Hartman Income REIT Management Inc. (Hartman) has launched BIZSUITES, a new business entity aimed to address the post-pandemic workplace needs of Texas-based small businesses and owner-operators. BIZSUITES – a single-office model designed with affordability and flexibility in mind – is rolling out in eight locations across Houston, Dallas Fort-Worth, and San Antonio, with more locations coming on board later this year. According to the Small Business Administration, in 2020, despite the worldwide pandemic, 1.7 million small business entities were filed for creation in the U.S. Though, their presence has not been reflected in the commercial real estate market more prominently than it is now. In addition, small businesses that had the flexibility to exit their office leases at the height of the pandemic to work from home are now re-entering the market to return to the office. As the Texas economy fully reopens and confidence continues to return to the market, BIZSUITES is responding to the rising number of inquiries from small businesses who are ready to move their operations from home. CEO & President of Hartman, Al Hartman shared, “Increased demand in individual office space is a terrific sign. It is indicative of a recovering economy and shows the desire people have to network and be in a stimulating professional environment.” Other factors BIZSUITES curbs are the plagues of “zoom fatigue,” home distractions, focus disruptions, and lower productivity produced by the work from home model. “As a result of the pandemic, businesses are becoming more flexible in the way they work. Small businesses, particularly start-ups may not need a dedicated front desk staff, a long-term lease, or a custom-designed office; they need convenience and flexibility.” Shared Al Hartman. BIZSUITES suburban office locations check the boxes for convenience and low rates. Its short-term leasing model allows for flexibility as a business scales its growth trajectory. Most importantly, BIZSUITES brings professional networking opportunities and great all-inclusive amenities. Small office spaces like BIZSUITES should appeal to individual operators looking to forge new relationships and business opportunities that surely are not met at the kitchen table. “Our goal is to provide a professional space to work in great buildings and surround small business owners with other like-minded individuals,” said Al Hartman. BIZSUITES offices span seven submarkets within three of the four major metros of Texas and reside in highly desired suburban office markets. Other appealing factors of BIZSUITES and its all-inclusive pricing model include its furnished office options, coffee bars, free Wi-Fi, presentation equipment availability, lobby directory listings, mail delivery services, and complimentary maintenance and janitorial services. If you are looking for an affordable small office space, please contact BIZSUITES by Hartman for more information. A leasing representative can be reached by phone at 800-880-2212 or by email at leasing@hireit.com.

CULVER CITY, Calif., April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Openpath, a leader in touchless, cloud-based access control and workplace safety automation, today announces new installations helping Texas businesses to reopen safely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Openpath has picked up momentum all across Texas, with major cities like Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio at the forefront of adoption. The new addition of industry-leading commercial real estate customers in Texas during the pandemic — including Cyprus Real Estate Advisors (CREA), Lincoln Property Company, Hines, and Transwestern — collectively add 4.8M square feet of office space to Openpath’s rapidly expanding portfolio, proving that Openpath’s technology is a must-have for businesses looking to get people back into offices and other buildings. As the first state to reopen, and the second-largest economy in the U.S., it was critically important for Texas to reopen as safely and quickly as possible in order to bring people back to offices, restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues and more. Openpath’s Social Distancing Index shows Texas ahead of the national average in terms of Return to Work. Openpath’s complete cloud-based security solution offers features such as touchless access for doors, elevators, turnstiles and more; occupancy management capabilities to comply with social distancing; health-check and fever detection enforcement, and easy scheduling for hybrid office schedules. “We’re excited to help tenants feel safe in getting back to work, in major part because Openpath’s touchless access capabilities and mobile credentials will allow us to reduce germ-spread and promote social distancing at our properties,” said Seth Johnston, Senior Vice President of Lincoln Property Company’s Austin region. “The world may be forever changed, but with Openpath in our buildings, we feel well-prepared to navigate the New Normal with confidence.” Click to read more at www.prnewswire.com.

After a year in which a global pandemic turned offices across the world into ghost towns WeWork, the embattled communal office-space company, is making a second attempt at going public.

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN AND KELVIN CHAN, AP Business Writers

After a year in which a global pandemic turned offices across the world into ghost towns WeWork, the embattled communal office-space company, is making a second attempt at going public. The announcement Friday comes almost two years after WeWork’s first attempt at becoming a publicly traded company blew up in spectacular fashion, its founder and CEO ousted abruptly. This time the New York company becomes part of the SPAC wave and will seek a listing after merging with the special-purpose acquisition company BowX Acquisition. The agreement values WeWork at $9 billion plus debt, far below the $47 billion valuation given the venture in September 2019 when the IPO imploded after massive losses were revealed in regulatory filings. WeWork said it would also raise $1.3 billion. The deal with BowX provides a lifeline to WeWork. Armed with cash raised from investors, SPACs look for privately held companies to buy so that the company can easily list its stock on an exchange. And the volume of companies going public through SPACS has exploded. Click to read more at www.usnews.com.

With the February acquisitions of three buildings in the Los Angeles market and a 600,000-square-foot facility in Houston, CenterPoint Properties has announced it has now made 27 new investments since the start of 2020. In the past 14 months, the industrial real estate investment, development and management firm has acquired 38 buildings totaling nearly seven million square feet and 456 acres in six of its core markets: New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Houston, South Florida, Oakland and Seattle. Despite challenging global economic conditions over the past year, CenterPoint has ramped up its national investment strategy in port, intermodal and leading e-commerce markets. It has invested $1.3 billion over the past five quarters in some of the country’s most competitive infill markets. Over the past decade, CenterPoint has sought to diversify its portfolio outside of its home market of Chicago and concentrate resources on coastal port markets with high barriers to entry and large populations. In early 2020, CenterPoint became one of the largest industrial landlords in the New York City boroughs by acquiring three last-mile facilities in Brooklyn. The 925,000-square-foot “Flatlands Portfolio” was one of two major portfolio deals made by CenterPoint’s East Coast Investments Team last year. In December 2020, the company completed the second of a pair of acquisitions in Miami-Dade County, acquiring four buildings totaling 1.46 million square feet in the Countyline Corporate Park. South Florida investments accounted for more than 20% of the total CenterPoint has spent sinc­­­­e Q1 ’20, highlighting its intention to remain as one of the most active investors in the highly competitive region. The lion’s share of CenterPoint’s investments since the start of ’20 has been made along the west coast. The company’s 17 acquisitions in Southern California, Oakland and Seattle brought 25 buildings and more than 3.75 million square feet into its portfolio. In March ’20, CenterPoint closed on a massive 1.6 million-square-foot rail-served property in Ontario, CA, one of the largest distribution facilities for lease on the West Coast. CenterPoint bolstered its Oakland portfolio by adding three prime port-proximate facilities in the East Bay submarket. It also remained aggressive in the Seattle market, making five acquisitions in Q4 ’20 alone between the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.

Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC, the commercial and multifamily mortgage banking subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment, Inc., announced the closing of a $7,450,000, cash-out refinance loan deal for Country Glen, a manufactured housing community located at 101 Town Street in Weir, Texas. Cindy Hannon, senior vice president in Bellwether Enterprise’s Atlanta office originated the loan on behalf of the borrower, Country Glen LLC, via Fannie Mae’s Manufactured Housing Community program. “This deal is especially exciting because we were able to provide the property owner with an extremely competitive interest rate,” said Hannon. “The greater Austin area is one of the most desirable places to live in in the U.S., and we are pleased to expand our portfolio in the area.” Country Glen is a 121-pad manufactured home community comprising mostly one-bedroom, single-wide pads and a small number of double-wide homes. The property was built in 1999 and has been under the ownership of the borrower for more than ten years. The property has operated at 100 percent occupancy for the past several years.