Houstonian, Borders Join Woodlands Market Street Lineup

THE WOODLANDS, TX-Leasing steadily continues in the Woodlands Market Street, a 375,000-sf project that's on track to be nearly fully leased at its grand opening in November. The latest tenants to fork over retail rents, averaging in the mid-$30 per sf range, are Borders Books & Music and an outpost of the high-end Houstonian health club.

Borders will roll out a 26,000-sf anchor store Sept. 4 while the Houstonian's parent, Redstone Cos., has just inked a 12,000-sf lease for its second suburban location. The Woodlands facility is slated to open in June 2005, sources say.

Woodlands Market Street's leasing agent, Nick Hernandez of Houston-based Page Partners, tells GlobeSt.com that the 375,000-sf first phase of the 34-acre, mixed-use development is on track to be "real close" to 100% leased for the grand opening in November. A 75,000-sf second phase, set to come on line in June 2005, is taking longer to build because it includes a second-floor movie theater and parking garages. "Phase two is just a little more complicated," Hernandez says.

Redstone signed a 10-year lease at the Woodlands for its second "lite" club, a sister to the Sugar Land Town Square branch, and a spin-off from the Downtown flagship. The Woodlands' version will be on the second floor. The company, which pitches its expensive health-club facilities--outfitted with wood lockers and plush atmosphere--to upper-income customers, sought a berth in the Woodlands because of its demographics, Hernandez says. "This is the icon of Houston health clubs," he says, "and they wanted this strong demographic profile: high-end, high-income, high-education."

Redstone represented itself in the lease signing; Hernandez represented Woodlands Market Street's joint owners, Trademark Property Co. of Fort Worth and Kimco Developers Inc. of New Hyde Park, NY.

As for Borders, it joins anchor store, H-E-B Woodlands, an 81,300-sf, gourmet-style "concept" grocery that opened at the end of July. Hernandez says rents are running in the neighborhood of $35 per sf for first-floor retail space like Borders. Retail rents in the Greater Houston area currently are topping out at $40.80 per sf for community shopping centers, according to Colliers International's research.