Author: Mia Goulart

Joint venture equity and construction financing arranged for shallow-bay industrial development in North Austin

Posted on by Mia Goulart

JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has arranged the equity and debt placement for Hero Way West, a to-be-built, three building business park totaling 227,200 square feet of Class A, shallow-bay product located in Leander, Texas.

JLL represented the developer, Freehill Development Company, in securing both the joint venture equity as well as the floating-rate construction loan for the project. 

Hero Way West will be designed to cater to small and regional businesses throughout Central Texas and provide best-in-class shallow-bay warehouse space for tenants as small as 8,000 square feet. Situated on 16.8 acres, the development will offer high visibility showroom space along Hero Way with dock-high rear loading, 28-foot clear heights and ample parking. A uniquely attractive combination, further evidenced by the project’s 24,500-square-foot prelease.

The project is located less than a half mile from U.S. Highway 183 in the heart of Leander, Texas, the fastest growing municipality within the Austin MSA over the last decade and the second fastest growing large city in America between 2020-2021 (U.S. Census). Additionally, the property is just 11.5 miles from Interstate 35 and the rapidly growing IH-35 Corridor, which stretches from Mexico to San Antonio-Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and on to the Northern U.S.

The JLL Capital Markets team was led by Senior Director Charlie Strauss, Director Tom Weber, Senior Managing Director Trent Agnew and Director Josh Villarreal for the joint venture equity placement.  Managing Directors Michael Johnson and Chris McColpin led the JLL Capital Markets team for the placement of construction financing. 

Gensler shares two personnel announcements for Houston office

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Gensler is pleased to announce Nikki Rafie has been hired as a regional practice area co-leader for strategy; Philip Paratore has returned to the firm as Houston’s hospitality practice area leader with a focus on business development.

Rafie joins Kelly Moore to oversee workplace strategy and design for global corporations, bringing more than 20 years of strategy experience to the region and firm, most recently serving as senior director of global workplace operations at Twitter. Prior to that, Nikki led workplace transformation and real estate portfolio planning for sportswear and technology giants Nike and Intel.

Paratore served in project architect and manager roles with Gensler from 1999-2003 and 2008-2012. He has also worked at 3DI, Structure Tone, Landry’s Development, and Knoll. For the past nine years, Philip was employed as the real estate portfolio and facilities manager of a global engineering firm.

  • Nikki Rafie, South Central Region Strategy Practice Area Co-Leader
  • Philip Paratore, AIA, LEED ID+C, Hospitality Practice Area Leader

Ashland Greene strengthens executive leadership for accelerated growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth market

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Ashland Greene, vertically integrated Dallas-Fort Worth-based multifamily real estate investment firm, announced two strategic appointments at the executive level: CFO Keith Colvin and VP of People and Culture Jessica Gemar. The company, comprised of Ashland Greene Capital, Ashland Greene Construction, AG Living—its property management company, and Ashland Greene Impact—its 501(c)(3) social responsibility entity, is strengthening its management team as it deftly navigates fast-paced company growth in what has become one of the most lucrative multifamily real estate markets. 

Keith Colvin is a licensed CPA and CFA Charter Holder, with an extensive background in real estate.  His background includes roles at Emersons Commercial Real Estate and Satori Capital, and most recently he served as CFO of Rainier Companies, a Dallas-based commercial real estate investment sponsor and asset manager. In these positions, he has successfully built and led finance teams, managed financial reporting, accounting, audit, and tax functions, and implemented technology solutions to enhance efficiency and internal controls. 

Jessica Gemar, an accomplished human resources professional, will spearhead the company’s talent strategy to maintain an inclusive and proficient workforce. She will also oversee the human resources department for all payroll, benefits and total rewards initiatives and implementations. While also guiding the company’s learning and development program to build a world class on-boarding experience and a comprehensive training and development program for the entire organization. Gemar comes with a diverse background within commercial real estate, hospital/ healthcare operations, and more with almost two decades of experience within talent acquisition, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, organizational and cultural development and HR operations. 

As part of this leadership transition, Tyler McWilliams, who previously held the dual role of CFO/COO, will now concentrate solely on his position as COO. McWilliams’ extensive experience in operations management will remain invaluable as he oversees the company’s day-to-day operations, streamlines processes and enhances operational efficiencies across the organization.

  • Keith Colvin
  • Jessica Gemar
  • Tyler McWilliams

Hartman announces two new leasing transactions in Texas

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Hartman has recently announced two leasing transactions in Texas:

  1. Global Instrumentation Services leased 2,298 square feet at 400 North Belt Sam Houston Parkway East in Houston. In the transaction, Alexander Houston represented the landlord, Silver Star Properties REIT. 
  2. Jordan Monk Reber, P.C. renewed 4,020 square feet at 17300 North Dallas Parkway in Dallas. In the transaction, Bob Gibbons with REATA represented the tenant and Lynna Smith and Katie Covarrubias represented the landlord, Silver Star Properties REIT. 

Westmount Realty Capital welcomes new managing director of development

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Westmount Realty Capital, a private national real estate investment firm with offices throughout the country, recently announced the addition of Managing Director of Development Kyle Russell.

Westmount is strengthening its growing portfolio and focus on the industrial market through the restoration of its development initiative, focusing first on the Dallas-Fort Worth area with plans to progress and broaden further development into a national footprint. Russell leads the new development initiative, bringing over 30 years of experience in development analysis, planning and execution. Russell will further bolster Westmount’s industrial development capacity, providing another capability that aligns with the firm’s solid industrial portfolio and time-tested reputation in this asset class.

Russell has managed diverse project teams, budgets, project schedule and consultant teams for timely project delivery. Prior to joining Westmount, Russell was the vice president of development management at Dalfen Industrial where he led industrial developments across Texas, Arizona, Utah and Pennsylvania. Before his time at Dalfen Industrial, he served as vice president of project management at Scannell Properties where he was the project lead in the Texas market for build-to-suit and logistics developments.

Russell is a native Texan and received his Bachelor of Architecture from Texas Tech University. He is also a member of the American Institute of Architects.

Silver Star Properties announces pivot to self-storage and the acquisition of Southern Star Self-Storage Investment Company

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Silver Star Properties REIT, Inc. (Silver Star Properties), formerly known as Hartman Short Term Income Properties XX, Inc., announced that its executive committee has approved the repositioning plan to pivot the company’s assets into the self-storage asset class. As an additional part of this plan, the board of directors also approved the acquisition of Southern Star Self-Storage Investment Company (Southern Star Self-Storage), and it has reached a long-term employment agreement with Mark Torok, CEO, as it solidifies its pivot away from office, retail and light industrial assets into self-storage.

Southern Star Self-Storage is a privately held real estate company that specializes in the sponsorship and management of DST investments in self-storage properties. Established in 2019, the company currently operates a portfolio of nine properties, which together comprise 321,291 net rentable square feet (NRSF) spread across 2,526 units. Additionally, the company has two facilities, totaling 208,220 NRSF and 703 units, under contract that are expected to close by June 1, 2023. Most of the facilities also have parking for boats, RV’s and autos. The facilities generally contain both climate and non-climate-controlled units and are located predominantly in secondary and tertiary markets in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Colorado.

In conjunction with the acquisition, Mark Torok signed a three-year employment agreement with the company, with the goal of creating liquidity for existing shareholders through listing the company on a public exchange.

To align the interests of our leadership with our investors in carrying out the repositioning plan, Mark Torok and the members of the executive committee have been awarded participation units in a long-term incentive plan.