Buyers Awake to Depth of Tenant Demand
In the past, Southwest Houston would have trailed other notable submarkets in terms of investor preference but buyers are drawn to the population proximity and the ability to serve it quickly.
STAFFORD, TX—Completed in 2017, Stafford Grove Industrial Park is comprised of three class-A industrial warehouse buildings totaling 351,960 square feet in this southwest Houston suburb. It is located at 10633, 10643 and 10653 W. Airport Blvd. at the intersection of Murphy Road.
The park recently sold to an investment platform sponsored by the Black Creek Group LLC for an undisclosed price. The property is 84.5% leased to seven tenants with an additional 54,550 square feet of vacancy remaining in two spaces. Features include 24- to 30-foot clear heights, a total of 120 dock-high doors, 130-foot truck courts, three drive-up ramps and 38 trailer parking spaces between each building.
“Stafford Grove Industrial Park represents the type of high-quality project that Black Creek Group has built many of its industrial portfolios around,” says Mace McClatchy, senior vice president at Black Creek Group. “Quality construction, modern design characteristics and a business-friendly location help elevate Stafford Grove Industrial Park to one of the best locations for tenants in the Southwest submarket.”
An HFF investment advisory team represented the seller, a joint venture between Crow Holdings Industrial and its investment partner. The HFF team included managing director Trent Agnew and senior managing director Rusty Tamlyn along with analyst Dane Petersen.
“Stafford Grove is one of the premier developments to deliver this cycle in Houston due to its infill location, beneficial tax savings for users and overall site flexibility,” Agnew said. “As a result, the buyer pool consisted of a large mix of core funds, institutional advisors and private capital consistent with what we are seeing across the country on similar offerings.”
Black Creek Group has more than $17 billion of investments within a 25-year history.
“Stafford is an interesting micro-market within the larger southwest submarket due to no city tax, Triple Freeport exemption. These are big advantages for certain tenants/industries which is why you see so many valve companies clustered there,” Agnew tells GlobeSt.com. “Historically Southwest Houston would have trailed other notable submarkets, Northwest, Southeast, North, in terms of investor preference, but buyers have awaken to the depth of the tenant demand. When you dive into proximity to the Houston population and ability to serve this quickly, the Southwest submarket compares very favorably to the Northwest submarket.”
Agnew points out that most of the supply and development in the Southwest submarket has been in Highway 90/Beltway 8 in Missouri City.
“Though there were a lot of folks concerned about the amount of supply delivered in 2016 and 2017, it has absorbed well and a new wave of supply is now coming behind it due to the performance of a number of projects,” Agnew concludes. “Stafford Grove was the only development that is part of the more in-fill portion of the submarket.”