Middle Market Digest: This Week in the South and Mountain Regions

Retail slowdown, what retail slowdown? Retail properties are shrugging off highly publicized store closures as space demand is boosted by e-commerce-resistant retailers such as grocery stores and service providers. National retail vacancy hit a 17-year low in the first quarter as rising wages and strong consumer confidence kept retail sales growth expanding. As some high-profile retailers continue to trim store counts, an evolving mix of services, dining and off-price retailers have supported demand. The strong market conditions has rents expanding at the fastest rate in 10 years, according to Marcus & Millichap.—Lisa Brown

NEWS AND NOTABLES

HOUSTON—NAI Partners has added four key hires in its landlord services division, hiring office project leasing associates Jacob Aldridge and Zach Leger, retail services associate Chris Holder, and retail investment sales associates, Jonathan Immel and James Wilson.

DEAL TRACKER

AUSTIN, TX—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP has closed the sale of and arranged acquisition financing for The Campus at Arboretum, a five-building class-A office campus totaling 318,534 square feet. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, DivcoWest, and procured the buyer, a partnership between Vanderbilt Partners and True North Management Group LLC.  Additionally, HFF placed the five-year, floating-rate acquisition loan on behalf of the purchaser with JP Morgan Chase.

AUSTIN, TX—The Praedium Group announced the acquisition of Fox Hill Apartments in Austin, TX and Park Place at Maguire in Orlando, FL. The two multifamily communities comprise a total of 530 residences. Fox Hill, built in 2010, consists of 288 one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 899 square feet to 1,313 square feet. Unit interiors include 9-foot ceilings, black or stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, faux wood flooring throughout the kitchen and living areas, large walk-in closets, garden tubs, washer/dryers or connections, and patios/balconies with storage. Community amenities include a swimming pool, conference center, business center, clubhouse with lounge area, outdoor playground, barbecue grills, electric car-charging station, dog park and walking path. The Praedium Group plans to further enhance the resident experience at Fox Hill through a targeted capital improvement program, consisting of unit interior and common area renovations.

AUSTIN, TX—Pioneer Bank was looking around the land-constrained 35th Street and Lamar area to develop its headquarters building. Through brokerage networks and calling on opportunities, ECR was able to source the former Marimont Café site located at 38th Street and Guadalupe for the new headquarters building. ECR was hired to market and lease the excess space at the building.

ENGLEWOOD, CO—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP has closed the $57.8 million sale of and arranged $46 million in acquisition financing for Silver Cliff, a 312-unit garden-style multi-housing community in this south Denver suburb. HFF marketed the asset exclusively on behalf of Weidner Apartment Homes.  Phoenix Realty Group, a national multifamily real estate fund manager, investor, operator and developer, purchased the unencumbered property jointly with a third-party family office and discretionary-affiliated investment vehicle. Additionally, working on behalf of the new owner, HFF placed the seven-year fixed-rate loan with three years of interest only amortization with Freddie Mac's CME Program.

FAYETTEVILLE, AR—Strategic Student & Senior Housing Trust Inc., a private real estate investment trust sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management LLC, announced its acquisition of The District, a 198-unit, 592-bed student housing property adjacent to the University of Arkansas. The purchase price for the building was $57 million. Formerly known as Sterling District, the 2.3-acre student housing property is located at 376 W. Watson St. and includes one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom, fully furnished floor plans. The District is currently 95% pre-leased for the 2017 to 2018 academic year.

FT. COLLINS, CO—Granite Capital Group, a Santa Barbara, CA real estate investment firm with multiple Colorado real estate holdings, has purchased the 105-unit Brooklyn Park Rowhouses, a townhome/apartment complex. The sales price was $27.8 million. Located at 2758 Iowa Dr., the property consists of 12 class-A buildings that were built in 2007 and 2008.

GRAPEVINE, TX—With construction completed and the final design details nearly finished, Park Place Dealerships opened its newest dealership, Jaguar Land Rover DFW. Located on the south side of Highway 114 between Main Street and Texan Trail Parkway, the dealership sits on 8 acres and is the third dealership in Northeast Tarrant County for the company.

HOUSTON—NAI Partners recently represented the landlord in a 10,000-square-foot retail lease for Decant Urban Winery at 948 Wakefield Dr. Alex Taghi of NAI Partners represented the landlord during the negotiation.

IRVING, TX—STRIVE facilitated the sale of Riverside Retail Strip. This brand new 14,030-square-foot property of class-A construction was 100% occupied with a complementary mix of tenants at the time of sale. Jason Vitorino of STRIVE had the exclusive right to sell the asset on behalf of the seller, a local developer based in Dallas. The buyer was in a 1031 exchange and financed the property with a local bank. Additional terms of the sale were not released.

KATY, TX—Houston-based Baker Katz has completed a lease on behalf of Snooze, an A.M. Eatery. A 4,098-square-foot Snooze, an A.M. Eatery is slated to open this October at LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch located on the corner of Grand Parkway and Cinco Ranch Blvd. The restaurant will join notable national tenants, including J. Jill, Peli Peli, Trader Joe's and others.

SAN ANTONIO, TX—5802 West Interstate Highway 10, a 5,917-square-foot office property, has sold. Joshua D. Murphy, an investment specialist in Marcus & Millichap's San Antonio office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a partnership.  The buyer, a private investor, was secured by Murphy. The property is located at 5802 West Interstate Highway 10 in the desirable North West submarket.

BUILDING BLOCKS

THE WOODLANDS, TX—Construction of two new lanes and a bridge southbound on Kuykendahl Road across Spring Creek is nearing completion and is expected to fully open by today. The Kuykendahl Road expansion and bridge connect Harris and Montgomery Counties as well as The Woodlands' Villages of Indian Springs and Creekside Park. Construction on the project began in September 2016 and has been completed in just 285 days. The Kuykendahl Road expansion and bridge is a joint project funded by Harris County, Montgomery County and The Woodlands Road Utility District #1. The bridge and roadways improvements were constructed by Texas Sterling Construction Co. Construction efforts are continuing for pathways that will interconnect the pathway on the bridge to existing pathways in the Villages of Creekside Park and Indian Spring. The pathway is funded by both The Woodlands Development Company and The Woodlands Township.