Condo Developer Rolling Out 148 Units in Two North Houston Projects

Within 30 days, Jolly Properties Inc. will start to build the 58-unit Willow Park Office Condominiums at Portofino Plaza on six acres along Ed English Drive. The plan is to deliver the space in six- to eight-unit buildings by late October, Les Johns with the J. Beard Co. LLC in the Woodlands tells GlobeSt.com. Each 728-sf unit, which can be combined for larger suites, is being marketed at $120,000. Jolly Properties has yet to pencil a start for Hanover Woods, a 90-unit development that will rise along FM 2920 in Spring. But, Johns emphasizes, it won't be too long after work ramps on Portofino Plaza.

Johns says the Woodlands' growth is driving early inquiries although Portofino Plaza sits in Shenandoah and not the Woodlands' proper. "But, it's being very well received," he says, "now that we have a firm start date." He says he's already booked six reservations for users in the medical, consulting, insurance and financial industries.

Whether it's Portofino Plaza or Hanover Woods, Johns is predicting that the condos will be sold out within a year of their delivery as residents in areas like the Woodlands look for ways to escape traffic congestion. The developer's first project was Willow Park Office Condos near WillowBrook Mall. "Based on the success of that, they're cloning these projects off that," Johns says.

The Portofino Plaza project "will pull office users from the Woodlands," Johns says, citing his firm's knowledge of the North Houston communities as the inroad to be Jolly's agent. "I think it was a beauty contest of one based on our knowledge."

J. Beard Co.'s Tim Maczko says small office users have been taking down most of the class A office space in the Woodlands, building in demand for developers like Jolly and the Woodlands Development Co. as it preps to bring out more top-tier mid-rise product. In recent weeks, Maczko closed class A and B leases, averaging five-year terms, for 11,800 sf in four Woodlands' buildings, where rates go from $20 per sf to $25 per sf. The deals ranged from 1,200 sf to 4,503 sf. Maczko's latest win is Docqmation Inc., a San Antonio-based business that took down 4,495 sf at 1440 Lake Front Circle with a five-year pact.