HOUSTON-Horizontal development has begun at the 350-acre Hobby Business Center with 50% of the land already sold or committed for build-to-suit projects. In all, 90 acres have been passed to FedEx Ground, Hobby Airport and Southeastern Freight--and another deal set to close within one month.
"Land sales are happening faster than we thought," says Charles Turner, CFO for PinPoint Commercial LP in Houston. "We thought we'd be where we are now about a year from now." As it is, he continues, infrastructure is slated to be completed in the second quarter on the acreage, situated near Telephone and Almeda-Genoa roads.
At build-out, Hobby Business Center is expected to contain 3.5 million sf. "We're not planning speculative development on any of this," Turner says. "We're looking at all build-to-suit or fee development."
When PinPoint acquired the land in the spring, its executives immediately sold 26 acres to the Houston Airport System. FedEx Ground, which acquired more than 25 acres, is pushing dirt on what will be 80,000-sf facility. Southeastern Freight Lines took just under 40 acres, but hasn't released its plans. Turner tells GlobeSt.com that 44 acres also are under contract, with closing anticipated by the end of the year.
Turner says PinPoint originally planned to develop 200 acres on the northern boundary line and leave the acreage in the southern portion banked for the time being. But with the demand the company is seeing, he says those plans could change.
Local sources estimate infrastructure will cost $1 per sf to complete based on comparable industrial land projects. The ready-to-go sites will be sold for $2 per sf to $3.75 per sf.
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