All posts by hradmin

The public finally has a sense of the scope of Rice University’s proposed redevelopment of the former Midtown Sears. Dubbed The Ion Innovation Hub, the project looks to be a game-changer for the surrounding area. In a variance request first reported by the Houston Chronicle, plans show 13 proposed structures with green space connecting them.  Work on the Midtown Sears and an accompanying parking garage are well underway and renderings of a finished project have been officially released. Plans for the surrounding area, owned mostly by Rice University, have been vague but ambitious. The documents filed by consulting firm Vernon G. Henry & Associates on behalf of Rice are the first look at plans for the area, which appears to include extensive landscaping.

The plans indicate Phase 1 will focus on the three parcels adjacent to the north, east and northeast of the Midtown Sears site, where three buildings totaling roughly 102K SF and a 22.5K SF civic plaza will be developed. Plans for the rest of the project will come in future phases.

Stockdale Capital Partners has acquired a 433,132-square-foot creative office building in Houston’s Greenway submarket. Principal Real Estate Investors sold the Class A property, while Cigna Realty Investors facilitated the transaction with a seven-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan.

Located at 20 Greenway Plaza, the ten-story asset is within walking distance of several dining and retail options, as well as residential properties. The location provides easy access to Houston’s major thoroughfares and public transit. Originally built as a retail property in 1984, the tower was converted for office use in 2002, according to Yardi Matrix information. Most recently, the building underwent upgrades in 2014.

Also known as the Koch Building, 20 Greenway Plaza was 95 percent occupied at the time of sale. Its tenant roster includes notable companies such as Merrill Lynch, Mitsubishi, Sunnova Energy Corp., REALEC Technologies and Koch.

Principal Real Estate worked with HFF Senior Managing Director Dan Miller and Managing Director Trent Agnew, while the brokerage company’s debt placement team led by Managing Director Trent Agnew arranged the financing on behalf of the buyer. Recently, Miller was part of the team handling the sale of One Sugar Creek Center, a 193,998-square-foot office building in Sugar Land, Texas.

People who think Houston is all about urban sprawl haven’t been to Houston lately. Houston’s 610 Loop has been a hotbed for infill development. A stretch of land just south of Buffalo Bayou — roughly 1.5 miles long and 0.5 miles deep — is attracting infill development at a rapid pace. The latest projects, a 600-unit mid-rise with 50K SF of retail from GID and a separate $500M mixed-use development from DC Partners, are a sure sign the city’s real estate perception is changing.

“It has been amazing to see the transformation of Houston in the decades since GID first acquired this property, and we feel patience has truly been a virtue in determining how best to knit this site into the area’s ongoing evolution,” GID Development Group President James Linsley said.  The area is expected to add 1,700 new units on West Dallas between Dunlavy and Shepherd, according to ApartmentData.com. Most will be in mid-rise or high-rise projects.  GID Development Group broke ground on the second phase of Regent Square, an 8-acre tract at West Dallas and Dunlavy Street, just south of Houston’s prominent Buffalo Bayou Park. Announced in spring 2019 and designed by acclaimed Boston-based architectural placemaking firm CBT, Phase 2 aims to be game-changing urban infill development, bringing an Old World-style town square into the thriving heart of Houston’s most rapidly densifying neighborhood.

Tomorrow DC Partners will break ground on its $500M project known as The Allen, set to be anchored by a 34-story hotel and condo tower. DC Partners’ The Allen will rise on a 6-acre tract, featuring 250K SF of Class-A office, a 170-room Thompson Hotel, and 95 condos. Once completed, five towers will occupy the site.  Blocks away, Weingarten Realty is planning The Driscoll, a 30-story luxury high-rise with 300 residential units. The Montrose at Buffalo Bayou, under construction, will add another 224 units in an eight-story mid-rise. Hanover is planning Hanover Buffalo Bayou, which looks to be the company’s biggest project in Houston yet, with early documents showing plans for a 23-story residential tower and 21-story office building.  All of this new density coming to Houston is happening in roughly one square mile.  “It’s very clear one could see four or five additional towers there over a long period of time,” Weingarten Realty Investors CEO Drew Alexander said during a third-quarter conference call with analysts. Weingarten hasn’t announced formal plans for additional towers at the site near the historic River Oaks Theater, but with the rapid densification, it may be in the future.  “I think it will become denser over the next 10, 20 years certainly,” Weingarten Senior Vice President Gerald Crump told the Houston Chronicle when the project was announced more than two years ago. “It is possible you could end up with the office, hotel or further residential units.”

Master-planned communities and suburban sprawl are still common in the outlying Houston areas. With few land constraints, historically Houston has had few reasons to pursue density. As renter demographics shift and the city grapples with increasingly frequent flooding issues, density and height have become favorites in Houston’s urban core. While the city has a long way to go, areas like Downtown, Uptown, Greenway Plaza and now the Buffalo Bayou southern bank show promise for Houston’s dense, walkable future.

 

PlazAmericas, the former Sharpstown shopping center that has struggled to find its footing as regional malls have fallen out of shoppers’ favor, has a new owner that wants to turn around the property while maintaining the diverse culture, particularly Latino, that exists there today.

Baker Katz, a Houston commercial real estate firm, has purchased the property from a Philadelphia financial company that acquired mall out of bankruptcy about a decade ago. The developers said they intend to make improvements, but will first spend time studying what the property needs most.

Baker Katz, a Houston commercial real estate firm, has purchased the property from a Philadelphia financial company that acquired mall out of bankruptcy about a decade ago. The developers said they intend to make improvements, but will first spend time studying what the property needs most.

“It’s not our goal to come in and be the big bad developer,” said Baker Katz Principal Jason Baker. “Our goal is to build on and improve on what’s there already.”

Located at the busy intersection of U.S. 59 and Bellaire, the former Sharpstown Center opened in 1961. Frank Sharp, who developed the Sharpstown neighborhood, naming it after himself, also built the mall.

In later decades, the shopping center struggled as newer malls opened. The ownership became fractured. Baker Katz is buying the mall’s largest section, but its purchase does not include any of the attached anchor stores or the 10-story building that rises from the property.

The former Montgomery Ward, JC Penny, and Macy’s buildings all have different owners. The high-rise, too, has a separate owner and so-called out parcels closer to the road are under different ownership.

“Those agreements essentially prevent major changes from happening at the property in the near future,” said Justin Segal, president of Boxer Property Management Corp., which managed the mall several years ago and was involved in repositioning it from an outdated, struggling mall to PlazAmericas, which largely caters to area’s diverse population.

“There’s definitely a viable strategy of maintaining its current form and having an eye on the future for when it’s subject to fewer restrictions,” Segal said. “Baker Katz is a great company. They’re local, they’re well respected and they have a long history in retail.”

Retail developer Ed Wulfe, said the mall has a prime location but echoed the concern over the ownership issues.

“It’s fraught with problems that hopefully they can work out,” Wulfe said. “As far as I’m concerned, for first time it’s in hands of an experienced shopping center developer.”

Commercial realty firm CBRE put the property on the market earlier this year. There was not a public asking price. The Harris County Appraisal District values the property at $12.2 million.

The mall can be slow on weekdays, but it is busy during weekends when it becomes a gathering spot for families who come not only for shopping but also live music and entertainment for children. Still, the surrounding area has struggled from a reputation standpoint, following bouts of crime in previous years.

As Houstonians who specialize in retail properties, the Baker Katz principals said they have for years studied the mall, which they say has several advantages, including a location at a busy intersection in one of the most densely populated areas in Houston. Baker emphasized the positive aspects of the property, including diversity and community involvement.

“We want to build on what’s there and hopefully turn this perception, whatever that might be, completely turn it around,” he said. “We’re not merchant builders. This is not a slide in and slides out. We’re absolutely looking at this as a long-term hold. We want to be part of the community.”