Category: Southeast Texas Deals & Announcements

CenterSquare expands into manufactured housing sector through acquisition of Houston-based Piney Woods

Posted on by Mia Goulart

CenterSquare Investment Management, in a joint venture with K8H Ventures, has acquired Piney Woods, a to-be-built 394-lot manufactured housing community located in the Crosby submarket of Houston, Texas. The acquisition represents CenterSquare’s first private equity investment in the sector and was made via joint venture with K8H Ventures, an experienced, local manufactured housing operator that has a strong track record in the Houston market. 

The property’s central location allows it to benefit from adjacency to both the Port of Houston, which is experiencing significant growth and generating blue-collar jobs, as well as the thriving Lake Houston community. Piney Woods will help address the dilemma of cost-burdened renters who comprise half of this growing metropolitan hub by offering an affordable housing alternative for a market that is witnessing some of the highest population growth rates nationwide. Texas continues to lead the United States for annual manufactured housing shipments by state. 

The property will be built to Fannie Mae Level 4 and 5 Quality Rating Standards and will feature modern, new product, appealing to long-term renters seeking a home-like living experience at a reasonable cost. Piney Woods will offer an array of premium amenities including a swimming pool, basketball court, playground, walking trails and green spaces. 

CenterSquare has previously invested in manufactured housing through the firm’s listed real estate securities platform. This direct investment aligns with CenterSquare’s thesis of acquiring and/or creating communities that are fortified by strong secular tailwinds including the rising cost of home ownership, increasing demand for larger spaces and amenitized communities, and a limited inventory of affordable options located in high growth submarkets. 

The land is shovel ready, and lots will be developed over a 12-month period with completion scheduled for August 2024. The business plan calls for the completion of the horizontal site work and a robust pre-leasing marketing campaign to generate leasing velocity. 

Partners Real Estate arranges sale of 100,060-square-foot JCPenney retail property in Katy

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Partners Real Estate, one of the largest independent commercial real estate firms in Texas, arranged the sale of a 100,060-square-foot JCPenney retail building located at 23523 Grand Circle Boulevard in Katy, Texas.

Partners’ Dimitri Jordan represented the buyer in the transaction.

Partners Real Estate arranges 11,611-square-foot lease for Royston, Rayzor, Vickery & Williams in Houston

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Partners Real Estate, one of the largest independent commercial real estate firms in Texas, recently arranged an 11,661-square-foot lease located at 1415 Louisiana Street in Houston.

Partners’ Griff Bandy and John Zivley represented the tenant in the transaction. The landlord, Wedge Commercial Properties, was represented by Connor Saxe of Cushman & Wakefield.

Greystone provides $20.9 million affordable housing loan for Texas rental community 

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Greystone, a leading national commercial real estate finance company, has provided a $20.9 million Fannie Mae Multifamily Affordable Housing (MAH) loan for the acquisition of Parkside Place, a 321-unit, income and rent-restricted garden apartment complex located in Pasadena, Texas. The financing was originated by Michael Zampetti, senior managing director in Greystone’s New York office. 

Parkside Place consists of 27 two-story apartment buildings situated on an 11.24-acre site. Constructed in 1969, the property was renovated in 2018 and includes amenities such as a leasing office, two pools, on-site management, a laundry facility, a business center and private patios. There are 526 total parking spaces, including reserved handicap spaces and carports. 

New Stream Realty Partners’ industrial warehouse in Houston now 100% leased

Posted on by Mia Goulart

A 156,483-square-foot speculative distribution development in Northwest Houston that recently received LEED certification is now fully leased with the signing of a single tenant.

KHD Group, a furniture vendor and supplier that started its business with the VECELO brand, will occupy Stream Realty Partners’ Raceway Northwest Distribution Center at 9707 Fairbanks North Houston Road. Stream, a national commercial real estate firm offering an integrated platform of services, announced the completion of the warehouse in March.

Stream Houston Senior Vice Presidents Jeremy Lumbreras and Boone Smith were instrumental in identifying and securing the tenant for the development. Kyle Fletcher, a Houston-based director on Stream’s Industrial Development Services team, led the development and construction management of the facility.

Raceway Northwest Distribution Center was constructed to the most modern distribution development standards, including a front-load configuration with 36-foot clear height, 25 dock-high doors, and 109 vehicle and 22 trailer parking spaces. The development delivered in move-in condition with speculative office space, a white-boxed interior warehouse, LED warehouse lights, and a fully fenced and secured truck court.

The facility, which offers frontage along Fairbanks North Houston Road, provides immediate access to the Sam Houston Tollway, State Highway 249, and U.S. Highway 290. It is located near Houston’s population center, providing a unique offering in the market. Corporate neighbors include Amazon, The Home Depot, Panasonic, Advance Auto Parts, UPS, and Target.

Raceway NW Distribution Center is owned and overseen by Stream Realty Partners. Bringing over 170 years of combined experience, the Industrial Development Services division at Stream sources and executes development opportunities across a growing platform and offers a full suite of development-related services. Stream’s Investment Management Platform leverages expertise from Stream’s 15 local offices to make investment decisions based on real-time supply and demand fundamentals. Stream actively owns 32 investments of 21 million square feet and approximately $3.1 billion in assets under management.

Griffin Partners wins 16 Kingsley awards

Posted on by Mia Goulart

Griffin Partners, an entrepreneurial commercial real estate investment, development and property management firm, announced that 16 of its properties were named winners of the 2023 Kingsley Excellence Awards, which recognize CRE organizations who continually exceed industry standards and consistently deliver an outstanding tenant experience. 

The award-winners included both owned and third-party managed properties. The overall response rate for Griffin Partners’ portfolio was 81%, compared to the Kingsley average this year of only 48%. To qualify for a Kingsley Excellence Award, a property’s tenant satisfaction must exceed the Kingsley Index™, the most comprehensive performance benchmarking database in the commercial real estate industry. 

In addition to 16 of its properties being recognized by Kingsley, Griffin Partners held its own, Griffin Partners’ Kingsley Awards to celebrate the company’s performance across the portfolio as compared to the Kingsley Index and  team members who won awards given out for outstanding survey results from community members.

Kelly Agent presented awards to members of the engineering and property management teams at Griffin’s mid-year property management meeting in mid-June based on scores calculated from survey results measuring overall satisfaction, response time, problem resolution and response rate (engineering team) and these same categories plus accessibility and communication for the property management team. 

Internal awards were distributed to the the following properties and individuals on the property management team: first place to Haley Bowan and Candy Kerr of Roxborough I & II (Charlotte, NC); second place to Sue Anderson of Marketplace at Lake Boone (Raleigh-Durham, NC); third place to Courtney Davis and Tara Meaux of Loop Central (Houston, TX). Carrie Hansell and Hosman Sorto of Concourse at Westway (Houston, TX) were awarded property with the highest overall satisfaction score. 

Engineering team awards were given to: first place to Hosman Sorto and Steve Delgado of Concourse at Westway (Houston, TX); second place to Chris Howell, Mike Varnadore and Randy Helms of Roxborough I & II (Charlotte, NC); third place: Douglas Rodriguez, Oscar Gomez, Michael Maxwell, Alex Carpio and Joe Guillen of Loop Central (Houston, TX) and Chris Howell, Mike Varnadore and Randy Helms of Airport Plaza (Charlotte, NC).