Uptown mixed-use redevelopment completes (June 6, 2024)

Braun Enterprises has completed the redevelopment of 53 West, a mixed-use project spanning 4 acres along Alabama Street in downtown Houston, adjacent to The Galleria.

Braun Enterprises began redeveloping 53 West in 2019. It features 168,000 square feet of office space and 32,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Courtesy of Braun Companies

An office meeting space at 53 West in Uptown Houston

The redevelopment included renovation and painting of exterior facades, remodeling of interior office buildings, and improvement of ground floor storefronts. Lighting throughout the properties and pathways has been upgraded and outdoor seating and landscaping now extends across the entire ground floor.

Interior improvements include updated restrooms, lobbies and common atriums that feature new fixtures, finishes, furniture and lighting.

The site includes an 11-exhibitor food and beverage space called Conservatory, which opened in the former Roxy nightclub earlier this year. The overall site is 84 percent leased and the retail portion is 90 percent leased, Braun Enterprises said. Bisnow.

The ground floor retail connects two office towers, one of which has been converted into Urban Office, a flexible office space concept from Braun Enterprises.

“53 West brings together our growing urban office concept of flexible office space and long-term creative office space fused with some of the city’s most sought-after dining and beverage concepts, all in one central location,” said Braun Enterprises President Dan Braun. in a press release.

Other shops on the ground floor include Burger-Chan, Hidden Omakase, Salon Lofts, Memorial Hermann, Woody’s Furs and Yorktown Dental Spa. Two more retail concepts are expected to open this year.

PEOPLE

The Morgan Group has hired Brooks Steele as vice president of business development and client services. He will focus on creating business opportunities within the property management division and maintaining client relationships.

Steele has more than a decade of real estate experience, including work at Lument and Greystone Servicing Corp., focusing on agencies, Department of Housing and Urban Development and asset bridge loan originations multi-family.

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Cresa has named Andrew Brod director of its Houston office. Brod previously served as Managing Director and Houston Market Leader at Whitebox Real Estate. He has 20 years of experience.

The move follows Cresa’s acquisition of Houston-based Fritsche Anderson Realty Partners and marks the first addition of new managing directors and co-market leaders Anthony Fritsche and David Anderson.

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Jack Parsons has joined Colliers in Houston as a senior partner specializing in occupier services. Parsons joins Colliers from OldCap Property Group, where he represented occupiers of commercial real estate. Prior to that, he worked at Finial Group, where he focused on representing tenants and owners of office and industrial properties.

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Gensler has hired Alanna Carter to lead its healthcare practice for the South Central region, spanning offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Nashville and San Antonio. Carter has more than 30 years of experience in projects including hospitals, clinics, senior living communities and surgery centers.

Carter will help Gensler’s health projects address industry challenges, such as staffing shortages.

SALES

Courtesy of Colliers

Barker Cypress Distribution Center

Alan Cohen of ACPR1 LLC has purchased the Barker Cypress Distribution Center, a 142,000-square-foot Class A warehouse located at 12020 Barker Cypress Road in Cypress. The facility is 100% leased by 84 Lumber Co.

Lizzy Blake of Colliers and her team represented the seller, Molto Properties, and the buyer based in Buena Park, California.

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Farouk Saleh of FJS Investments has purchased an 85,000-square-foot building at 10610 Wyman Gordon Drive in Houston. Jeffery Arnaud and Matt Rogers of Oxford Partners represented the buyer, and Stephen Schneidau of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.

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Maximillian Yuglich sold 2.71 acres at 0 Sutherland St. in Houston. Jeffery Arnaud and Stephen Hazen of Oxford Partners represented the seller.

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Newmark announced the sale of One Westway and Two Westway, a 15-acre campus with 194,000 square feet of office space in West Houston. Gary Carr, Robert Hill and Chris Murphy of Newmark represented the seller, an undisclosed investor.

The portfolio is 95% leased to four major tenants in healthcare, education, energy and residential construction. It is at the intersection of the Sam Houston Tollway and Clay Road, between Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 290.

The campus is in Westway Park, a 150-acre office park planned and developed by Wolff Cos.

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Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. has acquired Waterway Plaza II, a 142,000-square-foot Class A office building in downtown Woodlands, for $19.2 million. The building is 55% leased, adding “much-needed inventory to Howard Hughes’ downtown Woodlands office portfolio, which is currently 96% leased,” Howard Hughes said in a press release.

The six-story building sits on a 3.23-acre site and has a 1,316-space parking garage.

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Lionstone Investments has acquired The James, an eight-story Class A multifamily asset located in River Oaks in Houston. The 344-unit building was delivered in 2016 and is 94% occupied.

LEASES

Meredith O’Donnell Inc. leased 11,000 square feet of industrial space at 7420 Wynnpark Drive in Houston. Boone Smith of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord and John Parsley and Jeff Peltier of Colliers represented the tenant.

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Hanwha Ocean leased 22,000 square feet at 580 Westlake Park Blvd. in Houston. Ryan Hartsell of Oxford Partners represented the tenant and Matt Asvestas, Grant Schiro and Ryan Barbles of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, Younan Properties.

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Fort signed a lease for 12,000 square feet at the Stonecrest Business Center at 10812 Fallstone Road in Houston. Fort was represented internally by Thomas Pfeifer.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Courtesy of NewQuest Properties

Costco Wholesale will open at NewQuest Properties’ Grand at Aliana in Fort Bend County in the coming weeks. The 155,000-square-foot store will be the first to open in the developer’s final phase of the 67-acre regional center.

Also at the Grand at Aliana, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic has begun construction on a 51,000 SF clinic. The opening of Costco speaks to Aliana and Katy’s rapid household growth, given that the brand has another store less than 6 miles away, Josh Friedlander, senior vice president of NewQuest Properties, said in a statement.

THIS AND THAT

Triten Real Estate Partners and TPG Angelo Gordon are expanding their initial joint venture to acquire more than $1 billion in industrial outdoor storage assets over the next five years.

Triten and TPG Angelo Gordon partnered in 2020 to develop a geographically diversified IOS portfolio. The joint venture has acquired more than $500 million in IOS assets across 16 markets, completing an average of 18 new acquisitions per year since 2020.

“In 2017, we saw an opportunity to transform the fragmented IOS asset class into a compelling portfolio with limited capital expenditure requirements and an attractive yield,” Scott Arnoldy, founding partner of Triten Real Estate Partners, said in a statement. “This additional investment signifies our continued commitment to the IOS asset class.”

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Partners Real Estate has launched an AI generative search feature, which will provide a personalized, contextual and conversational search experience on its website. The functionality will be in the lower right corner of the site, while the traditional search function will remain in the upper right corner, according to a press release.