HOUSTON-District officials give a green light to paying close to $2 per sf for land at the intersection of Homestead Road and Loop 610 East in the Northport Industrial Park. The site will house a food distribution center.

HOUSTON-A startup signs a long-term lease for its first office, 3,824 sf in Cornerstone Tower in the northwest submarket. In the CBD, Court Record Research takes a 1,704-sf office in the historic Scanlan Building.

HOUSTON-Seller Lamar Cos. of Morristown, NJ retreats from Houston with the sale to an affiliate of Perrine & Wheeler, which outdistanced 18 others for a 90%-leased asset with definite upside in the rent. The asking price was $17.5 million.

HOUSTON-Presidential Billiards adds 4,320 sf in working up a new long-term lease for 21,585 sf or 74% of an office/warehouse at 9391 Grogan's Mill Rd. The import company holds a spot close to employees and the Port of Houston.

VICTORIA, TX-Buyer Hull Storey Retail Group of Augusta, GA marks its Texas entrance with the purchase of 446,000 sf of 88%-leased retail space and gets binding ties to another 230,000 sf in anchor sites owned by Dillard's and JCPenney.

BAYTOWN, TX-Geriatric Associates exits the San Jacinto Methodist Hospital's Decker Campus for 5,140 sf at 711 W. Bay Area in nearby Webster. The three-building hospital campus is up for sale.

HOUSTON-Universal Forest Products negotiates for 10 months for a South Texas distribution location. The seven-year lease encompasses 41,000 sf in two buildings on 14.4 paved acres, a must-have for the operation.

HOUSTON-The sale/leaseback is a win-win for buyer and seller, with one having a year to go before a lease expires and the other a year out from a building completion. Diamond M, an electrical contractor, buys; H&E Equipment sells.