A prime redevelopment opportunity near the Texas Capitol has hit the market with Austin-based Velocity Credit Union putting properties at 610 E. 11th St. and 705 E. 12th St. up for bids.

Aquila Commercial has the listing for the two parcels, which could be redeveloped as a mid-rise and high-rise mixed-use project.

Currently, Velocity occupies the buildings — named Sabine East and Sabine West — for operational headquarters, back-office staff and a customer branch. Collectively, the properties encompass about 93,000 square feet and include surface parking.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal. 

EL PASO, Texas  – CBRE and ViaWest Group announce continued leasing activity at Merchant Industrial, a 245,745-sq.-ft., multi-tenant industrial park in El Paso, Texas.

Jichasa, a trade and door-to-door logistics services firm, leased 81,556 sq. ft., which included a 40,400-sq.-ft. expansion. This marks the second time the El Paso-based firm has doubled in size at the property in as many years. The firm has provided logistics operations and distribution of product across the sister cities of El Paso and Cd. Juárez for more than a decade. Jichasa’s El Paso operations support a powdered milk supplier in Chihuahua, Mexico. The company is also involved in facilitating the transfer and storage between multinational companies, which include companies dedicated to the manufacturing industry.

Tennessee-based Roane Transportation also leased 25,000-sq.-ft. The company provides warehousing and transportation services for the maquiladora industry, thus the property’s fenced and secure truck court, access to Interstate 10 and dock door ratio were all attractive characteristics.

”We are thrilled to have the capacity for both growth and expansion in the project between our new tenant, Roane, and our current tenant, Jichasa,” said Clare Lydon, real estate manager of the project with ViaWest Group. “We have worked diligently to create a product that would be well received in the market and we are happy to see those efforts pay off through our partnership with these tenants.”

Arturo De la Mora of CBRE’s Industrial & Logistics division in El Paso represented the landlord, ViaWest Group.

“Occupancy at Merchant Industrial is 94 percent, up from approximately 50 percent when ViaWest acquired the properties in 2015,” said Mr. De la Mora. “Repositioning efforts and healthy overall market activity are supporting the activity and continued interest from existing and new tenants.”

CBRE Group Inc., the commercial real estate brokerage titan, has unveiled its new Austin headquarters and the results are sleek, uncluttered and high tech.

Located on the 17th floor of the new 500 West 2nd office skyscraper where Google Inc. just settled, CBRE’s 22,000-square-foot space is designed for maximum efficiency with technology that follows a person from front door to computer to phone to copy machine. Employees can even book a conference room remotely using a mobile app.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal. 

Everywhere you look, one new development after another has delivered in East Austin. A quiet and modest neighborhood that was historically rich in minority populations, gentrification came roaring into the area during the past five years. The proximity to downtown and the ability to assemble properties for far cheaper prices than the west side drove some local companies to dive in.

Endeavor Real Estate Group, Transwestern and Cypress Real Estate Advisorswere among the first to jump in and see what would happen. Since then, many others have followed suit — Cielo Property Group, Capsa Ventures and Momark Development are a few more that come to mind.

Click to read more at Austin Business Journal.