WIN-WIN FOR HOMEBUYERS, STUDENTS
EL PASO (El Paso Times) – The nonprofit El Paso Collaborative for Community and Economic Development has joined forces with El Paso Community College (EPCC) to start a new affordable housing program.
The goal is to help low- and moderate-income residents living anywhere in El Paso County buy their own homes, said JoAnna Guillen, asset development director for the Collaborative. A family of four making $34,500 or less can qualify for the program.
Participants must take a series of classes in financial literacy and homeownership.
EPCC students will build the 14 homes, which will range from 1,000 to 1,400 square feet, to government-regulated Energy Star specifications. The program is designed to help the students, many of whom had been laid off by manufacturers, gain hands-on experience in construction.
Two model homes similar to the homes offered through this joint effort are on display at the Center for Workforce Preparedness at 1359 Lomaland.
The program is being funded by grants from the Meadows Foundation and the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation. Vista Serena Homes donated a parcel of property in east El Paso.
PEPPERTREE ENLISTS
DALLAS (globest.com) – U.S. Army Col. Kevin McMahan of California has purchased the 152-unit Peppertree Apartments at 2840 Las Vegas Trail.
Purchase of the 60 percent occupied complex includes submetering and no land-use deed restrictions, which had been removed during a prior foreclosure proceeding.
The more than six-acre, 40-year-old complex is a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, with eight floor plans ranging from 701 to 1,123 square feet. Existing rents are $435 to $650 per month.
LNR Property Corp. of Florida was the seller. The complex will be managed by the new owner.
BASCOM JV SEES DOUBLE
DALLAS, IRVING (globest.com) – Investment firm Bascom Group, in a joint venture with equity partner Pacific Coast Capital Partners LLC, has paid about $18 million for the Oak Tree Apartments in Irving and Charleston Apartments in north Dallas.
The 78 percent leased, 206-unit, Class-C Oak Tree at 2877 W. Walnut Hill Ln. is at the edge of Las Colinas, less than two miles from the Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport. Newark-based Prudential Mortgage Corp. arranged the three-year, floating rate, 80 percent financing.
The 20-building complex, built in 1972 on 11 acres, will undergo renovations totaling $2.5 million. Commercial Services Inc.'s Dallas team will begin the upgrades on the one-, two- and three-bedroom units by summer’s end.
The 88 percent leased, Class B-minus, 192-unit Charleston at 5616 Spring Valley Rd. is less than one mile from the Galleria. Capmark Finance Inc. provided the three-year, floating rate, 80 percent financing.
United Renovations of Dallas has been contracted to renovate the 16-building Charleston, built in 1978 on eight acres. Upgrades of the one- and two-bedroom apartments will cost about $9,000 per unit.
The joint venture firm was self-represented in both transactions.
For the Charleston purchase, seller Trivest Residential LLC of Dallas was represented by Transwestern. For the Oak Tree purchase, CB Richard Ellis in Dallas represented 14-year owner Fifteen Group LLC of Florida.
With these two additions, the joint venture now owns just over 1,900 units in four properties in Texas. Both companies are based in California.
TOTALLY TUBULAR
ALVARADO (sabre.com) – Sabre Tubular Structures, has begun construction on a state-of-the-art, 200,000-square-foot steel pole manufacturing facility on 147 acres approximately two miles east of I-35W along SH 67.
Sabre currently employs more than 120 people in its Fort Worth plant. The new facility will increase Sabre’s North Texas workforce to more than 300 while tripling its manufacturing capacity.
Parent company Sabre Communications Corporation was represented in the land purchase by Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc.
When the project is completed this fall, Sabre Tubular Structures will be the largest employer in Alvarado.
EDGELAKE DIALS UP
SEABROOK (globest.com) – Dial Equities Inc. has purchased the 216-unit Edgelake apartment complex, which is along NASA Road 1 with views of Clear Lake.
The Omaha-based company will continue the 1980s-era, Class-B complex’s $2,500-per-unit renovations, which are about halfway complete.
The 92 percent leased, 20-building Edgelake is on about 8.5 acres and has one- and two-bedroom units averaging 742 square feet. Rents for renovated units average 93 cents per square foot while the unrenovated units earn 86 cents per square foot.
This is the last asset in the region for the seller, Dallas-based Archon Group. Apartment Realty Advisor in Houston assisted in the negotiations.
SUMMIT SET FOR AUG. 2
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The 2007 Real Estate Summit will be held Aug. 2 at Angelina College in Lufkin.
The half-day program, made possible by a grant to Angelina College from the Bert Gann Memorial Trust, will feature a luncheon followed by a three-hour MCE course (elective credit only). Real Estate Center researchers will provide information on housing, residential lending and land markets. An economic analysis and forecast for Texas real estate will also be included.
The cost is currently $20 per person, but it will increase to $30 July 20.
Information about the conference, including a downloadable brochure, is available at the Center's website. Online registration is also available.
AGGIE ENGINEERING BUILDING IN THE WORKS
COLLEGE STATION (The Eagle) – The Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents has approved plans for construction of a $100 million engineering building at Texas A&M University.
About two-thirds of the 230,000-square-foot Emerging Technologies & Economic Development Interdisciplinary Building will be devoted to biomedical and industrial engineering. The remainder of the facility, to be located on what is now a parking lot across from the Zachry Engineering Center, will be earmarked for interdisciplinary research.
Tuition revenue bonds will be used to cover $75 million of the cost. The remaining $25 million will be paid from the Permanent University Fund.
CHARTWELL COURT SOLD
HOUSTON (1031nnn.com) – Triple Net Properties LLC has purchased the 243-unit Chartwell Court complex along Ella Boulevard on behalf of tenant-in-common investors.
Chartwell Court is a 19-building, two-story, Class-A apartment community totaling approximately 254,000 square feet on more than 14 acres. Average size of the units is just over 1,000 square feet. All units include private garages.
Triple Net purchased the 91 percent occupied complex from The Lynd Company, which was represented by CB Richard Ellis. Financing was provided by Wachovia Bank.
MORE TROOPS, MORE HOUSING
EL PASO (El Paso Times) – Anticipated soldier population growth at Fort Bliss has prompted a surge in multifamily housing.
Bohannon Development Corp. has begun work on a 342-unit apartment complex at 4649 Loma Del Sur Drive. The complex is expected to be completed in August 2008, but it will open and begin leasing this December.
Investment Builders is building a 136-unit complex for low-income renters at Lee Treviño and North Loop. The company also has completed and begun leasing 185 of 369 units of The Tuscany at Mesa Hills, a high-end complex at 415 S. Mesa Hills.
An out-of-town company also has begun leasing the high-end, 308-unit Villas at Zaragoza at 1640 N. Zaragoza.
Recent troop deployments and other troop shifts lowered apartment occupancies on the city’s northeast side to 89.5 percent in March. That was below the citywide occupancy rate of 92 percent. Occupancy rates are expected to increase as the number of soldiers rises in coming years.
ADAM'S MARK CHAIN SOLD
DALLAS (Dallas Business Journal) – HBE Corp. is selling its five Adam's Mark hotels, including the chain's largest property, Adam's Mark Dallas, to Oxford Lodging Advisory & Investment Group.
The sale, which is expected to close in August, also includes hotels in Denver, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Buffalo, N.Y.
San Francisco–based Oxford Lodging was part of an investment group that bought the chain's Adam's Mark in Jacksonville, Fla., in March 2005, converting it to a Hyatt Regency.
TOWERING LEGACY
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Construction has begun on Legacy@Town Lake, the latest high-rise to break ground amid downtown's residential building boom.
California-based Legacy Partners Residential Development Inc., along with New York–based partner BlackRock Inc., is building the 31-story, 187-unit luxury apartment tower at Rainey and Cummings streets.
Units will range from more than 650 to almost 2,900 square feet. The project will include a 265-car garage. Rents are expected to range from $1,330 to $6,930, with the average rent projected to be $2,298. Nine units will have below-market rents for tenants who make 80 percent or less of the city's median income, depending on family size.
Legacy@Town Lake’s grand opening is slated for fall 2008.
Other downtown apartment projects under construction include AMLI Residential Properties Trust's 18-story, 232-unit complex on Second Street, and Phoenix Property Co.'s complex at the former Goodwill site near West Fifth Street and North Lamar Boulevard.
TEXAS A RETIREMENT HOT SPOT
TEXAS (Real Estate Center, The Dallas Morning News) – According to the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, Texas has passed Arizona and California to become the second hottest retirement spot for Americans.
This comes as no surprise to Dr. Mark Dotzour, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
“Good weather and low cost of living has always made Texas one of the most attractive spots in the country for retirees,” Dotzour said. “The cost of housing in Florida and California has gotten so extreme that it makes sense that Texas becomes even more desirable to retirees from all over the country, not just from the midwest. And the exploding cost of insurance in Florida has really increased the cost of retirement there.”
Despite those costs, Florida held at number one, drawing 16.6 percent of retirees in 2005.
Texas, which was the number four destination based on 2000 data, attracted 6.8 percent of America's migrant retirees in the 2005 data, up from 4.8 percent in 2000.
INN AT THE CROSSING
SUGAR LAND (globest.com) – Presidian Cos. of San Antonio has begun site work for a 203-room Hilton Garden Inn on four acres recently purchased within the 110-acre Crossing at Telfair.
The six-story hotel is part of phase one construction for the mixed-use development, which is at the junction of Hwy. 6 and US 90A, near the more than 2,000-acre Telfair community.
The only hotel planned for the project, the Inn's design includes 7,000 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant and bar. At buildout, the Crossing will also include more than 700,000 square feet of office, medical office, restaurants and retail.
Houston-based Live Oak Capital Ltd. brokered financing and equity contribution for the project. Baltimore-based Alex Brown Realty Inc. contributed more than $3.6 million in equity. American National Insurance Co. of Galveston financed $18 million as a fixed-rate, interest-only, 15-month construction loan with conversion to a ten-year permanent loan at completion.
Local developer Weaver, Davis & Jacob Realty Group was the seller.
Grand opening for the hotel is slated for spring 2008.
DISTRIBUTION CENTER GOING UP
GARLAND (globest.com) – Site work begins next week on the $17 million second phase of Garland Business Park.
The 300,000-square-foot distribution center, on more than 20 acres at 3900 W. Miller Rd., is being developed by First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. It is slated for completion next February.
The site neighbors a 446,000-square-foot distribution complex that First Industrial built five years ago and sold to Hillwood. Like that building, the new one will have 30-foot clear heights. It will also have 33 trailer spaces and 52 cross-dock doors.
Bob Moore Construction Inc. of Arlington is the general contractor, and Pacheco Koch Consulting Engineers Inc. of Dallas is the civil engineer. The center was designed by Hardy McCullah/MLM Architects Inc., also of Dallas.
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