Noble Energy planning 20-story office tower
Noble Energy planning 20-story office tower
Developers are planning a 20-story office tower for Noble Energy, a project that will create a corporate campus spanning nearly 1 million square feet for the Houston-based independent energy firm. The 456,000-square-foot building, which will have an eight-story parking garage and a "town hall" for large employee gatherings, will be developed at the southwest corner of Texas 249 and Louetta. The building will go up next to twin 10-story buildings Noble leased last year and plans to move into in May.
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Sales Office Equitas Commercial Real Estate Holdings has purchased 6300 West Loop South in Bellaire. The six-story, 100,558-square-foot building is 95 percent leased. Todd Casper and Michael Hassler of CBRE represented the seller, Braun Enterprises, agent for 6300 West Loop Realty Ltd. Devon Professional Building , a 26,735-square-foot retail and professional building at 17300 El Camino Real, has changed hands. Justin Miller of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a local partnership.
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With plans for energy-efficient buildings overlooking pedestrian plazas, waterways and landscaped esplanades, and served by restaurants, banks and other retail nearby, Generation Park hopes to attract Fortune 500 and other top companies to northeast Harris County. "In the grand scheme of things, what we are trying to do is really raise the bar for commercial development in Houston, Texas," said Ryan McCord, president of locally based McCord Development, which is developing the 4,000-acre wooded site off the northeastern elbow of Beltway 8.
Continue ReadingThe downtown Macy's, a once-powerful shopping draw that in recent years had become more of a lunchtime hangout for office workers needing a new pair of shoes or a last-minute gift, will shut down this spring, the retailer said Thursday. The owner of the building is planning to tear down the 10-story structure and develop an office tower in its place, Mayor Annise Parker said Thursday afternoon, addressing the store's closure and announcing a new plan to increase retail in downtown.
Continue ReadingA spate of new and proposed energy-related infrastructure projects along the Gulf Coast is expected to boost demand for office space in the Houston area over the next several years, experts say. One report anticipates the projects will help drive "massive domestic and international corporate relocations to Houston." It says recruiting from oil and gas companies will lead to an increase in demand for offices to the tune of 2.5 million square feet to as much as 12.5 million square feet by 2016.
Continue ReadingAttention to energy pays off at Four Oaks Place
Four Oaks Place is the latest office property to be recognized for improvements in energy efficiency and operations, becoming the 19th property this year to achieve a sought-after designation for existing projects. The four-building complex in the Galleria area managed by Transwestern has been awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance category.
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Sales Office DRA Advisors has purchased 17000 Katy Freeway, a 174,521-square-foot building in the Park Ten Office Park. Trent Agnew, Rusty Tamlyn and Dan Miller of HFF represented the seller, Black Forest Ventures. Wallace Reid, Matt Kafka and Colby Mueck of HFF arranged financing through Wells Fargo. The building is fully leased to Mustang Engineering and the John Wood Group.
Continue ReadingA year ago, the mood in the local real estate industry could be described in one word: cautious. Leasing brokers, real estate agents and developers were grateful the Houston area was outperforming other markets, but they were careful about seeming overly confident, what with a presidential election around the corner and the uncertainty about the global economy.
Continue ReadingFor a guy who has a passion for restoring old buildings, Ian Rosenberg's philosophy seems counterintuitive. "I don't change things much," said Rosenberg, a Brooklyn native who was behind the transformation of a pair of properties in Midtown that now house two of the area's most popular bars. He and his partners aim for their projects to have an authentic feel versus something artificial.
Continue ReadingEquitas Commercial Real Estate Holdings has purchased two buildings on a prime parcel on San Felipe inside Loop 610. The buildings at 4295-4299 San Felipe total 92,499 square feet and sit on 2.5 acres of land. "We believe they're well located and very well leased," said Andrew Browning of Equitas Commercial Real Estate Holdings, a Houston-based real estate investment and management firm that owns and operates small to mid-size office buildings.
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Sales Land Texas Star Brands has purchased a 2.35-acre site for a Bob's Steak & Chop House. The restaurant will be constructed on Research Forest Drive between Six Pines Drive and Grogan's Mill Road in The Woodlands and will be the first one in the Houston area. Rip Reynolds of CBRE represented the buyer. Greg Jordan represented the seller, The Woodlands Development Co. Office A subsidiary of Cap-Lease has purchased The Reserve at Park Ten, a 145,114-square-foot office building in the Energy Corridor from Principal Real Estate Investors.
Continue ReadingThe old Shipley Do-Nut store on North Main feels a little like a place time forgot. The pale interior is mostly spartan except for an indoor plant, some candy machines and a microwave that customers can use The menu is basic: doughnuts, kolaches, coffee and other breakfast drinks. On the west side of town, a new Shipley store is preparing to open early next year.
Continue ReadingThe University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is planning a major push into west Houston, joining several other medical institutions expanding their westward reach. The cancer hospital has purchased approximately 35 acres along the north side of Interstate 10 between Eldridge Parkway and Texas 6 for what could be a "comprehensive campus" offering many of the same services provided at M.D. Anderson's facilities in the Texas Medical Center, said Dan Fontaine, the hospital's senior vice president for business affairs and chief regulatory officer.
Continue ReadingThe supply of homes for sale in the Houston area has shrunk to its lowest level in 12 years as pent-up demand, low interest rates and a growing population continue to fuel housing activity area-wide. Sales of single-family homes shot up for the 18th straight month in November, soaring 27.3 percent compared with the same period a year ago, the Houston Association of Realtors said Tuesday.
Continue ReadingZiegler Cooper Architects, the Houston firm known for designing everything from corporate office space to high-rise residential buildings to downtown's Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, has a new director of design. Roger Soto is a Rice University graduate whose work can be seen in skylines from Houston to Saudi Arabia, where his team from HOK designed the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology - a project so big it's been likened to building a town from the ground up.
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Sales Land Bui Dental Co. has purchased 28,500 square feet of land at 8420 Texas 6 N. from TrustTexas Bank for the construction of a dental office. Vince Elder of Coldwell Banker Commercial United, Realtors represented the buyer. Mark Davis of Davis Commercial Real Estate represented the seller. LA Fitness has purchased 3.8 acres on North Shepherd Drive one block north of 43rd Street/Crosstimbers for development of a health club.
Continue ReadingA KBS Realty Advisors affiliate has acquired the West Loop I and II office complex in Bellaire, as the Newport Beach, Calif.-firm continues to add buildings in prime areas to its local portfolio. KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT has purchased 6565 West Loop South and 6575 West Loop South from Chase Merritt, also based in Newport Beach. The property totals 313,873 square feet and is 77 percent leased.
Continue ReadingBanker asks: Should we all own a home?
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Banker asks: Should we all own a home?
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Brian Moynihan, Bank of America Corp.'s chief executive officer, says the U.S. government, lenders and borrowers need to reset their expectation that everyone can own a home. "We need to look hard at some of the old assumptions and ask the question is homeownership the right solution for everyone?" Moynihan said Friday during a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Continue ReadingInvestors are homing in on Houston with a flurry of office building deals as the year comes to a close. In west Houston, New York-based Clarion Partners has acquired Westchase Park and an adjacent 7-acre parcel where it plans to construct a second building to fill a shortage of office space in Westchase. The six-story, 272,361-square-foot building on 8.2 acres at 3700 W. Sam Houston Parkway was purchased from Simmons Vedder Partners and O'Connor Capital Partners.
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HOUSTON CHRONICLE
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Sales Land Buc-ee's has purchased 60 acres at the southwest corner of Interstate 45 at Holland Road in Texas City for a new Buc-ee's Travel Center, planned for completion in 2013. The site is immediately north of the recently opened Tanger Outlet Mall. Heather Chappell of Midtown Interests represented the buyer. Jerry Turboff of Prime Capital Corp. represented the seller, Land Tejas Texas City Ltd.
Continue ReadingA national developer known for big real estate projects combining housing, shops and offices in a urban-style environment is preparing to relaunch a Houston project originally planned before the recession. San Diego-based OliverMcMillan will start construction in the spring on River Oaks District, a $450 million development slated for 15 acres along Westheimer, just a half-mile from the Galleria mall, the company said Monday.
Continue ReadingMainstream Boutique, a Minnesota-based fashion chain designed to appeal to women of various ages and sizes, is targeting the Houston market for expansion. "We're not catering to a size 2," said CEO Marie DeNicola, who founded the company in 1991. "We have apparel, accessories and boots and can fit women from 18 to 80." The chain's 23 locations average 1,500 square feet, offering denim and other unique merchandise items that are frequently refreshed.
Continue ReadingIndependence Heights earned a place in history as Texas' first African-American city, settled in 1908 and sovereign until it was swallowed by the city of Houston 21 years later. But tomorrow's residents may be pioneers of another sort, as Mayor Annise Parker and a developer announced plans for as many as 80 energy-efficient homes powered entirely by natural gas and able to sell excess electricity to the grid, with the promise that homeowners won't pay utility bills for at least a decade.
Continue ReadingA Houston real estate firm is planning to transform 5 acres inside Loop 610 into a high-rise development with upscale housing, offices and a hotel. The project, which is planned for the southeast corner of Richmond and Buffalo Speedway, will comprise two buildings: an 18-story office tower and a second structure that will rise more than 20 floors and include a hotel with apartments on the upper levels.
Continue ReadingPaved walkways meander through a warm landscape of native Texas plants and serene fountains. Folks in jeans and T-shirts sip lattes in a bright cafe, while others look through inspirational book titles and Christmas trinkets at a bookstore as nice as any Barnes & Noble. Gaming consoles line one wall of a spacious room with a foosball table and a snack bar.
Continue ReadingPrincipal Real Estate Investors has purchased a 145,580-square-foot office building at 2001 Timberloch Place in The Woodlands from the California State Teachers' Retirement System. Built in the early 1980s on 8.1 acres, the property is part of The Woodlands Town Center mixed-use development and was renovated in 2007. The building was formerly home to Mitchell Energy & Development, a venture of The Woodlands founder George Mitchell.
Continue ReadingDowntown's KBR Tower has a new owner
A 40-story skyscraper in downtown Houston has changed hands. An affiliate of New York-based W.P. Carey purchased the 1-million-square-foot KBR Tower at 601 Jefferson for $174.6 million. The seller was a partnership between Brookfield Office Properties and KBR, the building's largest tenant. The engineering and construction company occupies about 900,000 square feet in the tower.
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