Texas - Houston Realty Advisors

Apr 2020

Houston Association of Realtors takes steps to adapt amid coronavirus pandemic

Article commercial, Coronavirus, HAR, Harris County, Houston, HRA, Leases, March 2020, Real Estate, Texas hradmin

The Houston Association of Realtors has been making changes to help keep the residential real estate market going amid the coronavirus outbreak while also keeping people safe.

HAR President and CEO Bob Hale spoke at a Tuesday, March 24, Harris County Commissioners Court meeting about the need to include residential and commercial real estate among the list of “essential” services exempt from Harris County’s new “stay home, work smart” order. Currently, $2.4 billion of residential real estate is pending sale, with $800 million scheduled to close in the next 10 days, HAR said in a statement.

When Harris County’s written order was released Tuesday afternoon, it classified real estate services among professional services that are essential “when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities or to further essential businesses, essential government functions, or critical infrastructure.” Even before the order was released, HAR already was developing a platform for virtual open houses and virtual showings, per the statement. The platform would allow customers to watch the tours and open houses on HAR.com at scheduled times, and HAR members would then be able to share the recordings on their agencies’ websites and social media.

“The safety of our members, their clients and families is the most important thing to us during this difficult time,” HAR said.

Even before Harris County’s March 24 order, HAR has been taking steps to adapt amid the pandemic. On March 20, HAR announced that information about open houses would not be displayed on HAR.com for most Texas markets, including Houston and Austin, effective immediately.

“Most of the national real estate franchises and many large brokers have either canceled all in-person open houses or are strongly encouraging their agents not to hold them,” HAR said in a March 20 press release. “Realtors are urged to utilize virtual open houses and video tours to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.”

Many Realtors told the Houston Business Journal last week that they were canceling open houses and opting to show their listings via apps like FaceTime and Skype. Others have begun to post video tours of properties online.

Mar 2020

New Listing 906 Witter St. 77506 Pasadena, TX

Article Alex Ayres, commercial, Ed Ayres, HRA, Listing, Pasadena, Photography, Real Estate, Texas hradmin

Houston Realty Advisors Inc. has a new listing available FOR LEASE in Pasadena, TX. This property is located at 906 Witter St. it’s a Flex/ Warehouse/ Office Building. containing 13,450 Square Feet of Building.

For more information please contact us.

Commercial, Real Estate, HRA, Alex Ayres Photography, Pasadena

Photo of exterior and by Alex Ayres Photography

Alex Ayres Photography, Commercial listing, Pasadena, interior, offices

1 of the 7 offices on this Listing. Photo credit: Alex Ayres Photography

Privacy gate

Break room Photo credit: Alex Ayres Photography

Feb 2020

Real estate transactions: Spring Branch ISD nabs land for high school expansion

1of4PBK, an architecture firm based in Houston, designed the expansion of Northbrook High School in Spring Branch Independent

Real estate transactions: Spring Branch ISD nabs land for high school expansion

Image Classrooms, Ed Ayres, education, Houston, Houston property group, Houston Realty Advisors, Leases, Representation, spring branch isd, Texas hradmin

1of4PBK, an architecture firm based in Houston, designed the expansion of Northbrook High School in Spring Branch Independent School District. The school will gain a classroom wing, interior and exterior upgrades, new roof, and athletic site improvements. Photo: PBK / NewQuest Properties

PBK, an architecture firm based in Houston, designed the expansion of Northbrook High School in Spring Branch Independent School District. The school will gain a classroom wing, interior and exterior upgrades, new roof and athletic site improvements. Satterfield & Pontikes is handling construction. — 2of4PBK, an architecture firm based in Houston, designed the expansion of Northbrook High School in Spring Branch Independent School District. The school will gain a classroom wing, interior and exterior upgrades, new roof, and athletic site improvements. Satterfield & Pontikes is handling construction. Photo: PBK / NewQuest Properties

3of4Olin Corp. will renovate a 62,500-square-foot building on Highway 332 in Lake Jackson.Photo: Osborn / MZ-CG

Olin Corp. is renovating a 62,500-square-foot office building in Lake Jackson to create a Technology and Administration Center that will serve as the main building for its Texas operations. The Missouri-based chemical manufacturer will consolidate more than 200 employees from seven area offices to 604 Highway 332 when renovations are completed this summer.

Olin, which has 1,200 employees in the Freeport area, worked with the building owners to create a collaborative work environment. The building, which allows room for future growth, will have a training hall with seating for 130. Dallas based owner/developer St. Ives Realty and partner LandPlan Development are leading the construction. Houston-based Osborn & Vane Architects designed the renovations and LSI Construction is handling construction. Olin will maintain its office in the Energy Corridor.

San Antonio-based Kairoi Residential was hired by a joint-venture of Argosy Real Estate Partners and InvestRes to provide property management services for Kingsland West, a 305-unit apartment community at 18325 Kingsland Blvd. in the Katy area. The joint venture acquired the property, which had been damaged by Hurricane Harvey and subsequently renovated, in November 2018.

Spring Branch Independent School District purchased a 22,381-square-foot warehouse on 4.7 acres at 2425 Campbell Road, from Camnora Ltd. Brad Elmore of NewQuest Properties and John Leggett of Leggett Properties represented the seller, a partnership that includes several investors who live in Spring Branch. The site, originally planned for townhome development, will be used for the expansion of Northbrook High School. PBK is the architect for the project, while Satterfield & Pontikes will handle construction.

Mond Properties purchased a vacant 95,170-square-foot office building at 10500 Richmond Ave. David Carter and Jeff Peltier of Colliers International assisted the seller, a commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) trust represented by special servicer LNR Partners. The building, which lost Worley Parsons as its sole tenant in 2018, is on five acres at the corner of Richmond and Rogerdale in the Westchase District.

Hackbarth Delivery Service leased 49,701 square feet at 1350 Salford Drive. Harper Gully with CBRE represented the tenant. Ed Bane with Bridge Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord, Stonelake Capital Partners.

Riverstone Property Management purchased an 18,643-square-foot office building at 1000 FM 1960 W. from A-K Texas Venture Capitol. David K. Meyers of NewQuest Properties represented the seller. Friedman Real Estate represented the buyer.

Othon leased 13,761 square feet at 575 N. Dairy Ashford. Gary Lawless and Dustin Cruz with Cresa represented the tenant. Steve Rocher and Kristen Rabel with CBRE represented the landlord, I-10 EC Corridor #2 LP.

Zohra and Riyaz Momin purchased a 3,380-square-foot four-plex at 415 W. Polk St. in Montrose. The buyers plan to fix up the 1930s building and rent the suites. Jojo Tharayil of Excel Realty Co. represented the buyers. Cotton Munson of Davis Commercial represented the seller, GFK Associates.

Advanced Analysis leased 7,150 square feet at Wynwood Business Park, 7245 Wynnpark Drive. Will Austin with Bridge Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant. Garret Geaccone and Boone Smith with Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, KKR.

Associated Energy Group/AEG Fuels, a provider of aviation fuel and services, subleased 5,630 square feet at 8686 New Trails Drive in the Woodlands. Ryan Dierker of Newcor Commercial Real Estate represented the subtenant. Angela Barber and Tim Gregory of JLL represented the sublessor, ETCL Woodland LLC.

JobSparx, an employment resources firm, renewed its 2,655-square-foot office lease at 14500 Torrey Chase. Zack Wheeler with Newcor Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant. Jason Gibbons of the Finial Group represented the landlord, 14500 Torrey Chase LLC.

Feb 2020

Atlanta-based Stonemont Financial Group recently launched phase one of its 540-acre Southwest International Gateway Business Park in El Campo, Texas, around 60 miles southwest of Houston.

“We have officially closed on the land and completed all of our designs, and we’re in the process of breaking ground as we speak,” Stonemont Financial CEO Zack Markwell told FreightWaves during an interview Wednesday.

The new park, which could house up to 8 million square feet of industrial space, is located along Interstate 69, almost midway between Houston and San Antonio, and about 200 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The first phase of construction will include two warehouses: a 125,000-square-foot distribution center and a 200,000-square-foot speculative warehouse. The park will have full intermodal and transload capabilities once completed in 12 to 15 months, according to Stonemont officials.

Vitro Chemicals, a subsidiary of Monterrey, Mexico-based Vitro, has already signed on as a tenant for the 125,000-square-foot distribution center. Vitro is one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world.

Markwell said another reason they picked El Campo was to capitalize on its location along the Kansas City Southern Railway NYSEKCS.

“We have been working with KCS for the last four to five years in finding the optimal location where we had frontage on their line and then also frontage on I-69,” Markwell said. “All of that is a very strategic location to the Houston market, but also the important markets of San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas.”

KCS’s major hubs include Kansas City, Missouri; Shreveport, Louisiana; New Orleans; Dallas; and Houston. KCS’s Mexico-based affiliate, Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), operates across northeastern, central, southeast-central and southwest-central Mexico.

Markwell said by connecting the new industrial park to the KCS rail line, Mexico-based manufacturers can use KCS for cross-border shipping from their factories in Mexico, all the way to the park, and closer to major distribution centers in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas.

Tenants will also benefit from customs preclearance that enables users to bypass rail and highway backups at the border crossing, as well as avoid backlogs of truck and rail traffic at existing regional parks and ports closer to the congested Houston metro area.

“Our manufacturers in Mexico are moving the border north — if you think about it that way — where they are coming from Mexico, coming to Laredo today and then breaking down and either drawing from that point or staying on and switching carriers and going throughout the United States and distributing back into Texas,” Markwell said. “What we’re doing is moving that border north to just 62 miles outside of Houston and serving it from that point.”

The park will also be part of a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), with additional local and state economic incentives available for tenants.

Ridgeline Property Group, an Atlanta-based commercial real estate development firm, is partnering with Stonemont to develop Southwest International Gateway, Business Park.

Pittsburg, Kansas-based Watco Companies will operate the short line railroad connecting the buildings to the KCS mainline. Houston-based NAI Partners will oversee leasing at the park.

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