Byline Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Group closed on a $23.5 million loan with Campus Realty Advisors and T2 Capital. The transaction funds the acquisition, renovation and repositioning of The Edge Student Housing, a 173-unit, 553-bed purpose-built student housing community at 1740 Old Ranch Road near Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

This is the second deal between Byline, Campus Realty Advisors and T2 Capital in the last 12 months: In July 2024, Byline funded a $15.2 million loan for another 152-unit, 488-bed student housing community in San Marcos.

Conveniently located close to the Texas State campus, The Edge Student Housing features a variety of amenities, including a pool, volleyball and basketball courts, a fitness center, and access to nearby hiking trails. Campus Realty Advisors and T2 Capital plan to make significant capital improvements to each unit, as well as to the building’s common areas and amenities.

Upgrades in individual apartment units will include new plank hardwood floors, new cabinet pulls, updated bathroom fixtures, and modern paneled interior doors with updated hardware. The building’s clubhouse will be renovated and reconfigured to include an expanded, commercial-style fitness center with all-new equipment, improved study areas, a new community gathering area, and an updated leasing center. Outdoors, a kitchen, a firepit and new lounge furniture will be added to the pool area along with LED light fixtures and upgrades to the complex’s HVAC and water heating systems.

As one of the closest properties to the University campus in the Northern student housing submarket, the planned upgrades to The Edge Student Housing will help accommodate the rapidly growing number of enrolled Texas State students. According to data from the University, 40,678 students enrolled in Fall 2024, an increase of 5% year-over-year and a significant milestone for Texas State that includes record high enrollment among graduate, doctoral and international students.

The deal closed in February 2025, and improvements on the property are expected to be completed ahead of the 2025-2026 school year. Campus Realty Advisors and T2 Capital were represented in this transaction by the law firm Smith Gambrell Russell, while Byline Bank was represented by Holland & Knight.

Avison Young has been awarded the leasing assignment for Commons at Willlowbrook, a 441,000-square-foot regional power center at 7502 to 7950 Farm to Market 1960 Road in the Willowbrook/Northwest submarket of Houston.

Situated on 39 acres, the center, which is currently 85% occupied includes Marshalls, HomeGoods, Ross Dress for Less, Michael’s, Total Wine & More, ULTA Beauty, DSW, and Daiso, among others.

Avison Young Senior Vice President Vincent O’Toole is heading the leasing program on behalf of the ownership.

The property is currently undergoing a capital improvement program including widening of the main access point, installation of new monument signage and pylons, and landscape design.

Located near the intersection of Highway 249 and FM 1960 Road, Commons at Willowbrook benefits from excellent visibility and accessibility. This prime location allows the property to attract a high volume of traffic, drawing in customers from both the local community and surrounding areas. With its desirable size and prominent placement, the property serves as a hub for retail and commercial activity in a thriving Houston neighborhood.

The Houston market has remained extremely resilient with retail occupancy rates surpassing 94% since 2020 due to the metro area’s sustained population and job growth outpacing the national average. Over the past year, Houston has emerged as a top U.S. metro for retail space absorption, with discount stores, quick-service restaurants, and fitness users the primary drivers, accounting for roughly 50% of new leasing activity.

JLL Capital Markets closed the sale of a three-property office portfolio totalling 570,045 square feet in Houston’s Energy Corridor.

JLL represented the seller, a court appointed receiver, and procured the buyer, LFFP Ashford Portfolio.

The portfolio consists of Ashford 5 at 14701 St. Mary’s Ln.; Ashford 6 at 1155 Dairy Ashford Rd. and Ashford 7 at 900 Threadneedle St. The three buildings sit on 12.23 acres immediately adjacent to Interstate 10 and near Beltway 8, providing access to the entire Houston metropolitan area within approximately 25 minutes. The Energy Corridor has been the fastest growing area of Houston and has witnessed tremendous leasing momentum over the last 12 months. In addition to its excellent transportation access, the immediate area is highly amenitized, offering a variety of retail, dining and entertainment options, including Westchase District, CityCentre and Memorial City.

Renovated between 2014 and 2016, the portfolio offers tenants a fitness center, tenant lounges and separate parking garages serving each building. The eight-story properties are 58% occupied overall with a current weighted average lease term of 4.7 years.

The JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team representing the seller was led by Managing Directors Marty Hogan and Kevin McConn. Rick Goings, John Ream, and Clay Anderson of JLL Capital Markets also represented the buyer in the assumption and modification of the in-place loan.

JLL formed the JLL Healthcare Center of Excellence to provide an increased depth of resources and expertise for JLL health system and healthcare provider clients nationwide.

JLL named Executive Managing Director Brannan Moss as the National Healthcare Center of Excellence Lead.

Comprising experienced JLL healthcare professionals within JLL’s Leasing Advisory business, the JLL Healthcare Center of Excellence (COE) will act as a hub for specialized knowledge and expertise in representing healthcare occupier clients across the country. Together, the COE will work alongside hundreds of local JLL market healthcare Leasing Advisory experts, as well as healthcare partners across JLL business lines, to provide a fully integrated solution in creating and implementing an optimal real estate portfolio strategy for healthcare occupiers across the U.S.

In this new role, Brannan oversees JLL’s COE offerings, including strategic advisory services such as the advanced data analytics platform OneMapIQ for Healthcare, and leads an experienced team that specializes in healthcare location analytics, market strategy, complex healthcare transactions for medical office and land, ground-up development advisory, portfolio optimization and portfolio account management.

Moss joined JLL in 2006 and has built an impressive, 25-year career representing US-based health systems and healthcare providers across the continuum of care nationwide

Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of Extra Space Storage, a 114,236-square-foot privately-owned, REIT-managed self-storage facility in Carrollton, Texas. 

Brandon Karr exclusively marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a local mom-and-pop operator, and also procured the Dallas-based buyer.  

Built in 1996 and expanded in 2001, the facility sits on two adjacent parcels at 2422 Marsh Lane. It includes 143 climate-controlled units, 448 drive-up units, six office suites and 101 uncovered parking spaces. The property also has a leasing office, a two-bedroom manager’s residence, gated keypad access, 24-hour video surveillance and perimeter fencing. 

In what has become a long-term trend, cap rates in the single-tenant net-lease sector continued to rise in the first three months of the year, marking the 12th consecutive quarter in which cap rates increased for this key commercial sector.

That’s one of the big takeaways from the first quarter Net Lease Market Report released April 7 by The Boulder Group.

According to The Boulder Group’s research, overall cap rates in the single-tenant net-lease sector rose to 6.78%, a modest jump of two basis points from the fourth quarter of 2024.

 Single-tenant cap rates increased to 6.56% for retail assets, a jump of four basis points from the fourth quarter of last year; 7.80% for office properties, which represented an increase of two basis points since the fourth quarter of 2024; and 7.23% for industrial. That industrial cap rate was unchanged from the last quarter of 2024.

Randy Blankstein, president of The Boulder Group, a national net lease CRE firm with offices in Wilmette, Illinois, and Denver, said that the most recent increase in cap rates should not have been a surprise to anyone following this sector.

And the reason behind these cap rate jumps shouldn’t be a surprise, either. It’s all about how expensive it is to borrow money today.

“The persistent upward trend in net lease cap rates now spans three years,” Blankstein, said in a statement. “This is reflective of sustained high borrowing costs and inflationary pressures.”

The number of net-lease properties rose in the first quarter, too, according to The Boulder Group’s research.

The net-lease report said that property supply in the single-tenant sector increased by more than 5% when compared to the prior quarter. This, too, is a trend: During the past two years, the supply of net-lease properties has surged by nearly 30%.

The reason behind this? The Boulder Group points to a slowdown in transaction speed and a pricing gap that still exists between buyers and sellers.

The increase in supply, though, isn’t hitting all net-lease sectors the same.

“Of all the net lease sub-sectors, the drug store sector is experiencing the slowest transaction volume and a glut of supply,” said Jimmy Goodman, partner with The Boulder Group, in a statement.

Recent news regarding private equity company Sycamore Partners’ acquisition of Walgreens further compounded the slowdown in sales activity in the drug store category, The Boulder Group reported.

Uncertainty over Sycamore’s long-term strategy has deepened the sub-sector’s supply and slowed deal flow. Not surprisingly, cap rates in the drug store sector increased by 44 basis points from the last quarter of 2024 to the first of this year.

Higher interest rates, as they have with all CRE sectors, have also impacted net-lease sales activity.

According to The Boulder Group, the net-lease market continues to adjust to the higher interest-rate environment experienced in recent years. Transaction volume increased in the fourth quarter of last year, and The Boulder Group is predicting a slight uptick in sales volume in 2025.

There is still caution, though. The Boulder Group said that investors will be carefully monitoring the capital markets following the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to hold interest rates steady during their March meeting.

If short-term rates continue to drop in the near term and uncertainty remains in the overall financial markets, net-lease activity is expected to increase, said The Boulder Group. But the CRE firm says that even with an increase, activity in this sector won’t rise close to the heights in pricing or transaction volume that it saw during the peak times of 2020 and 2021.