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

At the end of week three, the water has receded in most of the metro, although pockets remain. Those who live and work in the Houston metro are slowly getting back to their workplaces as they await insurance claims and the next step of repair/replace that lies ahead. A great many are positive about the journey and express confidence that there is a silver lining to that very big cloud that swirled above Harvey just three weeks ago today.—Lisa Brown

NEWS AND NOTABLES

AUSTIN, TX—ECR's charity-focused entity, ECR Serves, announces its meal per deal donation campaign. The commercial real estate firm was able to donate a total of 300 meals (in correlation with 300 deals made in 2016), spread across five Austin charities: Meals on Wheels, Ronald McDonald House, Operation Supply Drop, Austin Children's Shelter and Refugee Services of Texas.

DENVER—Denver's embrace of the co-working movement is proving to be beneficial for both users and the city's commercial real estate industry as a whole. The co-working space concept has taken off in the Mile High City in recent years, providing an environment for a unique niche of users to enter the market easily, thrive and ultimately expand into the traditional office model. Although the rise of co-working space in Denver has had a positive impact, the practice certainly isn't without its growing pains. Just as Uber disrupted the taxi industry and AirBnB disrupted the hotel industry, the commercial real estate sector now has to grapple with changes of its own as the United States continues to shift from an industrial-based economy to a cloud-based economy. Although the local co-working footprint continues to grow rapidly, it still only makes up roughly 0.7% of Denver's total office supply. Therefore, co-working space in Denver has had the benefit of offering a new and creative approach to commercial real estate while remaining small enough to not disrupt the traditional office model. These are some of the key trends noted in Avison Young's topical report: “Co-working space: How its rise can foster dynamic growth in Denver's office market,” which was recently released.

HOUSTON—JLL has tapped Michael Zietsman to take on a newly created office investment sales leadership role. His primary focus is on advancing the company's growth strategy, executing large transactions and managing client relationships, with a particular focus on the Texas and Denver regions.

HOUSTON—NAI Partners has augmented its landlord services line of business' investment sales group by bolstering the offering's capabilities in Houston with an increased focus on retail product types as well as adding several new hires, and expanding its offering to San Antonio. In the company's Houston office, the landlord services expansion has included an enhanced focus on investment sales—led by industry veteran Joshua Lass-Sughrue—in the retail category, adding associates Jonathan Immel and James Wilson to the team. Immel joins the company from Cintas Corporation where he recently ranked as that company's top sales performer. Wilson previously worked at Marcus & Millichap, specializing in the sale and purchase of office and industrial buildings for investors and owners/users, including shopping centers, office and industrial buildings, apartment properties, single-tenant net-lease properties, healthcare/medical office, and self-storage facilities. The Houston team has also added Danielle Hodges as investment sales coordinator and she brings years of commercial real estate industry experience to this newly created role.

IRVING, TX—Toyota and ARK Group have announced a 10-year partnership that establishes Toyota Music Factory as the new name for the Irving Music Factory. Additionally, the Live Nation concert venue, The Pavilion, will be renamed The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory and the VIP Lounge will be called the Toyota Lounge. The name changes are effective immediately.

DEAL TRACKER

ARLINGTON, TX—College Plaza, a 6,590-square-foot retail property, has sold. Philip Levy, senior managing director investments in Marcus & Millichap's Fort Worth office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. The buyer, a private investor, was secured by Chris Gainey, senior associate, Levy and Juan Cuevas, senior associate in Marcus & Millichap's Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston offices. College Plaza is located at 1302 S Cooper St.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO—Taking a 309.21-acre tract of vacant land in Colorado and turning it into a master planned community is no small task. That didn't deter SR Land LLC, SPF Investors LLC and Morley-Bentley Investments LLC from moving forward with a vision. The only major obstacle was securing the needed funds to make it a reality. Silver Arch Capital Partners LLC has announced the closing of a $19.3 million land loan to the Colorado-based investment and development company. The loan will be used for working capital to provide infrastructure and property improvements to the first phase of Sterling Ranch –a new home development. The 309.21-acre tract of residential property is located along the east side of Vollmer Road, two miles north of Woodmen Road.

HOUSTON—TREK Investment Group is pleased to announce the sale of a Jack in the Box. Ethan Offenbecher represented the seller in the disposition of the property which featured an absolute triple net 15-year sale lease-back to a 21-unit franchisor. The property sold for 97% of list price to an out of state 1031 buyer with a quick closing.

JAL, NM—TREK Investment Group is pleased to announce the sale of a Dollar General. Ethan Offenbecher represented the buyer, a private investor, in the acquisition of the newly constructed 9,100-square-foot property which featured a long-term triple net lease with 14 years remaining on the primary term and institutional-grade credit. Dollar General is a $22 billion company with more than 13,000 locations.

VEGUITA, NM—A Dollar General consisting of brand-new construction with delivery estimated in October 2017 is being marketed for $13 million. It is subject to a new, 15-year absolute triple net lease with zero landlord responsibilities. The lease is guaranteed by Dollar General's corporate entity and it grants the tenant five, five-year options with 10% rental increases at the beginning of each option period.

WACO, TX—A two-property hospitality portfolio consisting of a 120-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites and a 93-room TownePlace Suites has sold. The terms of the sale were not released.