STONEBRIDGE POWERS UP
McKINNEY (globest.com) – Levcor Inc. of Houston and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) are planning their first joint venture in North Texas.
Stonebridge Crossing regional power center will be about 500,000 square feet on 53 acres at the US 380 and Custer Road intersection.
The acreage was recently bought off-market from Dallas-based Hunter Equities LLC, which owns more land in the area (see RECON, “Hunter Gobbling Up Land”).
Stonebridge Crossing is one of five projects that Levcor will spotlight at next month’s International Counsel of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas. The development firm also has three million square feet of projects planned for Eagle Pass, Laredo, McAllen and San Antonio.
Levcor plans to break ground by year's end with completion targeted for fall 2009.
DISTRIBUTOR BUYS IN BC
MISSOURI CITY (Transwestern.com) – Ben E. Keith Co. has purchased just over 82 undeveloped acres in BC Business Park, also known as Beltway Crossing.
Beltway Crossing is a 330-acre retail-, distribution-, and manufacturing-related business park in Fort Bend County along Hwy. 90, Beltway 8 and Gessner Road.
Transwestern represented Ben E. Keith Co., which is a distributor of Anheuser-Busch and food service products. The food service division serves ten states, and the beverage division delivers products to 60 Texas counties. Together, the divisions employ more than 3,000 people.
Fort Bend County ranks in the top 1 percent of U.S. counties in economic growth, median household income (adjusted for cost of living), and population growth. The county is near the Port of Houston.
Fort Bend County can be found within the Center's 2007 Texas Real Estate Market Report for the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
HARWOOD DISTRICT DEVELOPING
DALLAS (globest.com) – Harwood International Inc. will break ground next month on the $100 million Saint Ann Court at 2515 N. Harwood St. in Uptown.
The 27-story, 320,000-square-foot office tower will have four penthouse levels with private European gardens and terraces with fireplaces; a "samurai" lobby espresso bar, a Marie Gabrielle restaurant with in-office room service, and a private health club.
The tower is the beginning of $500 million of new residential and office development in the developer’s planned 17-block Harwood District.
The project's architect of record is Dallas-based BOKA Powell Architecture LLC. Design and landscaping architect is Shimoda Design Group of Los Angeles. Local firm Austin Commercial Inc. is the general contractor.
Tenants of the 43 percent preleased building are scheduled to move in beginning in early 2009.
TOWN LAKE HYATT SELLING
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Edinburgh Management of Florida, along with investment partner Bank of Scotland, is set to close next week on the 448-room Hyatt Regency on Town Lake.
Fairfield Residential LLC of Grand Prairie is selling the hotel, which it purchased for around $50 million in 2005 before investing about $10 million in renovations.
The Hyatt Corporation will continue management duties.
INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH
DALLAS–FORT WORTH (Grubb-Ellis.com) – The Dallas–Fort Worth industrial leasing market maintained its vigorous pace in the first quarter of 2007, driven primarily by the warehouse-distribution sector.
Overall, the first quarter industrial market vacancy leveled off at 9 percent, up slightly from both fourth quarter 2006 and year-over-year figures.
Locally, close to three million square feet of positive absorption was recorded in first quarter 2007, up approximately 510,000 square feet from the same time last year. Rising demand for warehouse-distribution space was seen particularly in the Arlington and D-FW International Airport areas, where demand was at just over 2.5 million square feet.
Meanwhile, the R&D-flex sector posted approximately 436,000 square feet of growth, up 305,000 square feet compared to March 2006. Addison, northeast Dallas and south Fort Worth exhibited the highest demand for R&D-flex space.
A flurry of construction is underway throughout the Metroplex, with approximately 8.7 million square feet of speculative industrial space delivered to the market over the 12 months ending this March. Of that new space, 4.7 million square feet remained available at the close of the first quarter.
For more information on this and other Texas markets, visit the Grubb-Ellis website.
PROSPER PLAZA ON THE WAY
PROSPER (globest.com) – Forty acres recently purchased by Cross Development have been earmarked for a $35 million shopping center.
The tract at US 380 and Custer Road will be the home of Prosper Plaza, a Class-A retail center that will contain 286,000 square feet and seven pad sites. Cross Development plans to break ground on the project by early next year.
Expedition Capital Partners in Dallas represented seller Forney-Wally Ltd., an affiliate of Arkansas-based Wally Properties Inc.
TOWN SQUARE PART OF REVITALIZATION
WACO (Houston Business Journal) – As part of an effort to revitalize the downtown area, SWB Heritage Square Partners LP is developing Waco Town Square, a 17-acre, mixed-use development that will also include housing for college students.
Waco Town Square, which will be between South Third and South Fourth Streets, will consist of 61,880 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 68,680 square feet of Class-A office space and about 35,000 square feet of loft-style residential space. In addition, about five acres will be developed as a 450-bed student housing facility. SWB will break ground on the project this fall.
Houston-based SWB was created by Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace, Costa Bajjali of Sugar Land–based Wallace Bajjali Development Partners LP and Kevin Matocha of Houston-based Stonehenge Development LLC.
GREENWAY MAKING HEADWAY
DALLAS (The Dallas Morning News) – Rivendell Development has broken ground on Greenway Place, a 50-unit townhouse development near University Park.
The Georgian-inspired townhouses are replacing old apartments that have already been demolished. Units will start at more than $430,000 and range from 1,900 to more than 3,500 square feet.
The three-acre, seven-building project will be ready later this year.
MIXED-USE SPRINGS FROM UNIVERSITY SITE
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman; globest.com) – A local developer is planning a $500 million mixed-use development on the 22-acre Concordia University site.
East Avenue Investment Group will build a more than 2.7 million-square-foot high-density community on the recently purchased property, which is near the University of Texas and I-35. Plans currently call for 1,450 residential units, 545,000 square feet of commercial space and a 250-room luxury hotel.
East Avenue will pay for the preservation and creation of several parks in surrounding neighborhoods. Construction will begin next year and be completed in three to five years.
Capmark Finance Inc. arranged financing for East Avenue, and Lehman Brothers Inc. of New York City funded the loan. Staubach Co. represented Concordia in the sale.
CRESCENT SELLS INTEREST
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman, globest.com) – Fort Worth–based Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. has sold its 90 percent interest in the recently completed Parkway at Oak Hill for around $12.5 million.
The two-building property at 4801 Southwest Pkwy. has almost 145,500 square feet of Class-A office space.
Dallas-based Champion Properties, providing 10 percent of the equity, is the developer and general partner. Crescent and Champion each owned a 50 percent stake in the property.
Stream Realty Partners LP will handle leasing.
FROM GROCERIES TO GRADE SCHOOL
WACO (Waco Tribune-Herald) – The former Albertsons grocery story at 1900 N. Valley Mills Drive will soon be home to Harmony Science Academy–Waco, the city’s fourth charter school.
The Houston-based Cosmos Foundation, which operates nine schools in five cities across the state, signed a lease on the building last week. The property has been vacant since Albertsons closed up shop last August.
The school will serve about 350 prekindergarteners through eighth-graders when it opens this August. Another grade will be added each year until the school has grades pre-k through 12.
Charter schools are a type of public school funded by the state with open enrollment and no tuition but administered by private nonprofit organizations. The city’s three other charter schools are Rapoport Academy, Waco Charter School and Eagle Academy of Waco.
ARBOR COURT UPGRADED, SOLD
HOUSTON (globest.com) – Related Cos. LP of New York City has purchased a 232-unit, Class-B complex for around $8.8 million.
The Arbor Court Apartments, a 97 percent leased HUD property at 802 Seminar Dr., underwent a nearly $1 million renovation as part of the sale.
The seller, a San Francisco–based investment group, replaced the roofs and drainage system, added landscaping and upgraded the interiors. The seller also removed nonpaying tenants and hired new management.
The 28-year-old Arbor Court is on more than nine acres. The complex has one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 583 to 896 square feet. Rents are 78 cents per square foot.
The complex traded at a 6.9 percent cap rate.
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