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.
CBRE Sells Three Retail Projects in Houston
HOUSTON – CBRE coordinated the sale of three shopping centers in the Houston area.The properties total approximately 313,344 sf and are located in Houston, Pasadena and Katy, Texas. … Northwest Village, an 189,968 sf community center at 17360 Northwest Freeway in Houston, was purchased by Gordon Partners. The seller was Baceline Investments of Denver. It is 90 percent leased. … Fairway Centre III is a 103,876 sf Power Center, which is currently 100 percent leased by Sports Authority, Conn’s and Office Depot. Located at 3931 Fairway Drive in Pasadena, the center was purchased by Fidelis Realty Partners in Houston from Trammell Crow. David Aaronson and Jeff Stein with CBRE’s Debt & Equity Finance group, secured the equity and debt through a life insurance company. … The Plazas at Grand Parkway is a strip center located at 1575 West Grand Parkway South in Katy. It totals 19,500 square feet is 83 leased. It was sold by Sun Life Assurance Company based in Wellesley Hills, Mass. to Vista Equities Group of Houston.
Kevin Holland, Chris Cozby and Chris Gerard with CBRE’s National Retail Investment Group represented the sellers in each transaction.
Shorenstein Buys Exxon Mobil Tower for $50 Million
By Ralph Bivins
HOUSTON – Shorenstein Properties has acquired the 45-story Exxon Mobil building in downtown Houston for a redevelopment that will restore the property to Class A status.
The Exxon Mobil building, located at 800 Bell at Travis, was built in 1962 as the headquarters of Humble Oil & Refining, a predecessor to Exxon Mobil.
The sales price was not disclosed. As part of the deal, Exxon Mobil, the seller, agreed to lease back the entire building until 2015, when it will relocate its employees to its new 385-acre corporate campus on the far northern suburbs of Houston, not far from The Woodlands.
Shorenstein’s renovations may include linking the building into the downtown tunnel system which connects many of the skyscrapers and hotels in downtown Houston.
The 1.2 million square-foot Exxon Mobil tower and its seven-story garage cover two downtown blocks.
The price paid for the building was not disclosed, but people in the real estate community said it was around $50 million. By comparison, the 1.8-million square-foot Shell Plaza in downtown recently sold for around $550 million.
“We purchased this property markedly below current replacement cost, which gives us the opportunity, once the current user vacates, to employ all our company’s core skills in capital transaction execution, redevelopment, leasing and operations to increase the property’s value by establishing its long term position and further enhancing its reputation in the market,” Douglas Shorenstein, chairman and CEO of Shorenstein Properties said in a written statement.
San Francisco-based Shorenstein owns dozens of office buildings across the nation including two others in Houston near the intersection of San Felipe and Loop 610: the 28-story Five Post Oak Park building, which is across the street from the St. Regis Hotel, as well as the 21-story 2000 West Loop South tower on the freeway’s west side frontage road.
Taylor Morrison Buys Texas Home Builder
HOUSTON – Taylor Morrison, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based North American home builder, has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Texas home builder Darling Homes for an undisclosed price. Darling Homes builds homes for move-up buyers in 28 communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and Greater Houston Area markets.
“As home buyers continue to demand top quality homes in sought-after desirable communities, we are pleased that Darling and Taylor Morrison will operate as complementary brands to serve our customers,” said Bill Darling, founder of Darling Homes, which was founded in 1987.
