Whitestone REIT to Build New Building Next to Recently Acquired BLVD Place

**BLVD Place, which includes a Whole Foods and office space, is located on South Post Oak at San Felipe in Houston.**

HOUSTON – Whitestone REIT, which announced it has completed its purchase of the BLVD Place mixed-use development, says it will build an additional six-story office and retail complex adjacent to BLVD Place.

Whitestone bought the 217,000 SF office and retail center on South Post Oak Boulevard – anchored by a Whole Foods – for $158 million.

Included in the deal was a 1.4-acre tract of land where it will building the new development, located in the Uptown Houston area, near San Felipe. The new building, when completed, will include 46,000 SF of retail space on the first two floors and 91,000 SF of office space on the top four floors.

BLVD Place was developed and owned by a partnership between Houston-based Wulfe & Co. and Bailard, Inc. of San Francisco. The mixed-use development took place in several phases over the past 13 years. Wulfe & Co., a Houston-firm led by Ed Wulfe, specializes in retail development, management, and leasing.

BLVD Place was conceptualized nearly 15 years ago by Ed Wulfe, Chairman & CEO, and Bob Sellingsloh, President, who together envisioned a dynamic mixed-use development on prestigious Post Oak Boulevard featuring shopping, dining and office uses adjacent to high-rise residences. The Wulfe-Bailard entity was represented in the sale of BLVD Place by Rusty Tamlyn, Matt Kafka, and Trent Agnew of HFF in Houston.

BLVD Place is 99.2 percent occupied and anchored by a diverse mix of credit tenants such as Whole Foods Market, Frost Bank, and Verizon that serve as destination drivers for the center, drawing a steady stream of visitors engaging in a wide variety of commercial activities at the property.

The project was.designed by Jose Palacios with AECOM and SOM in Los Angeles.

Whitestone REIT’s Chairman and CEO, James C. Mastandrea commented, “Ed Wulfe, one of the premier developers in the country, created and developed an award-winning and premier property in the heart of a dynamic upscale marketplace with superb demographics and demand drivers.”

Wulfe’s partner, Bailard, Inc., is a wealth management firm founded in 1969 and currently managing over $3.5 Billion in assets for a variety of individual and institutional investors, both domestic and international.