AUSTIN – CBRE Debt & Equity Finance team in Houston arranged $83.5 million in construction financing on behalf Seaholm Power, LLC for the redevelopment of the Seaholm Power Plant, an historic, art deco facility located in the southwestern portion of the Austin Central Business District. The borrower, Seaholm Power, LLC, a joint venture between Austin-based Southwest Strategies, Los Angeles-based CIM Group and the City of Austin, plans to transform the 117,000-sf power plant into institutional-grade office space while constructing 60,000 sf of new office and retail development anchored by a Trader Joe’s. The new development will also include a 30-story, 309-unit apartment tower. Bank of the Ozarks and IBC Banks were the two lenders on the open-ended construction loans. Executive Vice President Jim Richards and Senior Vice President Jim Kirkpatrick of CBRE led the team.
New Office Building Started in The Woodlands
By Ralph Bivins
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS… Archway Properties is starting construction on the 127,794-sf Wildwood Corporate Centre, a three-story, two-building office property in The Woodlands, north of Houston.
“Wildwood Corporate Centre is approximately one mile from Exxon’s new master campus and immediately accessible to I-45 and the Grand Parkway,” says Don Dennis, managing partner, Archway Properties of Houston.
Terri Torregrossa and Griff Jaggard of Moody Rambin Interests have been retained to lease the property. Kirksey Architecture is the architect and EE Reed is the general contractor.
“At 2.8 percent Class A vacancy, The Woodlands is one of Houston’s tightest, most expensive suburban office markets,” says Torregrossa, senior VP at Moody Rambin. “This property meets the demand for high-value office space without the premium rental rate.”
Located at 460 Wildwood Forest at Interstate 45/North Freeway, the project is slated for completion in January 2014.
Hines Proposes 41-story Office Tower on Main St. in Downtown Houston
By Ralph Bivins
HOUSTON – Hines is planning and marketing a major new downtown office tower on Main Street, projected to be at least 41 stories tall, but could be bigger if there is strong demand.
The office project will be located on Block 69 at the southeast corner of Main and Texas Avenue, near the historic Rice Hotel lofts.
The new building, 609 Main, is expected to be 851,000-sf and slated for completion in 2016, according to people in the real estate community. No anchor tenant has been signed and Hines is not expected to start the building as a spec.
Two year ago, Hines completed the 46-story BG Group Place two blocks away from Block 69. BG Group Place is 96 percent leased.
“Back in 2007, our investment thesis for BG Group Place and the purchase of 609 Main at Texas site centered on Main Street being central to all downtown amenities and transit,” said John Mooz, senior managing director in Hines’ Southwest Regional office. “Over the past four years, the Class AA tenant market has validated BG Group Place as a striking new business address. Additionally, other owners are also voting with significant investments that Main Street is a top of mind location.”
Mooz said Hines has just begun seriously marketing the building to corporations and realty brokers who specialize in office leasing. If the demand for more office space demands it, Hines can adjust and make the building taller than 41 stories, Mooz said.
The office market in downtown is very tight with most major towers having little or no vacant space. Companies that need big blocks of office space have few options.
Hines Buys Archstone Stake in DC Project
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington D.C. office of Hines announced the acquisition of the ownership interest of their partner, Archstone, in the mixed-use CityCenterDC project that is currently under construction in downtown Washington, D.C. The acquisition of Archstone’s interest in CityCenterDC was completed in connection with the acquisition by Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities of Archstone Enterprises LP.
The Hines | Archstone partnership was chosen by the District of Columbia in 2003 to develop the massive $700 million project on the site of the city’s old convention center. In 2011, the partnership secured equity financing from its anchor investor Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the real estate investment arm of the Qatari Investment Authority, and the financing was put in place by Barwa Bank’s investment banking subsidiary, The First Investor (TFI), which is a co-investor and manages the dedicated TFI U.S. Real Estate Fund. Construction began on Phase I of the project in March 2011.
In addition to increasing its incremental ownership in the overall mixed-use project, Hines will assume development responsibility for the two large apartment buildings comprising 458 units in the center of CityCenterDC.
Construction on Phase II of CityCenterDC is expected to commence in the first half of 2014. It will consist of a 370-room luxury hotel and an additional 73,000 square feet of retail space.
