Lionstone pairs up with international investment firm to target U.S. office properties

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Andrew Bruce was tapped as CFO of Lionstone Investments in October.

Giselle Greenwood

Managing Editor- Houston Business Journal

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Lionstone Investments, a Houston-based real estate investment company, has teamed up with U.K. real estate investment firm Hermes Real Estate to launch a $250 million real estate investment program.

Lionstone and Hermes will invest mostly in U.S. office properties located in high-growth markets.

Hermes, which has more than $8.2 billion of assets under management, has been active in acquiring U.S. real estate since 2011.

Hodes Weill Securities LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor and placement agent.

Lionstone has acquired and sold buildings all over the U.S. In 2013, the group bought 712 Main Street, a 794,186-square-foot office tower in the highly coveted central business district of Houston, for an undisclosed price.

In October, Lionstone brought on Andrew Bruce as CFO. Bruce formerly was CFO for two public non-listed REITs advised by Behringer Harvard, a real estate investment firm. He also previously worked at AMLI Residential Properties Trust in Dallas and Chicago.

Compared to the rest of the U.S., Houston's commercial real estate market is an attractive one for investors, particularly international investors. Houston ranked No. 1 in the country in terms of holding the most promising investment and development prospects, according to the "Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2015" report put out by the Urban Land Institute and PwC. The report also ranked Houston the country's No. 1 market to watch next year. That's up from No. 2 in 2014 and No. 5 in 2013.

As a result, Houston has attracted more foreign capital.

Giselle Greenwood oversees the day-to-day operations of the Houston Business Journal newsroom and website. Follow her on Twitter for more.