across San Antonio Street. At about 40 stories, it will include more than 500 condos, more than 100 hotel rooms, and more than 25,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. That tower is expected to open in the fall of 2010.
DART'S PEERLESS PURCHASE
DALLAS (The Dallas Morning News) – Peerless Manufacturing Co. will sell its facility at 2811-2819 Walnut Hill Lane to Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) for almost $4.5 million.
The facility consists of about 12 acres, manufacturing buildings, a research laboratory and corporate offices.
Closing is set for May 1.
THE SUN ALSO RISES
EL PASO (El Paso Times) – Horizon Group Properties Inc. of Chicago and Grand Misuma of Los Angeles are building a $70 million factory outlet shopping center near I-10 and Trans Mountain Road.
The 385,000-square-foot Sun Valley Factory Shoppes will open in October with 80 to 90 stores, including Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and Gap Outlet.
Horizon projects that the Sun Valley stores will employ about 800 people.
SATELLITE CAMPUS FOR NORTH LAKE
IRVING (The Dallas Morning News) – A satellite campus for North Lake College will be built on almost 16 acres near MacArthur Boulevard and Shady Grove Road.
Dallas County Community College District's trustees recently approved purchasing the land from Shady Grove Square LP and Albertsons for $4.2 million. The existing vacant strip mall will be demolished.
The college plans to offer core curriculum courses, workforce development, ESL and GED courses, and training opportunities for small-business owners.
The new $10.2 million campus will hold as many as 400 students in up to 50,000 square feet of classrooms and will include a community meeting room. Grand opening is slated for spring 2009.
INVESTMENT GROUP GOES POSTAL
DALLAS (globest.com) – Local investment group Todd Interests LP has closed on the historic five-story post office downtown.
The more than 123,500-square-foot landmark at 400 N. Ervay St. will be redeveloped for mixed use, but the U.S. Postal Service will continue to lease 25,000 square feet. The balance will be used for retail, restaurant and entertainment space and 40 residential units. In addition, 40,000 to 60,000 square feet will serve as Class-A office space.
Norman Alston Architects of Dallas is the architect, with the local offices of BOKA Powell LLC and Gensler designing the project. James R. Thompson Inc., also from Dallas, will serve as general contractor. Guy England of Austin, along with Grubb & Ellis Co., brokered the sale.
BAYPORT TO ENTER PHASE TWO
PASADENA (globest.com) – Vantage Cos. will soon break ground on the second and final phase of the Bayport Distribution Center. The Houston developer has purchased 41 acres for the expansion.
Construction on the second phase will begin in April and finish later this year. Quoted rental rates for the second phase are 34 to 38 cents per square foot, triple net. The 560,000-square-foot phase one was completed last August and is 30 percent leased.
Vantage bought the land at the corner of Fairmont Parkway and Underwood Drive from North Bayport Industrial Park II, a limited partnership also out of Houston. Cushman & Wakefield’s Houston office represented North Bayport in the land sale, and Vantage represented itself.
NEW HOTELS REPLACING ANTIQUES
SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Business Journal) – Local real estate investor-developer Tony Bradfield has sold about nine acres at 8505 Broadway and Loop 410 to Summit Hotel Properties LLC.
The site is currently home to the Center for Antiques and the Airport Convention Center, which will close this month. Summit will redevelop the property to include two name-brand hotels. Two pad sites are planned for restaurants.
The first hotel constructed will be a 120-room Cambria Suites, according to Dan Hansen, executive vice president and chief development officer for Arizona and North Dakota–based The Summit Group Inc. The all-suite hotels will feature a state-of-the-art fitness center, barista bar, and indoor pool and spa. Grand opening is planned for the summer of 2008.
Bradfield has retained ownership of the hard corner of the tract, almost 1.5 acres, according to Gardner Peavy, a principal in locally based Cambridge Realty Group Inc., who represented Bradfield in the sale. Williams and Grubb & Ellis represented Summit.
THREE STARWOOD HOTELS
MEMORIAL CITY (Houston Business Journal) – As part of a $500 million redevelopment of the area, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. will open three hotels, each on property owned by MetroNational Corp.
Construction will begin this summer on the Westin Houston, Memorial City. The 250-room hotel also will include 65 condominiums and be part of the Gateway Development portion of MetroNational's 200-acre master plan.
Construction will also begin this summer on the 155-room Sheraton Houston, Memorial City, which will be located on Beltway 8 just north of I-10. The hotel is slated to open in 2009.
The Four Points by Sheraton Houston, Memorial City, will replace the Radisson Suite Hotel Houston West, which MetroNational purchased and closed two years ago. Located at the southeast corner of I-10 and Beltway 8, the 170-room hotel is expected to open this summer following a renovation.
New York–based Starwood will manage all three hotels.
TEXAS' JOB GROWTH STRENGTHENS
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The latest figures from the Texas Workforce Commission show strengthening job growth in the state. December 2006 figures show Texas is creating jobs at a rate of more than 2.2 percent compared with 1.4 percent for the United States.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 5.2 percent in December 2005 to 4.5 percent in December 2006.
The construction sector ranked first in annual job growth percentage from December 2005 to December 2006, followed by natural resources and mining, professional and business services, financial activities, and leisure and hospitality.
At the other end of the spectrum, the information sector (internet service providers, web search portals, publishing industries, broadcasting and telecommunications) lost 8,800 jobs during the period.
“The dot-com meltdown of a few years ago hasn’t ended,” said Real Estate Center Research Economist Ali Anari. “Technology-based businesses are still competing to remain viable, and those that lose are ‘melting’ away.
The Laredo metropolitan area ranked first in annual employment growth rate among 26 Texas metropolitan areas, followed by Midland, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Sherman-Denison and Victoria.
Two major metro areas, Austin–Round Rock and Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, posted annual employment growth rates of 3.1 and 3.0 percent, respectively.
The Midland metro area had the lowest unemployment rate in October 2006 followed by College Station–Bryan, Amarillo, Lubbock and Austin–Round Rock.
For more information, see the full report.
EL PORTAL OPEN
LAREDO (Laredo Morning Times) – The Bridge of the Americas El Portal project has formally opened.
With its four new vehicular lanes for southbound traffic, four pay stations for pedestrians, two pedestrian ticket vending machines and 13 technologically advanced turnstiles, El Portal is expected to make travel between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo faster and safer.
The $23 million project also includes new administration building space, underground utilities and escalators between street and overhead walkways.
The only thing left to be completed is 22,000 square feet of retail space.
HOMEOWNERSHIP ENDS UP FLAT
CALIFORNIA (Inman News) – The national homeownership rate remained roughly flat at 68.9 percent in fourth-quarter 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. The rate was 69 percent in third-quarter 2006 and fourth-quarter 2005.
The homeownership rate was 81.2 percent for those 65 and older, 80.7 percent for those 55 to 64, 76.4 percent for those 45 to 54, 68.9 percent for those 35 to 44, and 42.8 percent for those younger than 35. These rates remained roughly flat compared to rates in the third quarter.
Among racial categories, the homeownership rate for "non-Hispanic white" householders reporting a single race was highest at 76 percent.
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