Category: Deals & Announcements

Generational Commercial Properties Secures Financing for South Lamar Office Development

Posted on by Sarah

Austin, TX (August 16, 2022) — On behalf of Generational Commercial Properties and Fairway Real Estate, Newmark has arranged the $124 million construction financing of Zilker Point, a 206,000-square-foot future office building at 218 South Lamar Boulevard in Austin’s South Lamar CBD. The project will improve the 1.26-acre site, which is currently occupied by a one-story restaurant and paved parking areas.

Upon completion, the property will offer 192,000 square feet of office space across its top six floors, plus 15,000 square feet of retail and amenities on the ground floor, with 635 parking spaces. The property is designed to be WELL building-certified with shared and private outdoor spaces, a tenant fitness center and advanced building systems.

The Newmark team was led by Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub, Vice-Chairmen and Co-Heads of the Newmark Debt & Structured Finance team, Senior Managing Directors Nick Scribani and Chris Kramer, and Directors Chase Tagen and Dan Morin. MSD Partners provided the loan.

The developer is positioning the boutique office product to meet the current tenant demand in a premier location. The property will provide Class A office space while offering a highly commuter-friendly office location for the burgeoning professional population in Downtown and South Austin. This asset is prominently located along South Lamar Boulevard and near Barton Springs Road. Its location serves as a nexus for Austin’s live/work/play lifestyle with immediate access to the South Lamar corridor, the downtown employment hub, Zilker Park, Lady Bird Lake and the iconic Austin neighborhoods of Zilker, Bouldin Creek and Travis Heights.

Austin has become a top choice for company migrations and has experienced a 67% increase in Class A rents since 2008. The highly coveted Central and Southern CBD areas have witnessed Class A occupancy remaining above 91% since 2014, absorbing over 3 million square feet of space. The area has a strong concentration of blue-chip technology companies, driven by Google, Indeed, Amazon, Apple, HP, Dell, Facebook, Tesla, and Oracle.

Led by founder Joe Llamas, Generational is a real estate development firm specializing in office, industrial and multifamily projects. Generational develops innovative Class A real estate that incorporates innovative designs, leading technology and culture into the fabric of projects. The firm focuses on functional, institutional quality and infill real estate in Texas. Through a depth of principal knowledge, Generational also provides development management services to corporate clients. Through a unique perspective, based on years of principal transactions, Generational’s approach navigates the governmental, contractual, design, construction and delivery of high-quality real estate with a proven approach to reduce cost, increase quality and improve delivery speed.

Lizzy Mahan
Public Relations & Communications Director
NEWMARK
t 303-260-4437
lizzy.mahan@nmrk.com

Sale of 250-Unit Townhouse Community, Barton Creek Villas, in Texas Hill Country

Posted on by Sarah

Austin, TX (Aug 17, 2022) — Newmark announces the sale of Barton Creek Villas, a 250-unit value-add townhome community in the heart of Austin, Texas’ Hill Country. The asset traded from The Connor Group to a Goldman Sachs Asset Management Real Estate managed investment vehicle. Newmark Vice Chairman Patton Jones and Managing Director Andrew Dickson represented the seller in the transaction. Notably, this is the Newmark team’s third time selling this asset, after prior sales in 2012 and 2016.

Built in 1998, Barton Creek Villas is a unique, low-density, two-story townhome community featuring a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units with a large average unit size of 1,049 square feet. Community amenities include a pool with private cabanas and outdoor grilling station, a clubhouse with coffee bar and WiFi, a fitness center, a dog park with agility course, attached garages and on-site walking trails. The property was 99% occupied at the time of sale.

“Barton Creek Villas presented investors with an outstanding opportunity in the affluent and highly desirable Southwest Austin submarket,” said Jones. “Buyer interest was very strong as investors were intrigued by the high barriers to entry for new development as well as some of the best demographics in the city. Barton Creek Villas will be an excellent addition to Goldman Sachs’ real estate holdings in Austin.”

Situated in the hills of west Austin, Barton Creek Villas is in one of Austin’s most affluent gated neighborhoods, Barton Creek. It is located just six miles west of downtown, in a 4,000-acre green valley that winds along the Barton Creek Greenbelt and provides views of and access to the surrounding Texas Hill Country. Barton Creek offers upscale amenities, including a country club with four golf courses and top-rated public and private schools.

The Austin metro’s population rose to an estimated 2,295,303 people as of July 1, 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released May 2021. This is an increase of 3% from the previous year, the fastest population growth among metros with at least one million people. Since 2010, the metro has gained an estimated 579,014 residents – a 34% increase. Austin’s innovation-based economy and high-caliber talent pool, combined with a comparably low cost of living, business-friendly environment, established infrastructure, and stable local and state governments, continue to secure accolades lauding Austin’s appeal to both residents and businesses that position the region for enduring economic and population growth.

Press Contact: Lizzy Mahan t 303-260-4437 lizzy.mahan@nmrk.com

Phase 2 Of Empire West Business Park Completed, Bringing 2.3 Million SF Of Industrial Space

Posted on by Sarah

HOUSTON – Aug 17, 2022 – Stream Realty Partners has just completed phase two of its Empire West Business Park, Houston’s largest single-phase industrial development. Phase two of Empire West consists of six buildings totaling 2.3 million square feet. The national real estate services, development, and investment company is now offering immediate occupancy for users from 50,000 square feet to over 1 million square feet. The development is just 30 miles west of Houston in Brookshire, Texas. The site is uniquely situated with 5,000 feet of rare Interstate 10 and Highway 90 frontage with a dedicated east/west exit. “We are so proud of our team’s accomplishments thus far at Empire West,” said Justin Robinson, Executive Managing Director and Partner. “This once-in-a-career type development has been a total team effort and illustrates everything Stream is all about, bringing highly skilled people together with a focus on providing exceptional service to our clients/partners and identifying entrepreneurial opportunities. We look forward to completing the remaining tasks at hand and are highly confident it will be well-received by the Houston market. Phase one of Empire West was completed in April 2021 and features three buildings totaling 1 million square feet. With the completion of phase two, Empire West Business Park becomes the biggest development ever for Stream.”

Amazon, Costco, Domino’s, Igloo and Medline, and Rooms To Go are among the companies nearby. “The completion of Phase two could not be at a better time,” said Matteson Hamilton, Executive Managing Director and Partner. “The Houston industrial market continues to perform at an incredibly high level, and our offering allows users of all sizes to take advantage of Empire West. Our team was intentional with the design and speculative above-and-beyond improvements in the buildings, which have been well-received by prospects in the market. Our team is very encouraged by leasing velocity thus far and look forward to great success in short order.” Senior Vice President Jeremy Lumbreras and Senior Associate William Carpenter oversee leasing and marketing efforts at the development.

Empire West is developed and owned 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 14 local offices to make investment decisions based on real-time supply and demand fundamentals. Stream actively owns 38 investments of 17.5 million square feet and approximately $2.2 billion in assets under management. For leasing information, contact Stream Houston at 713.300.0300.

Merriman Anderson Architects Reveals Design of McLaren Automotive’s New North America Headquarters in Coppell

Posted on by Sarah

When the globally renowned British automotive brand McLaren made the decision to move North American operations for its elite sports car division from New York to Texas, they turned to Dallas-based Merriman Anderson Architects (MAA) to conceptualize and design the 31,000-square-foot campus in Coppell. MAA masterminded the architecture and interiors for the showroom, training center, workshop, executive suite and administrative offices. It’s a marvel of a design for a building that represents an illustrious high-technology brand.

McLaren Automotive creates luxury, high-performance supercars. Each vehicle is assembled by hand at the McLaren Production Centre in Surrey, England, and retailed through over 100 retailers in 40 markets around the world.

The new campus, located at 1405 S. Belt Line Road in Coppell, Texas provides ample space in a suburban environment. The overall design concept is that the visitor is seeing the inner workings of a laboratory. A large section of the footprint is dedicated to dealer sales and technical training as well as executive and administrative offices. All areas enjoy a perspective of the inner workings of McLaren. Previously, McLaren warehoused its fleet of cars across the country, complicating their inventory maintenance issue. Now the entire fleet is housed in one place which enhances their flow of engineering and diagnostics under one roof.

The supercar showroom is designed as two separate spaces that can join and divide for flexible function capacity. The “Meet and Greet” area is an entertainment type space for hosting small events and features a high-speed movie screen projecting images and videos. This area is used to showcase samples and assist clients in custom designing their vehicle. Furnishings are contemporary style, flexible and multi-purpose. An art gallery features McLaren Automotive and racing memorabilia, images, souvenirs and awards. This area doubles as an event space and can accommodate two vehicles.

The “Presentation Room” is located behind the movie screen and features a recessed screen which rises to reveal a featured vehicle. MAA implemented a customized 12-foot by 8-foot screen that was customized by a manufacturer in Italy, and then motorized it to rise and fall at ultra-fast speed. Dramatic lighting was designed into the alcove to showcase the special vehicles. This area will be used for “sneak peeks” whereby unreleased models can be revealed to dealers, focus groups and media before announcing to the public.

The McLaren Special Operations area is utilized for customizing cars for specific individuals. This area brings the customer, McLaren designers and engineers together to brainstorm unique specifications.

The “Workshop” is utilized for maintenance and is also a training facility for the highly specialized mechanics who work on these exceptional vehicles. There are two training bays, each with an auto lift and sophisticated audio/visual capabilities in addition to two dedicated classrooms. The classrooms are functionally flexible and an infinity cove was designed within a white workshop for vehicle photography purposes.

The project’s overall color and material palette includes a crisp combination in light and medium gray with anodized aluminum window mullions. Interior color and material palette of white, charcoal, pewter and light gray complement the glossy white resinous floors in the service and tech bays and the white oak wood accents in the interior spaces. The statement is contemporary and polished, with focus on the car models. A sleek wood grid ceiling system is an updated architectural response to an exposed roof system and houses the LED channel lighting. An enfilade of aluminum louvers makes a statement along the gallery walkway between the reception and Meet and Greet spaces. Furnishings throughout are contemporary minimalist.

The project challenges included renovation of an existing office/warehouse to complement the new construction of the showroom and display space. A significant amount of demolition was involved and the existing plumbing provided limited options for water delivery. MAA resolved constraints by re-appropriating space within the footprint.

The design team puzzled over the design of the overhead doors at the rear of the building which were originally built for 18-wheeler deliveries abutting to 4’ docks. New ramps were required at ground level for the sports cars and required a low clearance. MAA engineered the solution by introducing a steel vehicular ramp into the space and adding additional ramps within the space to even out the ground level.

MAA interfaced with McLaren’s London headquarters at every step of the design process with the goal of creating a consistent global brand image for McLaren Automotive.

Fort Worth Retail and Office Village Sells

Posted on by Sarah

JLL Capital Markets has closed the sale of Crockett Row at West 7th, a five-block, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use, urban village, totaling 282,334 square feet of Class-A retail and office space in Fort Worth.

JLL represented the seller, The Carlyle Group, and procured the buyer, Younger Partners Investments.

Developed in 2009, Crockett Row at West 7th features a dynamic food, fun and fitness tenant roster, including Movie Tavern, LA Fitness, Common Desk, Mash’d, Social House and Concrete Cowboy, as well as new tenants, such as One Medical and Sandbox VR. Over the past few years, Crockett Row has evolved into the casual, regional service and entertainment center of Fort Worth, serving the immediate consumers within 1.5 miles of the West 7th entertainment district, the greater Downtown Fort Worth District and students at Texas Christian University.

Located at 816 Foch St., Crockett Row is situated at the southeast corner of University Drive and West 7th Street, adjacent to Fort Worth’s Cultural District and just west of Downtown. The property is part of the larger West 7th development, which embodies the live-work-play lifestyle with a total of 2,700 multi-housing units, 1.2 million square feet of office and 1.1 million square feet of food and entertainment-rich retail within walking distance of the space. The center is proximate to the affluent Westover Hills and Rivercrest neighborhoods and is surrounded by iconic destinations, such as Sundance Square and Museum Mall. Additionally, the village is ideally situated just two miles from one of the most heavily trafficked intersections in Texas, the junction of Interstate 30 and Interstate 35W, which receives a traffic count of over 348,000 vehicles per day.

The JLL Retail Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team that represented the seller was led by Senior Managing Directors Chris Gerard and Ryan Shore and Analysts Greyson Fewin and Pauli Kerr.