Article from Houston Business Journal
Breaking ground in 2nd quarter of 2008, another distribution center is being erected in the Woodlands. Martin-Brower is a distributor for McDonald’s restaurants.
Check out these two articles:
Theater demolished to make room for West Belt offices
Moody National Eyeing Q4 Start for $25M Hotel
Westchase district right now is going through some big development. As oil price continues to rise, Houston market is still holding up good, if not positively affected. Right now, the energy/pipeline/drilling companies are very crowded in downtown and energy corridor and Westchase naturally becomes a good spot for expansion.
Check out this news on Houston Chronicle
There are a lot of landowners right now resisting to grant access to the government for doing the survey and subsequently putting up the border fence. These slow-moving court hearings will continue until there is a general guideline being defined by the government of what “access” encompasses and property owners feel more protected along the process. Falling under the eminent domain clause, it’s the damage/compensation in question here.
“HOUSTON-An increasing demand for trading space has led Jones Lang LaSalle to launch a new practice dedicated to helping companies find, expand or develop trading floor space. The seven-member group is part of the firm’s mission-critical practice, which includes data, call and customer-care centers.”
Although it’s considered office space, Egger and JLL vice president Barry Weiner point out that trading space has different requirements. Because trading is a 24/7, year-round activity, the building needs to support day-and-night productivity, meaning high security and nearby amenities. Floor plates need to be larger and open so traders can see one another. Also as with any lease or development, telecommunications is a prime consideration because traders are dealing with multiple providers. “Power requirements are significant beyond standard office space,” Weiner says.
Then, there is the equipment. “A typical office is eight-by-eight or six-by-eight and has one CPU,” Weiner explains. “A trader could have up to four CPUs and up to nine monitors.” Such a set up requires a higher infrastructure level and system, he adds.
Egger tells GlobeSt.com that the equipment collectively puts out a lot more heat than an average office, requiring a special HVAC system. Trading floor space requires a chilled water system, one capable of cooling densely occupied space without going on the fritz. “A lot of buildings don’t have that kind of infrastructure and capacity,” Egger says.
Leases tend to be longer because of the significant capital investment needed to develop a trading floor, Egger continues. “TI dollars contributed by the landlord aren’t much more significant than in an office build-out, but there is a larger investment from the tenant,” he says. “That’s why the tenant needs a longer-term lease.”
Credit goes to Globest
Banking giant Wachovia Corp. will sell more than 100 vacated bank branches this year to American Realty Capital II LLC, a private real-estate investment trust, for more than $100 million.
The branches will be those that Wachovia decides to vacate due to market changes or consolidation following mergers and acquisitions. The deal provides the REIT exclusive rights to purchase Wachovia’s surplus branches for an undisclosed term.
For the past five years, Wachovia had sold its surplus branches to a different REIT, American Financial Realty Trust. Wachovia spokeswoman Carrie Ruddy declined to say why the bank made the change.
Nicholas Schorsch, American Realty Capital’s chief executive, co-founded the REIT in 2006 after leaving American Financial Realty Trust, which he also founded. Mr. Schorsch had a no-compete agreement with American Financial that expired due to that REITs pending acquisition by Gramercy Capital Corp.
Credit goes to WSJ
HOUSTON-With first phase of Beltway Antoine Business Center already 35% leased to a single tenant, Mountain West Industrial Properties has broken ground on the last four buildings, totaling 180,016 sf. The estimated $12-million to $15-million addition is scheduled to deliver in the summer.In December, the Greenwood Village, CO-based developer completed the 203,200-sf, three-building phase one of the 35-acre park at the junction of Beltway 8 and Antoine Drive. T.J. Tarbell, Mountain West’s acquisitions and development officer, says the 132,000-sf balance of the first phase should be completely leased in nine months.
“Things are happening faster than we’d expected with this project. The strong leasing activity prompted us to break ground on phase two about three months ahead of schedule,” Tarbell tells GlobeSt.com
Tarbell says the developer is seeking 60 cents per sf to 90 cents per sf triple net for the under-construction buildings. The price varies based on whether it’s a front- or rear-load building. “We have a couple of groups on the second phase that have shown some interest in wanting to prelease, but nothing more than preliminary discussions,” he says.
Munson Kennedy Partnership in Houston designed Beltway Antoine Business Center. EE Reed Construction LP of Sugar Land is the general contractor. A leasing broker has not been selected for the second phase.
Tarbell says Mountain West wants to invest more than $150 million this year in Dallas, Denver, Houston, Phoenix and Seattle. He estimates about $50 million to $75 million will be spent in Houston.
“We’re looking across the metro area for product,” Tarbell adds. “We’re chasing some deals here, but nothing specific is in the pipeline right now.”
Credit goes to Globest
HOUSTON-During the late 1990s, trading floors were part and parcel of almost every energy-related real estate deal in the area. In today’s world, it’s a far different story.Although energy companies and financial institutions are flocking to Greater Houston and energy and power trading is active, there is little demand for trading floors. “We haven’t seen any kind of resurgence in trading floors. Based on feedback from insiders, we wouldn’t necessarily expect to see any type of resurgence in the next couple of years,” Carleton Riser, managing director of Transwestern’s Houston office, tells GlobeSt.com.
Andrew Spence, director with Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc., says demand is minimal, but he does have one request from tenant–a large utility company in the US–that wants to open a power and energy trading floor and wants it up and running before the end of the year. However, he says “that’s the only request I’ve had in the past six months for that type of real estate.”
Less than 10 years ago, things were different. Power companies coming into the area required trading floors. The open office areas were generally 40,000 sf to 60,000 sf, a hub where traders bought and sold millions of oil and gas commodities.
Spence tells GlobeSt.com one reason there isn’t as much of a demand for trading floors is because there are tighter restrictions when it comes to getting into the energy business due to the Enron debacle. “People are lot more cautious getting into it,” he adds. “And when they do, they’re doing everything to comply with specific sanctions.”
Riser says trading is more a byproduct of the business rather than the core business for those energy companies now coming to Houston. Much of the core business is centered on exploration and production, meaning a different type of setup and employee.
“The energy companies are hiring, but if you talk to them about the sorts of people they want it’s office, it’s engineers, it’s finance people. The aspect of trading rarely, if ever, comes up,” Riser says.
Louis Cushman, vice chairman for Cushman & Wakefield Inc., says he sees more of a trend in that East Coast companies are setting up Houston trading operations by piggy backing on existing trading centers rather than developing their own. Building one from scratch can be time-consuming and somewhat costly, he points out. “There’s lack of space, particularly Downtown,” he says. “By definition, the only way you’ll get an existing trading floor is if someone moves.”
Credit goes to Globest
“Houston has been named a top up-and-coming technology city by Forbes Magazine.
Philip Auerswald, professor of public policy at George Mason University, looked at regional innovation trends to come up with 10 tech cities that were moving forward.
Houston came in at No. 4 behind Columbus, Ohio; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Palm Beach County, Fla.
Auerswald identified that while Houston isn’t known as a city full of “techies,” it is becoming that way.
Forbes quoted Walter Ulrich, chief executive officer of the Houston Technology Center as saying, “Fifteen years ago, we had all the assets, but we weren’t really developing them, so all the leaders of Houston got together and recognized that the city needed to diversify its economy. There’s been this tremendous transition.”
Two Houston companies identified in the article included itRobotics, which is developing new cost-cutting robots that inspect a variety of boilers and energy pipelines for structural flaws, and drug delivery company Nanospectra Biosciences, which is working on a nanoscale particle (pioneered at Rice University) that destroys cancerous tumors.”
Credit goes to Houston Business Journal
The monthly commercial properties report for Houston:
“The city has donated 137 acres to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, a gift that university President Flavius Killebrew said will “ensure the university can continue to grow academic programs on the island.”The land will accommodate mostly nonacademic facilities, such as tennis courts, housing, a physical plant and additional parking. Killebrew said that will free up space for possible academic facility growth on the nearby main campus.
University enrollment is at 8,600 students. With the new acreage, the university potentially can accommodate 16,000 students. Without the land, Killebrew said a 10,000-student enrollment cap would have been likely.”
Hm… might not be a bad idea to check into the land value, multifamily, smaller single houses value in that area. I witnessed the population growth around UT Austin and the phenomenal rising property value on West Campus so this could be a potential area worth checking out.
