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APARTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS UP, OWNERS DOWN
WASHINGTON, D.C. (National Multi Housing Council) – Concentration in the management sector of the apartment industry changed dramatically in 2006, according to the National Multi Housing Council’s (NMHC) 18th annual ranking of the top 50 apartment owners and top 50 apartment managers.
Over the past ten years, most of the concentration documented has been among apartment owners. That changed last year with the emergence of a growing number of medium-to-large firms among the nation’s apartment managers.
The share of apartments managed by the top 50 management firms rose by a record 8.3 percent to 2.6 million units, or 14.7 percent of the nation’s 17.6 million apartments.
“The increasing concentration among apartment managers is the result of two important trends,” NMHC president Doug Bibby said. “First, many institutional owners are more comfortable having a single firm manage all of their apartment holdings. Second, continued technology improvements — including sophisticated property management systems, online rent payment solutions and demand-based pricing models — have made economies of scale achievable in property management.”
Several of the largest apartment owners were substantial net sellers in 2006. The largest apartment owner in the country, Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO), slimmed down by 22,000 units.
NMHC also documented the decreasing role of real estate investment trusts (REIT) in the sector. The number of apartment REITs is down from a high of 14 to 12 as several have been taken private in recent years. For the third year in a row, apartment REITs as a whole were net sellers. REITs now own just 4.7 percent of the total U.S. apartment stock (892,292 units), the lowest figure since 1998, and down from a peak of 6.4 percent.
A complete analysis of the results is available online at www.nmhc.org/Top50/ListYears.cfm.
LAST LA CIMA LAND PURCHASED
PROSPER (The Dallas Morning News) – Shaddock Development Co. has purchased the last vacant property in the Lakes of La Cima community for development of a 400-home subdivision.
The $75 million project will include more than 200 acres near the northeast corner of Preston Road and SH 380. The community will feature a community center, 23 acres of greenbelts and public spaces.
The homes, priced at more than $400,000, will be on large lots. Plano-based Shaddock will begin site development by summer and deliver lots in the second half of 2008.
Colonial Bank provided funding for the land purchase.
MONDAY LAST DAY FOR CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Monday is the last day to register for the 17th Annual Outlook for Texas Land Markets conference, which will be held next Thursday and Friday in San Antonio.
The conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency on the Riverwalk. The $220-per-person registration covers the conference and the Texas Real Estate Commission’s legal update, a mandatory continuing education course. Admission to the Realtors Land Institute’s opening reception Wednesday evening at Buckhorn Saloon is $10.
Conference and hotel registration information is available online at recenter.tamu.edu/events/.
SECURLOCK HANDS OVER KEYS
ARLINGTON (globest.com) – America West Financial Corp. of California has purchased the 468-unit Securlock self-storage facility from Houghton Capital Corp. of Dallas for $3.5 million, $40,000 less than the list price.
The almost 58,000-square-foot, seven-year-old gated complex on almost four acres at 4840 Matlock Rd. was 75 percent leased at closing. The facility, featuring an onsite manager's residence, has nine individually metered office/warehouse units, five of which are vacant.
Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Co.'s Dallas and Atlanta offices brokered the transaction, which closed at a 6.63 percent cap rate. America West assumed a $2.1 million loan at a 5.1 percent fixed interest rate and 25-year amortization, with 20 years remaining, from Chicago-based LaSalle Bank.
ALTA VISTA BUSINESS PARK SOLD
KELLER (globest.com) – Marcus & Millichap brokered the $2.2 million sale of Alta Vista Business Park, which has 293 self-storage units plus recreational vehicle and boat storage areas.
The listing price for the 6.5-acre complex at 10395 Alta Vista Rd. was $2.35 million. The local seller signed a 16,000-square-foot sale-leaseback with the buyers, a California partnership, on one of the complex's buildings.
JOSEY LANE APARTMENTS SOLD
CARROLLTON (globest.com) – Autumn Chase Apartments has been purchased by GE Real Estate North America Equity and BH Equities LLC, which will spend $4.4 million for Class-A-minus-style renovations.
GE paid $50.4 million to purchase the 90 percent occupied, 48-building complex on 66 acres at 4600, 4636 and 4700 N. Josey Lane. The 690 units are a mix of one-, two- and three-bedrooms averaging 867 square feet. The average monthly rent is $810.
The Class-B Autumn Chase was sold by Addison-based Price Realty, which had purchased it from Chicago-based AMLI Residential Properties Trust in June 2001.
BH Equities will manage the complex and oversee the renovation.
PORT ARTHUR'S POST-RITA REBUILD
PORT ARTHUR (Texas Association of Realtors) – Realtors throughout the state raised more than $140,000 to fund the construction of two Habitat for Humanity homes for families whose lives were affected by Hurricane Rita.
In addition, more than 170 members of the Texas Association of Realtors (TAR) personally joined Beaumont Habitat for Humanity to assist in the three-week build, coming from the surrounding area as well as from Austin, College Station and even as far away as Fort Worth. Working alongside them were members of other organizations, including AmeriCorp NCCC and Houston's First Church of God.
"Rita forced many Southeast Texans into uninhabitable living conditions,” said John Rosshirt, TAR’s Rita Recovery Task Force chair. "While the strides made by Beaumont Habitat for Humanity have been tremendous, we knew that it would take the cooperative efforts of many to be successful on the long road to recovery.”
These two homes are the first of up to 20 that the Habitat affiliate plans to build in 2007 for hurricane-affected families.
7TH STREET VENTURES
FORT WORTH (costar.com) – Two new developments are bringing condominiums and a significant amount of retail space to the city's west side.
Montgomery Plaza Venture is redeveloping Montgomery Plaza, a mixed-use building at 2600 W. 7th St. Plans call for new retail space and 250 condominiums totaling about 300,000 square feet.
Montgomery Plaza Venture purchased the building in January from Kimco Corp. The retail portion is currently being leased out for $25 to $32 per square foot per year. The condominiums are scheduled to be completed within about 16 months.
The Carlyle Group and Cypress Equities purchased several blocks on the south side of 7th St. between Foch and University Drive North to develop about one million square feet of retail, residential and hospitality space.
About half of the development will likely be retail, said Summer Walden of The Staubach Co. Groundbreaking for the project could be this fall.
CRUCES CRACKS WALNUT
ARLINGTON (globest.com) – A New Mexico–based investor has paid $9.7 million for Walnut Ridge, the 264-unit complex at 2500 Burney Rd.
Cruces Investment Group put a $3.6-million down payment on the 95 percent leased complex and assumed a $6.1 million Freddie Mac loan with a 5.25 percent fixed interest rate and 30-year amortization.
The 13-building Walnut Ridge, a mix of one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 471 to 945 square feet, sits on nearly nine acres. The monthly rents are $409 to $675.
Cruces Investment plans to renovate the property and turn it into a "solid Class-B" to underwrite a $20- to $25-per-month rent hike, said Jay Gunn, senior investment advisor with Hendricks & Partners. Dallas-based Capstone Management Co. will oversee the renovation and manage the 24-year-old complex.
Hendricks & Partners' Dallas office represented the seller, a private investor from Plano.
ONE SIZE FITS ALL
BEAUMONT (The Beaumont Enterprise) – A 50,000-square-foot expansion at the Dillard's in Parkdale Mall will bring the department store to 200,000 square feet, pulling all merchandise into one store and eliminating the need for a separate women's store.
Dillard's women's store occupied more than 166,500 square feet in the mall's northwest section, a section that suffered heavy damage in Hurricane Rita and has since been demolished. The mall's marketing manager, Kathy Chessher, said the space will eventually be reconfigured to accommodate big-box retailers and restaurants.
The existing store will be open throughout the expansion project, which is expected to be complete by next February.
KICKOFF AT POINT WEST
COPPELL (globest.com) – Construction is scheduled to begin this summer on Point West I, the $20 million office building that will kick off Point West, a $200 million, mixed-use development at I-635 and Belt Line Road.
The 185-acre Point West, being developed by Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. on the former Lesley Farm, has been mapped out for 2.1 million square feet of industrial space, and more than 22 acres is earmarked for a 300-room hotel and nine retail pad sites.
The 180,000-square-foot Point West I is the first part of a planned 800,000-square-foot office component. The three-story spec project, which closely resembles Duke's Frisco Bridges (see RECON article "Frisco Bridges to House Development"), will be completed next February. The building was designed by Corgan Associates Inc.'s Dallas team.
PLAIN SPEAKING
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Haas & Haynie, a San Francisco construction company, will develop a luxury community on the former Covert family ranch on Lake Travis' south shore.
Called “Vizcaya,” Spanish for “an elevated plain,” the project will be built over a ten-year period on 1,050 acres off Bee Creek Road toward Pace Bend Park. Vizcaya will include trails, a marina and an 18-hole Reese Jones–designed golf course.
A preliminary subdivision plat will be filed soon with Travis County. Phase one infrastructure work is targeted to start next spring, followed by construction of the golf course and water and wastewater plants.
Construction on the first of the planned 450 to 500 custom homes is expected to start in 2009.
The project is large, "but not in terms of density," said Austin lawyer David Armbrust, Haas & Haynie's attorney. The lots will range in size from about half an acre up to 2.5 acres.
In December, the Lower Colorado River Authority board approved water contracts for the project. A municipal utility district will be created to issue bonds to finance water, wastewater and drainage facilities.
NEW HOME STARTS SLOWING
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – New home starts fell by nearly 28 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago, according to a report from Residential Strategies Inc.
"The large-production builders are battling inventory issues elsewhere in the country, and are thus conservative right now," said Mark Sprague, head of Residential Strategies' Austin office. "Moreover, with the rules being changed today regarding mortgage qualifications, builders are being careful until they can determine the extent of the fallout."
Austin is one of the few exceptions to a slowing housing market. Builders closed on a record 16,249 homes in the first quarter, up 4.3 percent from the first quarter of 2006.
However, first-quarter new home starts numbered 3,327, down from the record 4,613 a year ago.
APARTMENT LEASINGS' DRASTIC DROP
DALLAS (The Dallas Morning News) – Although this year’s first-quarter apartment leasing of only 480 net leases recorded is a significant drop from the more than 5,600 units leased in the same quarter of 2006, overall occupancy edged to over 93 percent.
Average rents rose to just over $700 a month, an increase of about 2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.
With the slowdown in leasing, apartment construction far outpaces demand. Builders completed more than 1,300 units in the first quarter. About 10,600 units remained under construction at the end of March.
Apartment markets are tightest in central Fort Worth, Las Colinas, Richardson and Allen-McKinney, according to M/PF YieldStar's report.
Because 6,300 apartments were taken out of the market during the year ending in March due to demolition or conversion into condominiums, occupancy rates in some neighborhoods are increasing.
“We are still seeing a lot of demand for houses," said Mark Dotzour, chief economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. "The difficulties in the mortgage market haven’t become extreme enough to create a stampede to apartments. In fact, the high levels of investment in single-family homes in recent years has created more competition for apartments as investors buy new homes and rent them.”
DEMOLITION SET FOR NINE COMPLEXES
ADDISON (The Dallas Morning News) – United Dominion Realty Trust Inc. is purchasing nine apartment complexes totaling more than 2,400 rental units along Brookhaven Club Drive near Brookhaven College.
The company’s six-year plan is to replace the '70s-era units, which include the Addison at Brookhaven and Greenhaven Village apartments, with townhouse-style apartments, flats and possibly some for-sale units.
"We will probably double the density," said company senior vice president Mark Culwell.
Based in Virginia, United Dominion is one of the country's largest apartment landlords, with more than 70,000 units. Locally, the company has more than a dozen rental communities.
Demolition will begin late this year. United Dominion will work to help relocate residents, said Culwell.
The Addison apartment district is the latest in a series of rental areas recently targeted for redevelopment. More than 4,500 rental units in the Dallas–Fort Worth area were demolished in 2006.
FOUR SEASONS CHOOSES FALL
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Locally based Ardent Residential and Atlanta-based Post Properties are targeting this fall to break ground for The Four Seasons Residences on the shores of Town Lake.
The hotel company, which is renovating the adjacent Four Seasons Hotel, will manage the 30-story, 166-unit, brick-and-glass condominium tower.
Condos will be priced from the upper $400,000s to $2 million for 1,000 to 2,700 square feet, with penthouse units on the 28th and 29th floors.
The project, expected to cost at least $100 million, is being financed by Post.
Michael Graves & Associates Inc. is the architect of record. Al Coker & Associates of Dallas will market The Residences, which is expected to open in late 2009.
ROYALTON HIGHRISE PURCHASED
HOUSTON (Group LSR) – A Canadian investor group operating as the Royalton Condominium LP has purchased the remaining inventory at The Royalton at River Oaks Condominiums for $40 million.
The 33-story highrise at 3333 Allen Pkwy. offers one-, two- and three-bedroom residences priced from $375,000 to $2 million.
The managing general partner of the investor group is a division of Group LSR, the Montreal-based real estate development company that will oversee building operations. Camelot Realty Group will handle marketing and sales. The sale was brokered by Camelot Realty.
DOTZOUR ROUNDTABLE SPEAKER
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Dr. Mark G. Dotzour, chief economist and director of research at the Center, will be the guest speaker at the latest installment of the Real Estate Roundtable Speaker Series, to be held Wednesday, April 18, in Houston.
Cost for “The Front Edge of the Real Estate Boom” is $65 and includes lunch. The program will be held from 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. at the InterContinental Hotel, 2222 West Loop South.
To register, go to http://recenter.tamu.edu/register.
SOUTHERN COMFORT AT WATTERS CREEK
ALLEN (The Dallas Morning News) – Southern Land Co. of Nashville will build about 300 rental units in the 52-acre mixed-use Watters Creek development at North Central Expressway and Bethany Drive.
The apartments will be built above ground-floor retail, and the first units will be ready next spring.
Watters Creek retailers include Market Street supermarket, P.F. Chang restaurant, Borders books, Ann Taylor Loft and Eddie Bauer. An eight-screen Studio Movie Grill cinema and a 135-room hotel are also coming to the Creek.
Southern Land is also developing an 800-acre, 2,100-home project called Tucker Hill in McKinney on SH 380. In Keller, Southern Land is building 177 apartments in the Arthouse mixed-use project.
RENAMED DEGREE EMPHASIZES PREPARATION
COLLEGE STATION (Mays Business School) – The Master of Land Economics and Real Estate degree at Mays Business School at Texas A&M University has officially been renamed the Master of Real Estate degree.
School officials say the new name better reflects the program’s increasing focus on preparing students for work in commercial real estate and real estate capital markets while maintaining its strength in real estate valuation. It is intended to more clearly showcase the program's strengths to outsiders and to national employers who are actively recruiting from other universities.
“There was an issue before with the degree name being so uncommon,” said Cydney Donnell, the school's director of real estate programs. “The program has been around for over 35 years, yet prospective students and employers were confused about the emphasis of our program.”
Mays’ real estate degree is one of the only graduate real estate programs housed in a business school setting, with a heavy emphasis on preparation in finance and law. To earn their master’s degree, students must complete a rigorous program of 37 credit hours of real estate finance, agricultural economics, geography and land economics courses.
CRESCENT SELLS CENTRE
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Walton TCC Hotel Investors V LLC is buying the 16-story Austin Centre office building from Fort Worth–based Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. for $75.5 million.
Earlier this month, the fund, which is managed by Chicago-based investment firm Walton Street Capital, agreed to purchase seven hotel properties, including the 375-room Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, from Crescent for $550 million. The Omni hotel is inside the Austin Centre property.
Encore Development built the almost 344,000-square-foot, 95 percent occupied, Class-A building at 701 Brazos St. in 1986.
Crescent is selling its entire Austin portfolio as part of its strategy to become a leaner real estate investment trust. C.B. Richard Ellis assisted in the sale of Austin Centre.
INDUSTRIAL PARK EXPANDS
VICTORIA (Port of Victoria) – The Port of Victoria has purchased 1,800 acres for the expansion of its industrial park, a move that Port officials say will make it one of the premier sites in Texas for industrial and economic development.
Officials say the park expansion was made necessary by the recent addition of the Lone Star Ethanol plant, Farmer's Co-op of El Campo and Valerus Compression Services. The $5.6 million purchase included 4,600 acres per year of senior surface water rights on the Guadalupe River. The Port purchased the property from descendents of Port O'Connor founder Tom O'Connor Jr.
The Port is developing a container on barge service that will connect Victoria to the rest of the world for the shipment of goods and cargo. The project is financed by nontax revenue and will have no impact on the tax rate.
MEMORIALIZING THE LEGACY
HOUSTON (globest.com) – Legacy Partners Residential Development Inc. of California plans to build a 334-unit apartment complex on the more than three acres it has purchased from Fairfield Residential, also of California.
Legacy at Memorial, at the intersection of Studemont Street and Memorial Drive, will consist of a 25-story tower with 274 apartments alongside a wood-frame building with 60 lofts. The average monthly rent will be around $2,400 for one- and two-bedroom units averaging about 1,180 square feet.
WDG Habid Architecture Inc. of Dallas has incorporated private garage boxes into the eight-level parking garage component and designed private balconies or garden terraces for the units.
Capmark Finance Inc. provided construction financing. EE Reed Construction LP from nearby Sugar Land is the general contractor. Sawyer Design Associates of Dallas is the interior architect, and local firm M2L Associates Inc. is the landscape architect. Dallas-based Milestone Management LP will lease and manage the project.
THREE'S A CROWD
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – CNC Investments Co. of Houston has purchased three Class-A apartment complexes from Western Rim Investment Advisory Inc. of Coppell.
The portfolio includes the 583-unit Mansions on the Green I and II, the 502-unit Mansions at Steiner Ranch and the 332-unit Mansions at Canyon Creek. All three complexes are along the RM 620 corridor in north Austin and Round Rock, and all are more than 92 percent leased.
CNC Investments owned seven properties in the area before making this purchase.
Live Oak Capital Ltd. in Houston arranged financing for each of the transactions through Column Financial of Dallas.
OFFICE VACANCIES LOW; STICKER SHOCK HIGH
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Office building vacancies are at their lowest level in six years while downtown rents for first-class space averaged $32.13 per square foot (psf), the highest rate since late 2001.
In the first quarter, rents for Class-A office space averaged $28.12 psf, according to Oxford Commercial, an Austin-based real estate brokerage firm. Class-A office space was 9.4 percent vacant, far from the 30.7 percent vacancy rate in late 2002.
Citywide, the vacancy rate for all types of office space averaged 11.8 percent during the first quarter, down from 16.4 percent a year earlier. Rents overall averaged $23.28 psf compared with $20.91 a year earlier.
Several projects will add more than 1.3 million square feet of space to the area this year. Last year, 220,000 square feet of office space was added.
"If I were about to break ground on a new building, I may want to sit back and see if absorption gets back on track before I start construction,” warns Ford Alexander, a partner and cofounder of Oxford Commercial.
Alexander said some tenants are experiencing "sticker shock" as they renew leases.
"Rates are considerably higher than they were five years ago, and the current rates are hard to swallow," he said.
THREE HOUSTON MPCS GRACE TOP TEN
HOUSTON (Damon Thomas Public Relations) – Three area master-planned communities (MPCs) made RCLCO's list of the top-selling U.S. MPCs for 2006, making Houston one of the brightest spots on the national real estate map.
Up three slots from last year was The Woodlands, which ranked third with 1,409 sales. Cinco Ranch moved up 14 notches to rank fourth with 943 new home sales reported for the 7,400-acre community in west Houston. New to the list was Eagle Springs. The 1,360-acre development in northeast Houston ranked tenth with 509 new home sales for 2006.
The top-selling community in the nation was Poinciana by Avatar Properties Inc. in Florida.
Newland Communities' Cinco Ranch and Eagle Springs also posted the largest percentage gains among the top ten U.S. communities. Cinco Ranch had a 30 percent sales increase over 2005, and Eagle Springs had a 25 percent increase. Only one other top ten community — Power Ranch in Phoenix — reported a positive sales gain for 2006 (15 percent).
Overall, sales among the top ten MPCs were down approximately 23 percent from 2005, according to the RCLCO study.
“Houston and Texas are showing signs of steady, healthy growth compared to other parts of the United States,” said Ted Nelson, regional president of the Texas Division of Newland Communities.
RCLCO, formerly Robert Charles Lesser & Co., is a leading independent real estate advisory firm.
GROUNDBREAKING AT STONECREEK
SAN MARCOS (Austin Business Journal) – StoneCreek Crossing, a 900,000-square-foot retail center, is slated to rise near the area outlet malls.
The Austin office of Direct Development will break ground this summer at the northwest corner of I-35 and McCarty Lane. According to a preliminary site plan, the development will include anchors JCPenney (104,000 square feet) and Target (136,000 square feet), along with junior anchors such as Bealls and PETCO in a heavily landscaped, upscale setting.
Carol Barrett, director of planning for San Marcos, says the project is approved for up to 1.25 million square feet of space. Direct Development is expected to complete the purchase of the property from the Texas General Land Office this month.
Dallas-based Direct Development has two other projects underway in Central Texas (see RECON’s “5th Street Commons” and “Market Heights”).
KENSINGTON DUO SOLD
SUGAR LAND (Houston Business Journal) – KBS Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. has purchased two four-story office buildings from ING Clarion.
The Offices at Kensington total 170,500 square feet and sit on roughly ten acres at Hwy. 6, just north of the Southwest Freeway. The offices were built in 1998 as part of the First Colony master-planned community.
The buildings are 85 percent leased. Among the tenants are Noble Drilling, Progressive Insurance, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity National Title and Humana.
Bill Rogalla represented California-based KBS, while Holliday Fenoglio Fowler representated ING Clarion.
KBS Capital Advisors is the adviser for KBS. Both companies are affiliated with KBS Realty Advisors.
INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH OUTPACES OFFICE SECTOR
DALLAS (Dallas Business Journal) – While North Texas industrial vacancy decreased, office vacancy increased during this year's first quarter, with new construction heavily affecting absorption in both sectors.
Office vacancies rose about one-third of 1 percent to 20.2 percent. About 36.3 million square feet of leasable office space was available at the end of March, compared with 35.8 million square feet at the end of 2006, according to statistics released by CB Richard Ellis Inc. (CBRE).
Net absorption, a measure of the amount of space leased less space vacated, fell sharply. Tenants leased more than 391,200 square feet of additional space in the first quarter of 2007, compared with almost 1.5 million square feet in the fourth quarter of last year, CBRE's analysis shows.
Industrial space vacancies dropped to 8.6 percent from 8.9 percent with 55.7 million square feet vacant compared with 57.1 million square feet at the end of last year. About 11.3 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space is under construction, compared with 9.6 million square feet three months ago. A quarter of the industrial space is preleased.
On the office side, nine new buildings totaling almost 794,600 square feet were delivered in the first quarter of 2007. About half of the space was preleased. An additional 35 office buildings totaling almost five million square feet remain under construction. Space in those buildings is about 28 percent preleased.
Job growth of 95,200 jobs for the 12-month period through January and expected continued strong job growth are positive signs for leasing, said a CBRE spokesperson.
HOME TO STAY
CARROLLTON (globest.com) – Home Interiors & Gifts Inc. has renewed its lease on more than 244,500 square feet of auxiliary warehouse space in the Frankford Trade Center.
Robert Deptula, principal for Transwestern in Dallas, said the five-year tenant did not shop around because the five-year-old, 150-dock Frankford warehouse at 2828 Trade Center Dr. is so close to the company's main campus at 1649 Frankford Rd.
Transwestern negotiated the renewal directly with CalWest's portfolio asset manager, San Francisco-based RREEF.
BIG D'S BIG DEAL
DALLAS (globest.com) – GE Real Estate North America Equity has paid $256 million to FirstWorthing Corp. of Dallas and Principal Financial Group for a 3,532-unit, ten-property portfolio that includes six properties in Dallas and one in Austin.
The Dallas portfolio includes the Cityville properties at 2819 N. Fitzhugh Ave. (226 units), 1333 N. Peak (238 units) and 1811 Greenville Ave. (128 units). It also includes the 324-unit Worthing Bend at 3701 W. Pioneer Dr. in Irving; 622-unit Worthing Pointe at 1319 Cavalier in Richardson; and 500-unit Spring Creek at 5501 Naaman Forest Blvd. in Garland.
The Austin property is the 223-unit Worthing Ridge at 1817 E. Oltorf St.
The package of Class-A, -B and -C complexes is currently 75 percent occupied.
South Carolina–based Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC will manage all seven properties.
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FROST TOWER FLIPS AGAIN
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman, Austin Business Journal) – In what is believed to be the biggest commercial real estate deal ever in Texas, private equity firm Blackstone Group has sold its Austin office properties to Thomas Properties Group Inc. for $1.15 billion.
Included in the sale is the 33-story Frost Bank Tower at 300 West Sixth St. The tower has changed hands three times since last September, when Equity Office Properties Trust (EOP) paid $188 million for the building, which was a state record of $354 per square foot. Last month, Blackstone bought EOP for $39.2 billion in cash (see RECON, "Battle of the Buyout").
Once the sale closes, Thomas, a Los Angeles real estate firm, will be the city’s biggest office landlord, with more than 3.4 million square feet of space.
A total of ten properties are in the portfolio, including One Congress Plaza and nearly one million square feet in northwest Austin. Together, the properties are about 82 percent leased.
Since buying EOP, Blackstone, capitalizing on strong national demand for commercial properties, has been flipping its holdings in Boston, Seattle, San Diego and other cities, often for premium prices.
Cousins Properties Inc., which built Frost Tower, currently manages the building. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler is representing Blackstone in the sale with Thompson.
X UNBOXED
LEANDER (Austin Business Journal) – The Texas X Park recreational complex has received an environmental permit from the U.S. Corps of Engineers, clearing the way for a groundbreaking on the $18 million first phase later this summer.
The permit allows the developer to affect the crossing of jurisdictional waters by as many as 22,000 square feet. The development team re-engineered its site plan and is now affecting 8,000 square feet.
Leander Capital Investors, led by Matt Tolbert, is developing the 205-acre X Park, which will include facilities for a skate park, climbing walls, BMX tracks and beach volleyball.
The BWM Group of Round Rock is overseeing site planning. The Wayne Barnes Co. is the construction manager. Grand opening is tentatively scheduled for spring 2008.
DIAB CONSOLIDATES
DeSOTO (globest.com) – Diab Group has leased 196,500 square feet of production space in Stonebridge Business Park 9 to support its U.S. operations.
Diab, based in Sweden, manufactures composite core materials used in marine, wind energy, transportation and aerospace industries. The firm's new space at 8700 Autobahn Dr. is about two miles north of its U.S. headquarters at 315 Seahawk Dr. The move will consolidate production operations currently at 1630 and 1701 Falcon Dr.
With this lease, the more than 372,000-square-foot office/warehouse, which, due to a default tenant, had been dark for two years, is now 80 percent occupied.
Boston-based TA Realty Advisors bought the building in March 2005 as part of a portfolio from Connecticut-based GE Real Estate and Champion Partners of Dallas.
Holt Lunsford Commercial in Dallas assisted in the transaction.
KINGWOOD'S LAKEFRONT PROPERTY
KINGWOOD (Marion Montgomery Inc.) – Houston-based developer Hahnfeld Witmer Davis has begun construction on Regent Square, a more than three-acre residential community that will feature 35 brownstones on the shores of Lake Houston.
Regent Square, which will be located within the 25-acre, mixed-use development Kings Harbor, will offer four floor plans ranging from 2,450 to 3,300 square feet and priced from the high $300,000s into the $500,000s.
PORT SA'S GRAND OPENING
SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Express-News) – A $38.78 million loan from the state, a new agreement with a Mexican freight company, the start of U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking, and the inauguration next week of a new rail-truck facility are contributing to the transformation of the former Kelly AFB into an international distribution center.
Port San Antonio will use the loan from the Texas Military Value Revolving Loan Fund to build an 89,500-square-foot air cargo hangar, an aircraft parking area, a 50,000-square-foot cargo transfer facility and additional office space.
The port and Estafeta Group, based in San Luis Potosí, will begin shipping freight by truck from small- and medium-sized companies between San Antonio and San Luis Potosí in April.
"Estafeta's massive distribution network and brand recognition makes it a great partner to have in Mexico," said Jorge Canavati, the port's marketing director. With one-day shipments from the Mexican industrial centers in Monterrey and Saltillo possible for the first time, additional freight can arrive efficiently to Port San Antonio for distribution by air, truck and ship.
San Antonio–based Titan Industrial Development is building the rail-served industrial park. The first 345,000-square-foot facility can transfer freight from docks for 23 rail cars on one side to doors for 60 trucks on the other side.
Grand opening ceremonies for the port’s East Kelly Railport (a $35 million, 61-acre development) will be held April 5.
SUITE DEAL!
SAN ANTONIO (svn.com) – Travelodge Suites, a 201-suite hotel, has been sold to Wisconsin-based Meridian Global Investments LP for $150,000 over the list price and at a 12 percent cap rate.
The 26-year-old hotel on almost four acres at 4934 Loop 410 W is close to SeaWorld, Six Flags and South Texas Medical Center. The hotel includes one- and two-bedroom suites as well as some single rooms.
Sperry Van Ness’ (SVN) Lubbock and Orlando, Fla., offices represented the seller, Texas-based SNB Hotels. SVN’s Florida office also represented the buyer, Meridian Global Investments LP.
SECONDS FOR SUGAR LAND TOWN SQUARE
SUGAR LAND (Marion Montgomery Inc.) – Planned Community Developers will begin work this summer on a Class-A office building in Sugar Land Town Square.
The eight-story building at 2150 Town Square Place will provide 185,000 square feet of office space and 15,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. It will be similar in design to Town Square’s existing office building, The Plaza, and it will feature the same amenities.
The new building is scheduled for completion in fall 2008.
PARKLAND SOLD
FORT WORTH (Star-Telegram) – Vacant state park property totaling 400 acres at Eagle Mountain Lake has been sold through the General Land Office to the Tarrant Regional Water District.
The northwest Tarrant County property, which sold for $9.6 million, has remained in the parks department inventory but closed to the public for more than 20 years.
MAKE ROOM FOR FLUFFY
CHICAGO (PRNewswire) – Renters love their four-legged friends according to Apartments.com. More than 84 percent of respondents to a recent survey conducted by the apartment listing service own a pet. Other findings from the survey:
HILLWOOD IN THE HEARTLAND
KAUFMAN COUNTY (Hillwood Residential) – Hillwood Residential has purchased the remaining 2,000 undeveloped acres of the Heartland development, a master-planned community on the outskirts of Dallas, from Mabrey & Partners LLC.
Once complete, the 2,500-acre Heartland development at the southeast corner of Hwy. 741 and I-20 will provide approximately 8,000 new homes for more than 20,000 residents, making it Hillwood's largest residential community.
LOCALS WELCOME NEW LIBRARY
TAYLOR (Austin American-Statesman, tsha.utexas.edu) – Grand opening ceremonies will be held tomorrow for the new $3.4 million public library, the first to be funded by the city.
The 25,000-square-foot building, built among large Victorian homes, is at 801 Vance St., the former site of a 1960s-era library.
City officials are also spending $1.8 million to spruce up Main Street sidewalks. Workers are replacing street lamps and traffic signals, and adding benches and trees to make the area friendlier for pedestrians.
The city, once a center of cotton production in Williamson County, has experienced most of its new development in the north, where companies such as H.E. Butt Grocery Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have built.
ARCHON MAKES A MOVE
IRVING (expansionmanagement.com) – Archon Group LP, a subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., will move its corporate headquarters four miles down the road to 6011 Connection Dr., which is in the Nokia campus.
The commercial real estate investment and management company will be the sole occupant of the six-story, 152,000-square-foot building, which features a three-story atrium.
SPRINGTIME FOR RAJ HADAV
BIG SPRING (Big Spring Mall) – Raj Hadav has purchased the 180,000-square-foot Big Spring Mall.
The California-based buyer plans to renovate the 27-year-old mall, which includes a Bealls, Sears, Hallmark and Blum’s Jewelers. The mall also houses a movie theater and restaurants.
Paul Johnson of Abilene brokered the transaction for Hadav. The mall's property manager is Danielle Ramirez.
TOUCH OF TUSCANY
HOUSTON (Group LSR) – Construction has begun on Serento Condominium, a Tuscan-inspired mid-rise just three blocks from the Texas Medical Center main campus.
Located at 2203 Dorrington Street, the four-story Serento will consist of 44 one- and two-bedroom units with a single-story garage at street level. It will offer seven floor plans ranging from 819 to 1445 square feet and priced from the low $200,000s to the high $300,000s. Thirty percent of the units have been sold. Construction is expected to wrap early next year.
Serento Condominium is the third mid-rise residential project developed by innerLoopCondos.com, a Houston-based company created in 2004 by Group LSR, an international real estate development company.
CALSTRS JV GOES SIENESE
HOUSTON (generalinvestment.com, globest.com) – GID Investment Advisers LLC on behalf of an affiliate, Windsor Realty Fund-V LLC (WRF-V), has purchased the 224-unit Siena luxury apartments, which has been renamed Windsor at Siena.
The four-year-old, four-story Class-A complex at 600 Studemont St. is on just over four acres in the Inner West Loop area between the central business district, Texas Medical Center and The Galleria. Monthly rents for the 95 percent leased one- and two-bedroom apartments range between $1,070 and $2,350.
WRF-V is an equity coinvestment joint venture between GID and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). Boston-based GID also owns the 24-acre Regent Square, a mixed-use development nearby on Allen Parkway. That project (see RECON 1/26/2007) will begin construction by year’s end.
Apartment Realty Advisors in Houston represented seller Internacional Realty Inc. of San Antonio.
WATERFORD DEAL CRYSTALLIZES
PEARLAND (globest.com) – Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. has purchased the 296-unit first phase of Waterford Place at Shadow Creek Ranch Apartments from Davis Development Inc. for $30 million.
The 16-building Waterford Place is on almost 17 acres at 200 Business Center Dr. The complex was developed last year and was 95 percent leased at sale time. It has a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 1,115 square feet. Average monthly rent is $1,102.
Along with the purchase, Illinois-based Inland will get the first look at the 275-unit second phase, which is currently being built.
Illinois-based Inland represented itself in the transaction, while Apartment Realty Advisors represented Georgia-based Davis Development.
TOWN BUILDERS MIXES IT UP
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Passeo Park, a 50-unit, two- and three-story condominium development, will break ground this summer at 8323 Jamestown Dr.
Town Builders LP, a local development group that includes property owner Rex Gore and Gary Bellomy, will invest just under $10 million on the nearly three-acre project near the US 183 and Lamar Boulevard intersection.
Plans include 7,200 square feet of live-work and neighborhood-oriented retail space. Town Builders is seeking a zoning change from commercial services to mixed use.
Condos will be priced from $150,000 to $250,000, with units ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 square feet.
Land Design Studio, also involved in the mixed-use Crestview Station development, is the architect of record.
ALTA'S LOFTY TOWER
DALLAS (The Dallas Morning News) – Contractor J.E. Dunn has begun excavation work for building the glass-clad, 375-unit Alta Rosewood residential tower near the southern entrance to the Dallas North Tollway.
The 22-story tower at McKinnon and Hunt streets is the biggest residential building yet in the uptown neighborhood. A 425-space parking garage, outdoor pool and fitness center will be on the lower levels.
The more than $72 million development is a partnership between Wood Partners of Atlanta and the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers, whose investment is $11 million.
Preston Partnership architects, also of Atlanta, designed the building. The loft-style apartments with hardwood floors will be ready for residents in late 2008.
ENVELOPE COMPANY SEALS DEAL
GRAND PRAIRIE (Dallas Business Journal) – An envelope manufacturing company is building a new headquarters building at 201 E. Trinity Blvd.
Goelzer Industries Inc. will move into the more than 200,000-square-foot building in July. The Fort Worth–based company, which currently resides in a 60,000-square-foot facility at 14813 Trinity Blvd., will occupy only 120,000 square feet in the new building, leaving room for several smaller businesses.
The company bought 20 acres on which to build the facility, but it will sell five, along with a 50,000-square-foot building, to a wholesale distribution company. Goelzer will assume ownership of three speculative 12,000-square-foot buildings, which it plans to lease out.
A&A General Contractor Inc. of Dallas is the general contractor for the new headquarters. Henry S. Miller Commercial brokered the transaction.
MULTIFAMILY FUND BUYS BRIDGEPORT
DALLAS (globest.com) – The Bridgeport apartment complex has been sold by locally based DP Partners Ltd., which has owned the property for 12 years.
The 312-unit, Class-B minus complex on ten acres at 5440 N. Jim Miller Rd. has 196 one-bedroom and 116 two-bedroom units, averaging 770 square feet. The average monthly rent is just under $600.
The buyer, Multifamily Capital Appreciation Fund-2007 LLC, is a $100 million Alabama-based fund whose affiliate is Summit Asset Management LLC. Summit will assume the management duties for the 23-year-old complex, which was 94 percent occupied at the time of closing.
Hendricks & Partners in Dallas brokered the transaction.
ST. CROIX DEVELOPING AT CROSSING
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Kelly Trade Ventures LLC, a sister company of San Diego–based St. Croix, recently completed the purchase of two parcels in Round Rock and southeast Austin for projects totaling $50 million.
St. Croix will develop Centerpoint @ Colorado Crossing, a 500,000-square-foot Class-A industrial campus, on 60 acres just west of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport near Burleson Road and McKinney Parkway.
Designed by Smith Consulting Architects, phase one will include four industrial buildings totaling 263,500 square feet. Construction is expected to begin this summer, with completion slated for early 2008.
Phase two will include another 245,000 square feet of industrial and 30,000 square feet of retail space.
In Round Rock, on almost nine acres purchased from the city, St. Croix is developing Spectrum @ Crystal Park. That project totals 83,000 square feet in ten office buildings at the southeast corner of Greenhill Drive and Old Settlers Boulevard. PBS&J is acting as project engineer
CB Richard Ellis is marketing both properties, which are being built by Central Texas Tiltwall LP. Grubb & Ellis is handling retail.
HISTORIC HOUSTON CLUB BUILDING SOLD
HOUSTON (studley.com, Houston Business Journal) – Cameron Management has purchased the landmark 416,000-square-foot Houston Club Building from JPMorgan Chase & Co., which will vacate the building.
Built in 1948 by Jesse H. Jones, publisher of the Houston Chronicle in the 1900s, the building has access to the downtown tunnel system that connects several buildings and has underground retail.
Cameron Management plans a major renovation. The Houston Club has about seven years remaining on its lease, and the firm would like for the club to stay.
This is the second purchase of a downtown historic building by the firm within the last two years. Cameron acquired Esperson Buildings in December 2004 with Amstar Investment Group.
Studley, a commercial real estate services firm, assisted in negotiating the transaction and is helping JPMorgan Chase consolidate its local office space.
PARKDALE PLAZA OVERHAUL
CORPUS CHRISTI (Corpus Christi Caller-Times) – In an effort to restore life to what was once a thriving area for retailers, the 50-year-old Parkdale Plaza Shopping Center will soon be renovated to include a 203,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The center at 4101 S. Staples St. will be renamed Parkdale Shopping Center, and most of its buildings will be demolished to make room for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart spokesperson Sally Aiello said about 400 people will be employed at the Supercenter, which will feature an upgraded exterior design.
Cobb, Lundquist and Atnip represented Austin-based Quick & Company Commercial Realty Inc., the owner of Parkdale Plaza. CB Richard Ellis represented Wal-Mart.
Parkdale Shopping Center will also include a strip center that will house current tenants while leaving about 44,000 square feet of leasing space for new tenants.
Renovations on the 41-acre property are scheduled to begin later this year and be completed in early 2008.
HOME SALES LOWEST SINCE 2000
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Bloomberg) – Sales of new homes in the United States unexpectedly fell last month to the lowest level in almost seven years, dimming prospects for a quick revival in housing.
According to the Commerce Department, the supply of unsold homes climbed to its highest level in 16 years. Purchases dropped 3.9 percent to an annual pace of 848,000 last month. Economists had forecasted they would rise to a 985,000 rate, based on the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
The figures were made worse by the coldest February in more than a decade, and they doused optimism from reports last week on sales of previously owned dwellings and housing starts. Some analysts read those numbers as evidence that the industry may be stabilizing, as the Federal Reserve has anticipated. Shares of homebuilders tumbled and bonds gained as traders speculated that the economy will slow further.
With a wave of foreclosures adding to builders’ woes, the Commerce Department predicts more declines in home construction that will further weigh on the economy.
“As ugly as these numbers are, they don’t reflect the tightening of lending standards, which means sales are going to get worse,” said Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York. “The longer it takes for housing to recover, the more the risk it could spill over to other parts of the economy.”
VINTAGE AT THE COVE
AUSTIN (globest.com) – Vintage Interests LP has purchased the nearly nine-acre, five-building Beatrice Cove Park from TCC-Beatrice Cove LP.
The complex is 80 percent occupied with 30 percent of current leases set to expire in the next two years.
Vintage plans to invest $250,000 for deferred maintenance, to replace roofs, and to make cosmetic improvements to the almost 30-year-old, 119,000-square-foot, office-and-industrial complex at 2335-2415 Kramer Lane.
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP's Dallas office represented the seller and arranged financing for the Dallas-based buyer.
TRAMMELL, PRINCIPAL ON VERGE OF DISCOVERY
HOUSTON (Trammell Crow Company) – Trammell Crow Company (TCC) has purchased downtown’s Block 126, a site that will serve as the home for a Class-A office tower being developed by TCC and Principal Real Estate Investors.
Discovery Tower will overlook Discovery Green, the $93 million, 12-acre park that is currently under construction. The LEED-certified building is expected to contain 600,000 to 1.2 million square feet. Groundbreaking is scheduled for first quarter 2008, with completion set for first quarter 2010.
Gensler Architects is designing the building, and CB Richard Ellis is handling leasing and marketing. Cushman & Wakefield represented the parties in the transaction.
AKAL CHECKS OUT DEVELOPMENT
DALLAS (globest.com) – Local hotel franchisee Akal Corp., previously a buyer of existing hotels, is investing $25 million to develop four new hotels.
Akal’s vice president of development Bobby Singh said the high cost of buying existing hotels prompted the company’s move toward development. He said the cost of buying existing hotels is up to nearly $79,000 per room, while the cost of building hotels is only $60,000 to $70,000 per room.
Work is already underway on the 70-room La Quinta at the US 287 and Debbie Lane in Mansfield, and it will be completed in June. Construction will begin in one month on a 71-room La Quinta at Quebec Street and Loop 820 in Lake Worth. Once that hotel is about 50 percent complete, Akal will break ground on a 75-room La Quinta at US 380 and 75 in McKinney. The last to be built will be a 70-room Hampton Inn in Kilgore.
THE WOODLANDS WATERWAY ARTS FESTIVAL SET FOR THIS WEEKEND - The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15, 2007. The second annual festival is a juried fine arts show featuring 200 national and regional artists of various mediums selling their original creations. Children's interactive art activities, exhibits from 12 th grade public and private school students in Montgomery County, entertainment and the "Palette Café" featuring food from signature eateries will also be highlighted. Festivities take place along The Woodlands Waterway® in Town Center from The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center alongside The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and culminating at Town Green Park . Festival hours are 10 am until 8 pm on Saturday and 10 am until 6 pm on Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults. Children 12 and under are admitted free of charge. 
FREE CUSTOM OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND IN STERLING RIDGE - Twelve spectacular custom homes, surrounding the Gary Player Signature golf course in the Village of Sterling Ridge will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15, 2007 from 1 pm until 5 pm. Priced from the $800's to $1,895,000, the residences are located in The Woodlands' neighborhoods of Knightsgate, Pendleton Park, Player Point, Player Woods, Spruce Canyon and the gated enclave of Gary Glen. The homes are unfurnished. Admission is free. 
EARTH DAY FESTIVAL SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY - The Community Associations of The Woodlands, The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. , and Conroe I.S.D. will host The Woodlands 18 th Annual Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 14 from 9 am until 2 pm at The Woodlands High School, located at 6101 Research Forest Drive. Admission is free. The event will feature over 70 displays and hands-on activities. The theme for this year's event is Be A Climate Action Hero , focusing local attention on a global concern. 
VILLAGE CHALLENGE FOR EARTH DAY - Families, groups and individuals from the stroller set to serious cyclists are gearing up for the Feed the Dragon Village Challenge . Entrants will bike, skate, jog or stroll to The Woodlands Earth Day Festival at The Woodlands High School on Saturday, April 14. The friendly competition among villages in The Woodlands spotlights the festival theme, Be A Climate Action Hero , by challenging attendees to use alternative forms of transportation to reach the event. 
YMCA HEALTHY KIDS DAY - T he South Montgomery County YMCA Annual Healthy Kids Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 14 from 10:30 am until 1:30 pm. This free event will be held at the Branch Crossing YMCA, located at 8100 Ashlane Way in The Woodlands' Village of Sterling Ridge . Look for a special visit from The Woodlands' mascot, Puffy Pine Cone , from 11:30 am until 12:30 pm. 
FARMER'S MARKET AT MARKET STREET RETURNS EVERY SATURDAY BEGINNING APRIL 14 - Market Street will bring back its popular Farmer's Market this spring from 8 am until 11 am Saturday mornings, from April 14 through June 30, 2007. Enjoy shopping for local produce; jams, jellies and chutneys; plants and flowers; locally made soaps and lotions; handmade jewelry; and more. For more information, visit 
WINEFEST SET FOR THURSDAY - The Montgomery County Women's Center (MCWC) will host WineFest: Hollywood & Vine on Thursday, April 12 from 6 pm until 9 pm at Macy's Furniture Gallery on The Woodlands Mall Ring Road . WineFest will feature fine wine, gourmet coffee, signature dishes from local restaurants, music, raffle items and more. For more information, contact Mary Jo O'Neal at MCWC at 
LIBRARY BOOK SALES - The South Montgomery County Friends of the Library will hold its Children's Book Sale on Saturday, April 14 from 10 am until 3 pm at the South Regional Library , 2101 Lake Robbins Drive. The General Book Sale will be held on Thursday, April 19 from 5 pm until 8:30 pm; Friday, April 20 from 9 am until 4:30 pm; and on Saturday, April 21 from 9 am until 3 pm at the South Community Center, 2235 Lake Robbins Drive. On Saturday, the sale will close from 1:15 pm until 1:30 pm to prepare for the $1 per bag of book sale from 1:30 pm until 3 pm. For more information, visit 
HOMEBUILDING UNDERWAY IN THE NEW VILLAGE OF CREEKSIDE PARK - Five homebuilders - Darling Homes, David Weekley Homes, Highland Homes, Village Builders and Wilshire Homes - have purchased a total of 157 lots to date for new homebuilding. The homebuilding is underway in the neighborhood of Wilde Creek, situated near the Gosling Road entrance to the new village. The Village of Creekside Park is located south of Spring Creek in Harris County. 
THE WOODLANDS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY SUPPORTS WOMEN'S CENTER WINEFEST - The Woodlands Development Company (TWDC) recently presented a donation to the Montgomery County Women's Center (MCWC) for its sixth annual fundraiser, WineFest: Hollywood and Vine , which is set for Thursday, April 12 from 6-9 pm at Macy's Furniture Gallery on The Woodlands Mall Ring Road. WineFest will feature fine wine, gourmet coffee, signature dishes from local restaurants, music, raffle items and more. 
THE KANGAROO FOREST EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER CELEBRATES OPENING - The South Montgomery County Woodlands Chamber of Commerce was on hand to celebrate the opening of The Kangaroo Forest Early Childhood Center with a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony. The new center is now open at 7303 S. Forest Gate Drive in The Woodlands. Owner Sandy Brawner feels that kangaroos are great representations of mothers caring dearly for their young - just as they do at their new Center. Joining in the ceremony was Sandy's husband and co-owner, Greg, son David, wife Amber, and children Nicklaus and Anthony, niece Patricia Bashkatova and Grandma Dolores Hogan. For more information about The Kangaroo Forest, call 281-465-4069 or visit 
PRINCIPAL ANNOUNCED AS FINALIST FOR AWARD - Valerie Vogt, principal of Coulson Tough Elementary School , recently received a visit from officials at HEB, congratulating her for being selected as a finalist in the principal category for the HEB Excellence in Education Awards. The award carries a monetary gift of $1,000 for the school as well as for Mrs. Vogt. She is one of five finalists in this division. HEB's Excellence in Education Awards are designed to honor outstanding public school professionals and thank them for their dedication and commitment. More than 2,000 nominations from educators all over the state were submitted for consideration. Vogt, along with the other finalists, will now participate in a personal interview with a panel of three distinguished judges. Pictured is Vogt (center) with assistant principals Julie English and Sunnye Nowlin , who gathered students, teachers, staff and Vogt's family for a surprise announcement of her finalist status. 
THE WOODLANDS COLLEGE PARK DEBATE TEAM SCORES BIG AT NATIONAL COMPETITION - The Woodlands College Park Debate Team recently competed in the East Texas National Forensic League Tournament. Senior Lauren van der Dys (left), a fourth year debate student who has qualified for the National Tournament three times, competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking and took first place. Sophomore Katie James (right), a second year debate student, competed in United States Extemporaneous Speaking and took third place. In the Extemporaneous Speaking event, students choose three current event topics from an envelope and speak on one of the topics. The student has 30 minutes to prepare a seven-minute speech complete with multiple quotes from current news sources. Then the student delivers the speech in front of a judge without the benefit of notes. Lauren and Katie will travel with their coach, Deanne Christensen , to Wichita, KS to compete at the National Tournament in June. 
THE WOODLANDS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY SHOWS ITS SUPPORT OF THE WOODLANDS WATERWAY ARTS FESTIVAL - Executives from The Woodlands Development Company (TWDC) recently presented a donation for sponsorship of the "Performing Arts Stage" at The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival (WWAF). The second annual event is set for Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, 2007 on The Woodlands Waterway® in Town Center . The festival is a juried fine arts show featuring 200 national and regional artists of various mediums selling their original creations. Children's interactive art activities, student art exhibits, live entertainment and the Palette Café featuring food from popular local restaurants will be added attractions. Pictured from left to right are: Tim Welbes , co-president of TWDC; Susan Vreeland-Wendt, director of marketing for TWDC and a member of the WWAF Advisory Committee; Joe Michels, president of The Woodlands Waterway Arts Council Board; Alex Sutton , co-president of TWDC; and Debra Staley , director of public affairs for TWDC. 
HUMANE SOCIETY NEEDS VOLUNTEERS FOR THE ARTS FESTIVAL -- The Humane Society of Montgomery County (HSMC) is seeking animal-loving volunteers for a shift at The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival . HSMC will be serving food and beverages for tips as a fundraiser to support daily shelter operations and outfit the new shelter scheduled to open this summer. Approximately 120 volunteers are needed to work four-hour shifts. Individuals as well as charity groups, service organizations and company "teams" can volunteer. All volunteers will receive free admission to the festival, a festival t-shirt featuring artwork by Barbara Franklet , the festival's featured artist, along with special recognition in HSMC's newsletter and website. Those interested in volunteering should contact Maile Schuyler at 
MONTGOMERY COUNTY UNITED WAY PRESENTS RECOGNITIONS - At its recent annual meeting Montgomery County United Way (MCUW) presented the 2006 Volunteer of the Year Award to Raul Lema, who has been involved with MCUW for the past four years, serving on the board of directors and the fund development and strategic planning committees. Also honored during the program was Ball Metal Container of Conroe, the recipient of the Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. Heritage Award. This marked the third time in six years that Ball has earned the award, which is given to a company that has had more than 60% employee participation in its United Way campaign, made a corporate gift, been involved in fund distribution and Days of Caring, and had a minimum $150 per capita pledge by its employees. 
