Author: Mia Goulart

Hartman announces new leasing transactions in North Texas

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Hartman has recently announced two leasing transactions in Texas:

  1. 20/20 Communications, Inc. renewed 2,228 square feet at 1333 Corporate Drive in Irving. In the transaction, 20/20 represented themselves and Allison Fannin represented the landlord, Hartman Income REIT. 
  2. Carey Asset Management renewed 3,313 square feet at 12221 Merit Drive in Dallas. In the transaction, Carey Asset Management represented itself and Alex Houston represented the landlord, Hartman Income REIT. 
  • 1333 Corporate Drive, Irving
  • 12221 Merit Drive, Dallas

CBRE changes Dallas HQ plans with new building still on hold

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Earlier this month, CBRE announced plans to relocate its Dallas HQ from 2100 McKinney Ave. to the building next door that once housed its now-obsolete flexible workspace concept, Hana, in Dallas’ Klyde Warren Park.

According to CoStar News, CBRE will move into the space at 2121 N. Pearl St. in the coming months and will occupy 67,000 square feet in the building.

It was reported that CBRE had originally planned to build a new tower in Uptown Dallas, but plans remain on hold due to the current cost of undertaking planned projects.

“We still believe it’s one of the best office sites in America,” CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic told the Dallas Morning News. “And that site is going to get built. It’s a 700,000-square-foot office building, and it doesn’t make sense right now. But we still need to have a global headquarters.”

The new building was expected to be developed by Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co., CBRE’s U.S. development arm, and the project will be reconsidered when office market conditions are right, CBRE told CoStar News.

For now, CBRE’s Dallas advisory and Trammell Crow Co. employees will continue to work out of its existing office at 2100 McKinney Ave.

CBRE confirmed their global HQ will likely be housed at 2401 McKinney Ave. in the future, as construction of a new building will take several years once a decision is made to break ground.  

Partners Real Estate arranges lease for Texas Installs, LLC in Schertz

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Partners Real Estate, one of the largest independent commercial real estate firms in Texas, arranged a 41,335-square-foot lease for Texas Installs, LLC located at 5800 Tri-County Parkway in Schertz, Texas.

Partners’ Chris Caudill and Troy Martin represented the tenant, Texas Installs, LLC in the transaction. Nick Prater with 4M Realty Company, represented the landlord, FHS Associates, San Antonio, LP.

Texas Installs, LLC is an appliance installation company headquartered in Houston. They have experienced a tremendous amount of growth and needed to expand their operations into the South Central Texas market.

Hiffman National to manage Woodside’s newest office building in Houston’s Energy Corridor

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Hiffman National, a leading commercial property management firm whose portfolio comprises 130 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space across the U.S., has been retained by Fort Worth, Texas-based real estate fund manager Woodside to manage its newest acquisition at 12012 Wickchester Lane, in the heart of Houston’s Energy Corridor.

Hiffman National will provide the six-floor, 110,000-square-foot office building with day-to-day operational oversight, tenant service, property maintenance, engineering and capital improvement oversight.

“Woodside has an incredible track record of repositioning suburban office buildings like this one as high-quality, high-value tenant space options,” said Hiffman National Senior Vice President, Sun Belt Region Jim Tainter. “In addition to vacancy upgrades and extensive capital improvement plans this year, Woodside has adopted a comprehensive spec suite program to provide move-in ready space for office occupiers of all sizes. As Houston’s office market continues to improve, it’s the updated, high-quality space with professional property management that will attract and retain tenants.”

Austin office building in prime urban core location trades to new investor

Posted on by Mia Goulart

JLL Capital Markets has closed the sale of and arranged the acquisition financing for Hartland Plaza, a 184,128-square-foot, Class A office asset located in the prime urban core of Austin, Texas.

JLL represented the seller, CIM Group. Additionally, JLL worked on behalf of the buyer to arrange acquisition financing for the transaction.

Built in 1984 and renovated in 2004 and 2017, the four-story Hartland Plaza is 92% leased with 4.4 years of WALT. The building is occupied by a diverse mix of 35 tenants that span 14 different sectors. Notable tenants include AQUILA, Zello, Rev, Munsch Hardt Kopft & Harr and Discovery Practice Management. The property includes a total of 633 parking spaces, which offers a ratio of 3.47 spaces per 1,000 square feet.

Situated at 1717 W. 6th St., Hartland Plaza sits at the intersection of West 5th and 6th Streets and MoPac (180,000 VPD), allowing convenient access to both the affluent neighborhoods of West Austin, including Tarrytown, Rollingwood and West Lake Hills, and Downtown Austin. It is within walking distance to over 15 bars and restaurants, Lady Bird Lake, the Roy and Ann Butler Hike and Bike and more first-class amenities. Additionally, Zilker Park, the University of Texas at Austin, Rainey Street and SOCO District are all within a 10-minute drive.

Colliers announces leadership transition in Houston

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Colliers Houston has announced that Patrick Duffy will be stepping down as president of Colliers Houston this summer and that Danny Rice, currently managing director of Colliers in Orlando, Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida will be replacing Duffy. Duffy held that position prior to moving to Houston in 2009.

“Danny is the perfect replacement for me”, Duffy said. “I hired Danny straight out of college in 2007 and he spent the first couple of years in GIS and technology support before moving to brokerage as an office landlord and tenant representative. He started in a company structure that I set up.”

Danny left Colliers to pursue several entrepreneurial real estate tech opportunities. Just prior to rejoining Colliers in 2018, he was the chief revenue officer at Xceligent, one of the leading providers of commercial real estate information and research at the time. During Danny’s tenure, he grew from a local sales rep in Florida to quickly becoming regional vice president of sales for the Florida markets and then executive vice president of national accounts before becoming chief revenue officer. Danny oversaw a team of nine regional VP’s, 60+ outside sales reps, 20+ inside sales reps and 20+ customer success and marketing professionals. He was also heavily involved in product and development efforts within the organization.

Duffy said, “I wasn’t in a big hurry to step down but had been thinking about proper timing and planning for the transition for a couple of years. I spoke with Danny frequently on Colliers business and also sent him training materials I had developed since leaving my old role in Florida. Danny and his wife have family in Dallas, and he mentioned that they had a long-term goal of moving here. I casually asked him if Houston was close enough and mentioned that I thought he was a perfect cultural and experience fit for taking over my job (when he was ready). Last year, he called me and said they had decided they were ready. After meeting with our board of directors for about six hours, our team agreed that he was the perfect candidate and to move forward with Danny.”

Duffy said he was much more focused on leaving the Houston office in good hands than perfect timing for his plans. He will remain at Colliers Houston in a brokerage role and focus on helping his relationships with their real estate issues and will remain a partner in the firm.

Duffy has had a long and successful career in commercial real estate since entering the industry in 1983 in the tech space. He was part of a team that developed the first CRM for the PC platform along with a full suite of database tools for commercial real estate prior to moving into a brokerage production and sales management role in 1985. He was responsible for managing and growing the firm that eventually became Colliers Tampa Bay, Colliers Orlando and Colliers SW Florida over the following 24 years.

When Duffy took over the leadership role in Houston in 2009, the firm had 36 producer/advisors. The firm has grown to be one of the largest commercial real estate companies in South East Texas with over 82 advisors, and 2022 transaction volume of roughly $3 billion. Revenue to the firm has increased over 550% since 2009.

“Our big focus has been on building a top-quality platform where our advisors can focus on exceeding our clients’ expectations. We have been more interested in culture and quality than size,” Duffy said. “The growth came mainly from our existing team talking to their friends in the industry about what a great team and environment we have built here.”

The top goal for the firm for the past 14 years has been to have happy people and maintain the culture of the organization. In 2015, the company took a survey developed by Michigan State University and provided by Steelcase, Inc. which was designed to show the current and desired cultures of a company. According to Steelcase, Colliers Houston was the first firm they had heard of to have a current and desired culture map that aligned.

Pat has had a wide range of “side” roles over the years. He helped start the retail platform at NAI in the late 80s and started the Colliers Retail Services (North America) platform where he served as chairman for over 15 years. He served as a member (and chairman) of the Colliers Managers Steering committee, the Board of Directors for Colliers USA and is the past chairman of the Colliers USA Board of Advisors. He won every award a manager could win when his firm was associated with NAI and has won every award for non-producers at Colliers including the Pinnacle Award for service, Manager of the Year, Tom Richardson Award (character) and others. He has also been awarded Most Admired CEO by the Houston Business Journal, Best Bosses from Real Estate Forum Magazine, Executive of the Year (REDnews), People’s Choice award (REDnews), named a Texas Real Estate Icon, and top Faculty award from CORENET.

“It has been a very good run for me. I love my career and am proud of what we have been able to accomplish in both Florida and here in Houston. The award that means the most to me is the number one Best Places to Work in the large company category in 2022,” Duffy concluded.

“We are excited about Danny taking the lead for our firm going forward,” said Bob Parsley, chairman of Colliers Houston. “We would have been happy with Pat running the company for another decade, but we are at a point where he wants to dial it back and bringing on an experienced, new leader with great focus and energy is just what we need to take Colliers to the next level.”