HOUSTON – Avera, a commercial real estate development, construction and investment firm, acquired 40 acres to develop Cedar Port Logistics.
Plans for the development will include a building that will be between 610,000 and 2,262,000 SF.
The site, located in Cedar Port Industrial Park, is located east of the Port of Houston, on the north side of Highway 99. John Simons, Joel Michael and Holden Rushing of NAI Partners represented the seller of the land.
Groundbreaking is expected in the second quarter of 2019, said Trey Odom, Avera president.
“Houston has a combination of industries that have mitigated a lot of the volatility found in traditional economic cycles, and many of those plants are concentrated in the Southeast Houston submarket,” Odom said. “Petrochemical manufacturers, refineries, and the cracker plants that supply them, among other users, demand institutional and rail-served buildings that are in close proximity not only to the Port and its two terminals, but also each other. That demand has grown significantly since we started looking for sites near the Port several years ago. We have been methodical about selecting sites that are developer friendly – located in jurisdictions that want to see positive development – and tenant friendly in their location and with respect to the burden of tax and other operational expenses are concerned. Many of the surrounding cities and counties near the Port have incentives that are attractive to these new and/or expanding tenants.”
Odom, in a recent interview, said the widening of the Panama Canal making a difference in the Houston commercial real estate market.
“Houston has started seeing a difference in demand in submarkets with Port access, and the expansion is certainly one of the drivers. PortHouston is executing on $1.5B worth of projects to deepen the Ship Channel and expand and improve its facilities in the next few years in a direct response to the Canal’s expansion. Those plans will allow for larger ships and higher volumes of traffic. Those improvements along with our proximity to midstream petroleum assets, industry, and the canal are likely to continue to continue driving growth and investment in the Port area,” Odom said.
Avera is continuing to develop new projects in the Port of Houston area. New development opportunities include a 60-acre PTRA rail-served site on Greens Bayou and a 135-acre mixed commercial, retail, and light industrial project along Bay Area Boulevard in La Porte.
