INTREPID GRAND OPENING
SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Express-News) – The Center for the Intrepid rehabilitation center at Brooke Army Medical Center has opened. The four-story center specializes in rehabilitative care for American troops who have lost limbs or suffered severe burns, blindness or head injuries in combat.
The $50 million, 65,000-square-foot facility, which will serve 300 to 400 troops a year, is the largest, costliest facility ever built for war veterans using private funds. New York real estate developer Arnold Fisher helped spearhead the project. More than 600,000 individuals and corporations made donations ranging from $1 to $1 million.
Features include a gait lab that makes three-dimensional animated images to help guide and improve movement, a virtual reality dome where veterans can improve their balance, shooting and driving simulators, and an aquatics area.
Next to the center are two new 21-room Fisher Houses, which were built so relatives could stay nearby as wounded soldiers go through rehabilitation. The houses were built with $6 million donated through the Fisher House Foundation in partnership with the Fallen Heroes Fund.
“It lets them focus on the task of getting better,” said Dave Coker, president of the Fisher House Foundation. “They're not worried about how the family is. They're with the family."
ANTOINE VILLAGE SOLD
HOUSTON (Sperry Van Ness) – Antoine Village Apartments, a 148-unit apartment community in the Inwood Forest area near Willowbrook Mall and the newly renovated Inwood Forest Golf and Country Club, has been sold to a Maryland-based private investor.
Built in 1982, the 11-building complex on almost six acres at 5550 Hollyview Dr. is 92 percent occupied. Monthly rents for the one-, two- and three-bedroom units range from $400 to $745.
Sperry Van Ness in Sugar Land and North Carolina represented the buyer, and Oak Leaf Management represented the seller, San Antonio–based GAR Associates II LP.
GRANDSTANDING AT ALAMO DOWNS
SAN ANTONIO (Titan Industrial Development) – Titan Alamo Downs LP, a joint venture between Titan Industrial Development (TID) and Today Realty Advisors, has begun construction on the Grandstand Business Center.
The 133,500-square-foot facility is on 8.5 acres at 1803 Grandstand Dr. in Alamo Downs, a 279-acre, master-planned business park. It is slated for completion by April.
Cantera Design Builders is the general contractor, and Rehler Vaughn & Koone Inc. is designing the project. Pruitt Realty represented Titan in the purchase and will handle leasing for the building.
WALTON TAKES ONE WESTCHASE
HOUSTON (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler) – Walton Street Capital LLC has purchased the more than 466,000-square-foot One Westchase Center from Granite Properties Inc.
The 12-story, Class-A office building is on more than five acres at 10777 Westheimer. It was fully occupied at time of sale with tenants such as EDG Inc., Brown & Gay Engineers, Petrobras America Inc. and U.S. Fire Insurance Company.
Granite's investments director Paul Bennett was responsible for negotiations and was assisted by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) in brokering the transaction. HFF assisted Walton in securing acquisition financing through Goldman, Sachs & Company.
ALBERTSON'S CLOSING MORE STORES
TEXAS (San Antonio Express-News) – Idaho-based Albertson's grocery chain plans to close 11 unprofitable stores in Texas by March 11. The closures will affect about 770 employees in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, according to Supermarket News.
Of the 11 stores, six are in the Metroplex, two are in Austin, two are in Amarillo and one is in Lubbock. The closures are in addition to the six Texas stores the company closed last month.
LAND SOLD FOR RAIL PORT
SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Express-News) – The Bexar Metropolitan Water District Board approved the sale of 11 acres near the Medina River to Union Pacific Railroad as part of the rail company's new rail port in southwest Bexar County.
The acreage is part of the new $90 million, 300-acre port that will handle rail cars and tractor trailers with household goods and other items, including parts for the Toyota plant, railroad officials said.
BexarMet was assured that no hazardous materials would be handled on the land, which lies next to the river and the utility's water treatment plant.
NEW HOME FOR PET PRODUCT SUPPLIER
DALLAS (globest.com) – Central Garden & Pet Co. is moving its regional distribution center to Dallas after almost nine years in Houston.
The California-based pet product supplier has signed a ten-year lease with Denver-based DCT Industrial Trust Inc. for 120,000 square feet in a Pinnacle Park warehouse. The warehouse’s remaining 360,000 square feet are occupied by International Truck & Engine Inc.
Central Garden & Pet Co. will move into the facility at 4038 Rock Quarry Rd. April 1.
EL DORADO APARTMENTS BOUGHT
McKINNEY (globest.com) – A Salt Lake City–based investment group has closed on the 248-unit Villas of El Dorado.
The 92 percent leased, 12-building, Class-A complex sits on almost 14 acres at 3250 Hudson Crossing. It was sold by a North Texas partnership that includes Samuel Ng, the Dallas architect who also designed the Mayfair, a luxury Turtle Creek rental at 3401 Lee Pkwy.
Most units have one bedroom and range between 621 and 754 square feet. The complex includes 60 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom units that range from 949 to 1,185 square feet. Rents start at $650 per month and go to $1,275.
Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. in Dallas assisted in brokering the sale.
TITLE INSURANCE RATES REDUCED
TEXAS (San Antonio Express-News) – Texas regulators have ordered title insurers to reduce their rates by 3.2 percent effective Feb. 1.
The order, signed by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin, will cut the cost of title insurance for a typical $100,000 home to $843, compared with $1,023 in 1998.
In the last eight years, Texas has cut title insurance rates by 17 percent, including a 6.5 percent reduction in 2004, the department said in a news release.
ROUND ROCK'S NEW HOUSING OPTION
ROUND ROCK (Austin Business Journal) – A nearly completed $30 million luxury townhome project could mean the beginning of new housing options for the city, which has primarily consisted of single-family homes.
The 160-unit Knotting Hill Town Homes development is being built on 16 acres fronting A.W. Grimes Boulevard between Gattis School Road and Louis Henna Boulevard. The one-, two- and three-bedroom units range from 913 to 1,523 square feet. They are priced between $128,000 and $202,000.
Waco-based Brown Holdings Inc. partnered with Austin-based Stadler Custom Homes on the development, with Vance Powell serving as project manager.
PARTNERSHIP PLANS APARTMENTS
CLEAR LAKE (globest.com) – RCP Clear Lake Ltd., a partnership between equity company Realty Capital Partners LLC and developer Realty Capital Corp., will build a 288-unit apartment complex on 14 acres at the intersection of Space Center Boulevard and Genoa Red Bluff Road.
Groundbreaking on the $26 million complex is slated for mid-spring. Construction is estimated to take 16 months.
FIDELITY EXPANSION IN WORKS
WESTLAKE (Star-Telegram) – With its local campus reaching capacity at about 2,900 employees, Fidelity Investments is looking to double the 600,000-square-foot facility, an expansion that would make room for about 1,500 new employees.
Westlake's Board of Aldermen has agreed to extend tax breaks that were granted to the financial services giant when it broke ground on the $120 million campus in 1999. Fidelity spokesperson Anne Crowley calls the tax abatement one step in the process.
“If everything comes together, we would like to be able to make a decision this year,” Crowley said.
FIXING UP THE GARDEN
LEWISVILLE (globest.com) – Garden Park shopping center at 1565 W. Main St. has been sold by Austin-based Watch Omega Holdings LP to a New Jersey partnership with a nationwide portfolio that predominantly includes retail properties.
The 21-year-old, 178,300-square-foot, Class-B shopping center on more than 21 acres in the city's older commercial district is 60 percent occupied. The new owner plans to attract new tenants with renovations that could include adding some pad sites.
Pennsylvania-based GMH Capital Partners assisted in the transaction.
U.S. HOME SALES FALL BIG
WASHINGTON (Associated Press, Real Estate Center) – The nation's housing market cooled last year after a five-year boom, with sales of previously owned homes falling by the largest amount in 17 years.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said sales of existing homes totaled almost 6.5 million units for 2006, down 8.4 percent from 2005. The five-year boom that ended in 2005 drove prices up at double-digit rates and caused a stampede of investors who purchased houses hoping to quickly sell them for big profits.
Texas was an exception, experiencing a record year. According to Real Estate Center figures, almost 290,000 homes were sold in 2006.
David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said 40 percent of national home sales in 2005 — the peak of the housing boom — were to investors and second-home buyers.
December sales were down almost 1 percent from November to an annual rate of 6.22 million units.
Even with the sales decline in 2006, the median price of a new home rose slightly last year to $222,000, compared with $219,600 in 2005.
Although the worst may be over, analysts say a rebound could be slow in coming because of a huge backlog of unsold homes that will keep downward pressure on prices, particularly in former boom areas.
MARGARET BENEDICT RETIRING
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – A long-time staff member is leaving the Real Estate Center this week.
Since 1987, Margaret Benedict has served as the assistant to the director. She is one of only three people to hold the job in the Center’s 35-year history. Four Center directors have depended on her to keep the Center’s staff paid and keep bills and paperwork moving along smoothly.
Many of our constituents who attended Center seminars or conferences saw Benedict managing the registration table. Until recently, she made all arrangements for these events. Benedict has an ability to juggle dozens of important tasks at once, and she will be missed.
Patricia Smith, currently a business administrator in the dean’s office for the Mays Business School, will replace Benedict Feb. 5.
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