Volume 30 Number 01 January 2015 APARTMENTS · PDF fileGreystone Servicing Corporation Inc, an entity of Greystone & Co Inc (Mark Jarrell: 212-649-9700, [email protected]),

Houston Real Estate Trends January 2015 Page 1

Table of Contents:

Apartments ....................... 1

Office Buildings ................ 5

Retail Centers .................. 8

Industrial Facilities ............ 11

Vacant Land ..................... 14

Single-Family Housing ..... 15

Permit Issuance ............... 16

Economic & Financial News ................. 17

Potpourri .......................... 18

Volume 30 Number 01 January 2015

APARTMENTS Apartment market occupancy in the Greater Houston area stood at 91.92% in December 2014, a decrease of 0.14% compared to the previous month. Overall rents stood at $0.999 per square foot, which represents an increase of 0.007 per square foot compared to November 2014. Average rental rates per unit stood at $863.26, an increase of $4.73 per unit over the previous month. Pre-leasing is currently underway in 19 communities (5,743 units) out of the 97 total properties (27,414 units) in the construction pipeline city-wide.

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Apartment Developments

Allied Realty (Hollie Kleitz: 713-622-4949) has completed construction of The Retreat at Riverstone (19166), a 249-unit, Class A community located at 18545 University Boulevard in the Sugarland/Fort Bend submarket (609S). The property is 4% occupied and includes one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans ranging in size from 663 to 1,691 square feet and in rents from $1,135.00 to $3.600.00 per month. Unit amenities include beautiful granite countertops, full-size washer and dryer, upscale plank wood flooring, and private patio/balcony with roomy storage closets. Community amenities include a resort-style pool with beach entry, state-of-the-art wellness and fitness center, valet trash service, and a pet-friendly environment with two onsite dog parks with pet fountains. Designed by Wallace Garcia, it is the first multifamily property to be developed in the Riverstone master planned community.

Sunrise Luxury Living (Jim Hinton: 281-404-4625, [email protected]) has completed construction of Sunrise By the Park (18966), a 180-unit, Class A midrise located at 155 Birdsall Street in the Inner Loop West submarket (492L). The community is 9.5% occupied and features studio, one-, and two-bedroom floor plans with an average size of 748 square feet and average rents at $2.28 per square foot. Community amenities include a resort style pool with tanning ledge and spa, state of the art fitness center with Cardio Theater, parking garage with controlled access, and resident lounge with billiards. Unit amenities include stainless steel appliances, gourmet kitchen with slab granite countertops, spacious closets with built-in shelving, and wood style floors.

The following chart illustrates historical apartment rental rates.

$0.82

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$0.88

$0.90

$0.92

$0.94

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$0.98

$1.00

$1.02

HOUSTON APARTMENT MARKET RENTS ($/SF)

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Apartment Sales

Entities of Crow Holdings (Diane Parmerlee: 214-661-8000, [email protected]) have purchased the following:

o CH Realty Vll/MF Houston Virage LP has purchased Virage on Memorial (19124), a 372-unit, Class A community located at 100 Detering Street in the Inner Loop West submarket (492L), from JLB Park Memorial Partners LP, an entity of JLB Partners (Bay Miltenberger: 214-271-8480, [email protected]). The less-than-one-year-old property is 35% occupied with average rents at $2.45 per square foot.

o CH Realty Vl-Carroll MF Houston City Lake LP has purchased CityLake (18765), a 319-unit, Class A community located at 8877 Lakes at 610 Drive in the Highway 288/Almeda submarket (532U), from Lakes at 610 Investment 2008 LP, an entity of Grayco Partners LLC (John Britton: 713-426-2004,

mailto:[email protected]




[email protected]). The one-year-old property is 93.4% occupied with average rents at $1.61 per square foot.

Presidium 3737 Investors LLC, an entity of Presidium Group (Cross Moceri: 214-306-6589, [email protected]), has purchased the following:

o 3737 Hillcroft (2273), a 364-unit, Class B community located at 3737 Hillcroft in the Woodlake submarket (490Z), from Guardian 3737 Hillcroft Holding LLC, an entity of Guardian Equity Companies LLC (Trey Stone: 713-783-7487, [email protected]). The 46-year-old property is 94% occupied with average rents at $0.80 per square foot.

o Colonial Woods (2421), a 112-unit, Class B community located at 6333 Windswept in the Galleria submarket (491W), from Houston C. W. Apartments Corporation (Shyam Hingorani: 281-240-8663). The 33-year-old property is 98% occupied with average rents at $1.00 per square foot.

City Crossing LLC, an entity of The Radco Companies (Norman Radow: 770-272-9330), has purchased the following from Cam Forrester LLC, an entity of Related Companies (Paul Izzo: 212-801-1000, [email protected]).

o Saddle Ridge I (2066), a 314-unit, Class B community located at 12800 Woodforest Boulevard in the Northshore/Woodforest submarket (497A). The 32-year-old property is 90% occupied with average rents at $0.96 per square foot.

o Saddle Ridge II (2059), a 144-unit, Class B community located at 12603 Woodforest Boulevard in the Northshore/Woodforest submarket (496D). The 30-year-old property is 90% occupied with average rents at $0.80 per square foot.

o Country Place (2151), a 122-unit, Class C community located at 1015 Country Place in the Far West submarket (489A). The 42-year-old property is 93% occupied with average rents at $0.93 per square foot.

53 multifamily properties were sold in the month of November 2014, according to the monthly Commercial Deed Report. Compared to the previous month, the number of properties sold decreased by 3.64%. The number of units sold in Harris County (8,186) represented a decrease of 8.85% when compared to the number of units sold in October 2014 (8,981).

The following charts illustrate multifamily sales in the Houston area:

47

57

32

2127

4447

67

45 43

54 5553

Multifamily Sales

Number of properties sold

Harris92%

Fort Bend4%Brazoria

4%

Sales by County (November 2014)






Apartment Financing

Berkeley Point Capital LLC (Jim Wogan: 617-722-5101, [email protected]) has provided the following financing:

o $44.5 million for Carroll at Shadow Creek Ranch (18638), a 360-unit, Class A community located at 12400 Shadow Creek Parkway in the Pearland submarket (612H). The borrower was 12400 Shadow Creek Parkway LLC. The three-year-old property is 95.7% occupied.

o $25.5 million for ARIUM Fall Creek (18564), a 264-unit, Class A community located at 7800 North Sam Houston Parkway East in the FM 1960 East submarket (375U). The borrower was SC Waterford Fall Creek Owner LP. The three-year-old property is 94.4% occupied.

The borrowers were entities of Starwood Capital Group (Nasir Alamgir: 203-422-7700).

Greystone Servicing Corporation Inc, an entity of Greystone & Co Inc (Mark Jarrell: 212-649-9700, [email protected]), has provided the following financing:

o $10.03 million for The Park at Willowbrook (1573), a 230-unit, Class B community located at 7100 Smiling Wood in the Inwood submarket (411A). The borrower was Sam Willowbrook LLC (Burton Lewis). The 29-year-old property is 98% occupied with average rents at $0.87 per square foot.

o $10.87 million for The Arbor at Dairy Ashford (2991), a 222-unit, Class B community located at 12707 Bellaire in the Alief submarket (528H). The borrower was Falls of Dairy Ashford LLC, an entity of Falls of West Oaks LLP (Rao Polavarapu: 713-771-6016). The 33-year-old property is 89% occupied with average rents at $0.71 per square foot.

CBRE Capital Markets Inc (Steve Iaco: 713-787-1900, [email protected]) has provided the following financing for communities in the Steeplechase submarket (409H):

o $9.30 million for The Waverly (2166), a 308-unit, Class B community located at 2301 Hayes Road. The borrower was Waverly Apartments 1 LP, an entity of AGIA (Michael Tombari: 805-566-9191, [email protected]). The seven-year-old property is 95% occupied with average rents at $0.97 per square foot.

o $22.23 million Villas at West Road (17681), a 240-unit, Class A community located at 9500 West Road. The borrower was Ocean West Road LP, an entity of Atlantic Pacific Management (Randy Weisburd: 305-867-2245, [email protected]). The seven-year-old property is 97% occupied.







OFFICE BUILDINGS Citywide occupancy for Houston area multi-tenant office buildings is 88.61% (Class A = 91.7%; Class B = 86.1%; Class C = 87.7%; Class D = 84.0%) according to the O’Connor & Associates Fourth Quarter 2014 Houston Office Data Program. Occupancy represents an increase of 0.45% over the Third Quarter of 2014. The citywide quarterly multi-tenant office rental rate is $21.44 per square foot (Class A = $23.65; Class B = $20.54; Class C = $19.54; Class D = $18.19).

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Note: The office buildings listed herein are followed by their representative sector code and identification number as they appear in the O’Connor & Associates OfficeLink Online Data platform and are provided for subscriber cross-referencing. The property information

contained within this database is updated on a monthly basis and accessible over the web. (Please contact us for more details.)

The following chart illustrates historical office rental rates.

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$22.00

$23.00

$24.00

HOUSTON OFFICE RENTS ($/SF)

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Office Sales

Rosemont Kirkwood Tower Operating LLC, an entity of Rosemont Realty LLC (Michael Mahony, 505-992-5100, [email protected]), has purchased Kirkwood Tower III (937), a 286,000 square-foot, Class B building located at 11757 Katy Freeway in the Katy Freeway West sector (489A), from Kirkwood Tower LP, an entity of Amstar (Douglas Wiley Il: 303-534-6322, [email protected]). The 31-year-old property is 88.74% occupied with average rents at $22.25 per square foot.

9990 Richmond LP, an entity of Rockwell Management Corporation (Etan Mirwis: 713-957-8993, [email protected]), has purchased 9990 Richmond (1929), a 188,000 square-foot, Class C building located at 9990 Richmond Avenue in the Westchase sector (489Z), from Richmond Office Partners LLC, an entity of Fuller Realty Partners LLC (Stephen Darnell: 713-850-8400, [email protected]). The 33-year-old property is 92.34% occupied with average rents at $16.00 per square foot.

E Empire Capital Investments LLC, an entity of Pettway Management Consultants LLC (Charles Pettway: 713-662-0031), has purchased Corporate Center Northborough (631), a 109,000 square-foot, Class C building located at 12700 Northborough Drive in the Greenspoint Northbelt sector (372Q), from A V Real Estate LLC, an entity of HBC Executive Suites LLC (Alejandro Valle: 832-289-5411). The 32-year-old property is 24.83% occupied with average rents at $17.00 per square foot.

In the month of November 2014, 40 office buildings were sold according to the monthly Commercial Deed







Report. This represented a decrease of 14.89% when compared to the previous month. In terms of gross square feet, sales recorded an increase of 22.56%, when compared to October 2014.

The following charts illustrate office sales in the Houston area:

26

41

25

31

48

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37

4649

42

46 47

40

Office Sales


Fort Bend5%

Harris77%

Brazoria10%

Montgomery8%


Office Financing

Ladder Capital Finance LLC, an entity of Ladder Capital Securities LLC (Robert Perelman: 212-715-3170, [email protected]), has provided $50 million in financing for Decorative Center Houston (562), a 521,000 square-foot, Class A community located at 5120 Woodway Drive in the Galleria sector (491L). The borrower was Decorative Center of Houston LP, an entity of Cohen Brothers Realty Corp (Charles Cohen: 212-838-1800, [email protected]). The 37-year-old property is 91.04% occupied with average rents at $26.00 per square foot.

KeyBank NA (Beth Mooney: 801-535-1060, [email protected]) has provided $40 million in financing for 1700 West Loop South (530), a 273,000 square-foot, Class C building located at 1700 West Loop South in the Galleria sector (491R). The borrower was ROC Il TX 1700 West Loop LLC. The 36-year-old property is 88.29% occupied with average rents at $18.50 per square foot.

Compass Bank has provided $12.64 million in financing for Park Central Plaza One (1256), a 181,000 square-foot, Class B building located at 1111 North Loop West in the North Loop/Northwest Freeway sector (452U). The borrower was Central Plaza One Operating Associates LP, an entity of BGK Equities Ill LLC (Paul Gerwin: 505-992-5100, [email protected]). The 32-year-old property is 79.08% occupied with average rents at $18.50 per square foot.

Office Leases

McConnell, Jones, Lanier & Murphy (713-968-1600) has leased 21,556 square feet at Loop Central [III] (571), a 199,000 square-foot, Class B building located at 4828 Loop Central Drive in the Bellaire/West University/South Main sector (491Z), from Tradin Places LLC (Wendy Barnhart-Briggs: 248-850-3333). The 30-year-old property is 97.06% occupied with average rents at $16.00 per square foot. Neil and Kevin Tofsky (713-965-2975, [email protected]) of Senterra Real Estate Group represented the tenant.

Oak Valley Resources (281-298-4246) has leased 19,604 square feet at Chase Bldg (1839), a 94,000 square-foot medical/professional building located at 1400 Woodloch Forest Drive in The Woodlands/Conroe submarket (1222A), from Woodlands Office Equities-95 Limited. The 32-year-old property is 91.55% occupied with average rents at $32.00 per square foot. John Hornbuckle





tel:(713)%20965-2975


http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=business%2Freal-estate&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22John+Hornbuckle%22


([email protected]) of Cypressbrook Co. represented the tenant, while Norm Munoz (713-830-2136, [email protected]) of Colliers International represented the landlord.

Newland Communities (858-455-7305) has leased 10,181 square feet at Legacy Park office building (2352), a 48,000 square-foot, Class A building located at 10940 West Sam Houston Parkway North in the North Loop / Northwest Freeway sector (369Z). Adam Strauss (713-521-4218, [email protected]) of New Regional Planning represented the tenant, while Gloria Parrino (713-892-5015 ext. 224, [email protected]) Betz Commercial Brokerage represented the landlord.




http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=business%2Freal-estate&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Gloria+Parrino%22

http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=business%2Freal-estate&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Gloria+Parrino%22



RETAIL CENTERS Citywide occupancy for Houston area multi-tenant retail buildings is 90.37% (Regional = 92.0%; Community = 93.0%; Neighborhood = 87.5%; Strip = 91.2%), according to the O’Connor & Associates Fourth Quarter 2014 Houston Retail Data Program. Occupancy shows an increase of 0.19% over the Third Quarter of 2014. The citywide quarterly multi-tenant retail rental rate is $1.46 per square foot (Regional = $2.21; Community = $1.62; Neighborhood = $1.24; Strip = $1.27).

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Note: The retail centers listed herein are followed by their representative identification number as they appear in the new O’Connor & Associates RetailLink Online Data platform and are provided for subscriber cross-referencing. The property information contained within this database is updated on a monthly basis and accessible over the web. (Please contact us for more details.)

The following chart illustrates historical retail rental rates.

$1.35

$1.40

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$1.50

HOUSTON RETAIL RENTS ($/SF)

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Retail Sales

Baybrook LPC LLC, an entity of General Growth Properties Inc (Nick Nicolosi: 312-960-5000, [email protected]), has purchased Baybrook Mall - Dillard's (55791), a 317,000 square-foot single tenant building located at 600 Baybrook Mall in the Far Southeast sector (617V), from Dillard Texas East LLC, an entity of Dillards Inc (Marilyn Weaver: 501-376-5200, [email protected]). The 29-year-old property is fully leased.

Whitestone Williams Trace Shops LLC, an entity of Whitestone REIT (John Dee: 713-827-9595, [email protected]), has purchased Williams Trace Shopping Center (56889), a 128,000 square-foot single tenant building located at 3410 Highway 6 in the Far Southwest sector (608D), from HSMEP Williams Trace LP, an entity of Henry S. Miller (Chance Johnson: 972-419-4000, [email protected]). The 28-year-old property is fully leased.

Mosing Properties LP (Keith Mosing: 713-784-8145) has purchased Belt West Shopping Center (55824), a 52,000 square-foot strip center located at 10222 Westheimer Road in the Near West sector (489V), from Grace Presbyterian Church Houston (James Hunt: 713-781-7615). The 43-year-old property is fully leased.






In the month of November 2014, 62 retail centers were sold according to the monthly Commercial Deed Report. This represented an increase of 21.52%, when compared to October 2014. In terms of gross square feet, sales represented an increase of 66.69% over the previous month.

The following charts illustrate retail center sales in the Houston area:

86 8172

5361

111105

7966

5967

79

62

Retail Sales


Brazoria5%Fort Bend

3%

Harris87%

Montgomery5%


Retail Financing

Wells Fargo Bank NA has provided the following financing:

o $1.4 million for The Allen Center (2734), a 24,000 square-foot strip center located at 6719 Fairmont Parkway in the Far Southeast sector (578E). The borrower was Samm Investments LLC (Aiyaz Masani). The 14-year-old property is 88.24% occupied with average rents at $1.08 per square foot.

o $5.25 million for Lone Star Crossing Center (56890), a 16,000 square-foot strip center located at 27104 Northwest Freeway in the Far Northwest sector (366C). The borrower was MJ Grand Parkway LLC (Massoud Metghalchi: 713-975-7275). The one-year-old property is fully leased.

o $600,000 for Infinity Shopping Center/Tidwell Plaza (2939), a 14,000 square-foot strip center located at 712 Tidwell Road in the Near North sector (453E). The borrower was MAK Investments LLC (Barbara Marcinkowski). The nine-year-old property is 72.22% occupied with average rents at $1.20 per square foot.

CIBC Inc has provided $10.35 million in financing for Orleans Square (558), a 73,000 square-foot neighborhood center located at 18321 West Lake Houston Parkway in the Northeast sector (377D). The borrower was Orleans Square Shopping Center LP (Charles Veldekens: 936-273-5264). The seven-year-old property is 69.83% occupied with average rents at $1.55 per square foot.

Independent Bank (Jonathan Sparling: 972-562-3426, [email protected]) has provided $4.9 million in financing for 9099 Westheimer Rd (1649), a 32,000 square-foot strip center located at 9099 Westheimer Road in the Near West sector (490T). The borrower was Orangestone West LLC (Hussain Nathoo: 281-480-9607). The seven-year-old property is fully leased with average rents at $1.25 per square foot.

Retail Leases

Casanova Collezioni (713-779-8666) has renewed its lease of 7,336 square feet at Sharpstown Mall (1718), a 116,000 square-foot neighborhood center located at 7500 Bellaire Boulevard in the Southwest Freeway sector (530G), from Smith FLP Ltd. The 51-year-old property is 93.97% occupied with average rents at $18.00 per square foot. Julissa Rojas of Boxer Property represented the transaction.



Metro PCS has leased 1,125 square feet at Imperial Valley @ Bammel (3893), a 12,000 square-foot strip center located at 22424 Imperial Valley Drive in the Far North sector (332L), from International Bank of Commerce. The five-year-old property is fully leased with average rents at $158 per square foot. Jason Gaines (713-623-6944, [email protected]) of Hunington Properties represented the landlord.



INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES Citywide occupancy for Houston area operating multi-tenant industrial facilities is 92.97% (Bulk = 92.13%; Flex = 93.0%; Manufacturing = 96.36%, Service = 91.01%, Distribution = 89.81%, R&D = 99.76%), according to the O’Connor & Associates Fourth Quarter 2014 Houston Industrial Data Program. Occupancy increased by 0.19% over the last quarter and increased by 1.16% over the Fourth Quarter of 2013. The overall quarterly rental rate is $0.45 per square foot (Bulk = $0.40; Flex = $0.51; Manufacturing = $0.40; Service = $0.66; Distribution = $0.34; R&D = $0.70).

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Note: The industrial facilities listed herein are followed by their representative identification number as they appear in the O’Connor & Associates IndustrialLink Online Data platform and are provided for subscriber cross-referencing. The property information contained within this database is updated on a quarterly basis and accessible over the web. (Please contact us for more details.)

The following chart illustrates historical industrial rental rates.

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$0.44

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$0.48

HOUSTON INDUSTRIAL RENTS ($/SF)

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Industrial Sales

FMZ Holdings LLC (Mustakali Momin: 281-240-0542) has purchased 5055 S Loop E Fwy (3580), a 223,000 square-foot warehouse facility located at 5055 South Loop East Freeway in the Near South sector (533R), from Walhof Properties LLC, an entity of K2 Logistics (Christiaan Walhof). The 48-year-old property was vacant at the time of sale.

Beltway Park LLC (Jim Clayton: 312-465-1500, [email protected]) has purchased the following facilities in the Far Southwest sector (529U) , from DCT Bondesen - Beltway 8 - Rittiman LP, an entity of DCT Industrial Trust Inc (Matt Mitchell: 303-597-2400, [email protected]).

o Beltway 8 Business Park I, Bldg 4 (5790), a 207,000 square-foot office/warehouse facility located at 10501 Kipp Way. The 13-year-old property is fully leased.

o Beltway 8 Business Park I, Bldg 1 (6), a 51,000 square-foot service center located at 10110 West Sam Houston Parkway South. The 13-year-old property is fully leased with average rents at $0.75 per square foot.

Sovran Acquisition LP, an entity of Sovran Self Storage Inc (Paul Powell: 716-633-1850, [email protected]), has purchased 2870 Gessner Dr (39213), a 126,000 square-foot warehouse





facility located at 2870 Gessner Drive in the Near West sector (450J), from MNC Storage LLC, an entity of Metro National Corporation (Loc McNew: 713-973-6400, [email protected]). The seven-year-old property is fully occupied.

In the month of November 2014, 118 industrial properties were sold according to the monthly Commercial Deed Report. This represented a decrease of 11.94% compared to October 2014. In terms of gross square feet, sales represented a decrease of 13.65% when compared to the previous month.

The following chart illustrates industrial property sales in the Houston area:

91

134

92 8976 72

104

127

96 94 89

134118

Industrial Sales


Fortbend12%

Harris81%

Montgomery3%

Brazoria4%


Industrial Financing

Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company, an entity of Principal Financial Services Inc (Scholten Gary: 515-247-5111, [email protected]), has provided $20 million in financing for Sam Houston Business Park (38251), a 208,000 square-foot office/warehouse facility located at 8846 North Sam Houston Parkway West in Far Northwest sector (369Z). The borrower was Levey Group Fund 12 LLC, an entity of Levey Group (David Ebro: 713-772-1393, [email protected]). The one-year-old property is 94.65% occupied with average rents at $0.90 per square foot.

John Hancock Life Insurance Company, an entity of John Hancock Life Insurance Co (Joanne Adkins: 617-572-9904, [email protected]), has provided $9.5 million in financing for Corporate Centre Kirby I (19), a 108,000 square-foot service center located at 9300 Kirby Drive in the Near South sector (532Y). The borrower was Warehouse Associates Corporate Centre Kirby Ltd (Patrick Harrison: 713-461-9696). The 12-year-old property is 98.32% occupied with average rents at $1.75 per square foot.

C-lll Commercial Mortgage LLC, an entity of C-Ill Capital Partners LLC (John Lloyd: 972-868-5300, [email protected]), has provided $3.15 million in financing for AAA Storage (38654), a 76,000 square-foot mini warehouse facility located at 1705 Atascocita Road in the Far Northeast sector (376J). The borrower was PSI Atlantic Humble TX LLC (James Williams). The four-year-old property is fully occupied.







Industrial Leases

Iron Access (713-864-1229) has fully leased 3815 Hollister (3873), a 30,000 square-foot office/warehouse facility located at 3815 Hollister Drive in Near West sector (491Z), from Atlantic Service & Supply LLC. The 41-year-old property is now fully leased. Michael Hill represented the tenant, while Chase Cribbs (713-744-7424, [email protected]), Thomas Leger and Robert McGee of TNRG represented the landlord.



VACANT LAND Land Sales

Guy Farms Inc (Calvin Schultz: 979-793-6704) has purchased 323.65 acres located along Barak Road in Guy, Fort Bend County (721X), from Brittain H. Chapman (915-584-5739).

Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC, an entity of Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (Mark Cullifer, 281-765-7100, [email protected]), has purchased 290.35 acres located along East Sam Houston Parkway North in Houston, Harris County (416V), from DDD Partnership, an entity of Dean & Draper Insurance Agency LP (John Dunn Jr.: 713-527-0444, [email protected]).

Glomic Properties LLC (Elias Michalopoulos: 281-597-1282, [email protected]) has purchased 128 acres located at Becker Road in Hockley, Harris County (325A), from Delphine Zaboroski (Betty Helfrich: 281-255-2326).

In the month of November 2014, almost 4,944 acres of land were sold according to the monthly Commercial Deed Report. Sales represented a decrease of 34.68%, when compared to the previous month.

The following charts illustrate land sales in the Houston area:

3,8674,658

2,910

4,753

2,8632,297

4,466

6,1575,285

3,063

8,0637,569

4,944

Land Sales

Land Acres sold

Brazoria39%

Fort Bend26%

Harris25%

Montgomery10%






SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING MLS home sales decreased by 24.10% as 4,361 existing homes were sold in November 2014, compared to 5,746 homes sold in October 2014, according to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). Sales for November 2014 increased by 6.3% compared to November 2013. The median price of an existing single-family home sold November 2014 was $180,000, which represented an increase of 6.6% from last year. The average home sales price – $252,576 – represented a rise of 11.7% when compared to the corresponding value in October 2013.

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Note: MLS sales include primarily existing home sales throughout the Houston region. Historical comparisons are offered solely for informational purposes and may not truly reflect growth in sales.

According to American MetroStudy, net sales of new homes in the Greater Houston Area decreased by 5.58% in November 2014 to 1,558 from previous month, and increased by 9.41%, compared to November 2013. Realtor co-op sales represented around 59.12% of gross sales for the month, and are down 1.51% from November 2013. Traffic increased by 3.10% compared to last year to 15,112 in November 2014. The inventory of completed speculative homes (926) is up 17.36% from November last year. There are 3,384 spec homes under construction, an increase of 40.36% from November 2013. Overall, the 4,310 specs (both completed and under construction) increased by 34.68% compared to November 2013.

____________________ Note: the 23 homebuilders in this survey account for approximately 55% of housing starts in Houston.

The following chart illustrates historical existing home sales.

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HOUSTON MLS EXISTING HOME SALES

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Source: Houston Association of Realtors


PERMIT ISSUANCE The City of Houston issued permits to build 390 private single-family houses in November 2014. 40 permits were issued for private multifamily buildings. Demolition permits were issued for 80 private single-family houses and three for multifamily structures. In addition, 145 permits were issued for privately owned new non-residential construction totaling $172,461,599 and seven permits were issued for public non-residential construction. Additions, alterations, and conversions totaled $114,686,714 for the private sector and $17,110,675 for the public sector.

Cost of Construction*

2012 2013 2014

Month of November $493,602,879 $376,655,045 $557,585,813

Year-to-Date $4,499,744,692 $5,530,382,394 $8,045,289,136

*The figures in this section include all categories of buildings and non-building structures.

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SINGLE-FAMILY PERMITS

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Source: City of Houston Housing Statistics


ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL NEWS The total number of nonagricultural wage and salary jobs in the ten-county Houston area increased by 15,200 jobs to 2,939,700 in October 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This total is 103,645 jobs more than the 2,879,054 jobs in October 2013. Of the nonagricultural employers Trade, Transportation, and Utilities sector marked the largest growth over previous month adding 9,100 jobs. On a year-on-year basis, Education and Health Services sector recorded the largest growth compared to October 2013, the sector added 16,558 jobs.

The following chart illustrates non-agricultural employment in the Houston MSA.

249025402590264026902740279028402890294029903040

HOUSTON MSA NON-FARM EMPLOYMENT

Non-Farm Jobs

To

tal J

ob

s (

100

0s

)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

The Business Cycle Index (BCI) for Texas stood at a seasonally adjusted 212.5 in November 2014 while the BCI for the Houston metropolitan area stood at 302.9 in November 2014, according to the Federal Reserve. The Texas Leading Index posted 132.3 for the month of October 2014, an increase of 0.1 points over last month. The indexes represent broad movements in local Texas economies relative to a figure of 100 in 1987, the base year.

The Baker Hughes count of active domestic rotary rigs stands at 1,925 for November 2014. The current rig count is up 9.62% from last year’s figure of 1,756 rigs. The rotary rig count is a census of the number of drilling rigs actually exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States.


POTPOURRI The Architecture Billings Index, developed by the American Institute of Architects, stood at 50.9 for November 2014, a decrease of 2.8 points over the previous month (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). Both the project inquiries index and the inquiries for new projects score was 58.8, a decrease of 3.9 points over the previous month.

Volume 30 Number 01 January 2015 APARTMENTS · PDF fileGreystone Servicing Corporation Inc, an entity of Greystone & Co Inc (Mark Jarrell: 212-649-9700, [email protected]),

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