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A group led by San Antonio businessman Red McCombs has announced plans to build a Formula One racetrack near Austin. The track will be operational with a Grand Prix race in 2012, McCombs said at an Austin press conference Tuesday. The track developers have locked up 900 acres in the Elroy community, near FM 812 on the southeast side of Austin. A large portion of the land was designated at one time to be developed as the Wandering Creek community, according to a report by Shonda Novak of the Austin American-Statesman. Bobby Epstein of Austin-based Prophet Capital Management also is part of the racetrack development group.

RNR Headlines

July 28, 2010 - The CB Richard Ellis firm reported second quarter revenue of $1.2 billion, up 23 percent from the second quarter of 2009. Net income was $54.8 million, compared with a net loss of $6.6 million a year ago. ... ... ... ... ... ... .. The Raleigh, N.C.-based Highwoods Properties REIT acquired Crescent Center, a 336,000 sf, 9-story office building located in Memphis, Tenn. for $52.6 million. The building is 89.5 percent leased. ... ... ... ... ... Houston Sterling Court Senior Residence recently purchased from Rowlett Retail, LP, 6.9 acres on Minnesota Street just north of Almeda-Genoa in Houston, for the development of a seniors-only, multi-family complex. Darin Gosda of Betz Commercial Brokerage represented the buyer. ... ... ... ... ... .. Oak Ridge, an apartment complex in Oakdale, Calif., was sold for $2.6 million. For more details, please go to Multi-Family Magazine.

July 27, 2010 - Wonmore Ltd. will sell its remaining 35 units in the Endeavour Clear Lake condo project in the Clear Lake area, southeast of Houston. Chicago-based Chartwell Group will conduct the auction. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. Dallas-based developer LaSalle Group purchased 2.8 acres at 6327 Cypresswood Drive in Houston, according to Ron Dagley of Betz Group. The Autumn Leaves seniors facility will be built there. Jim Shaw with Indermuehle & Co. represented the buyer in the land sale. ... ... ... A 600-acre tract in northwest Houston has been sold for a proposed residential development, according to a report in the Houston Business Journal. The land, near the corner of Telge and Boudreaux roads, was purchased by the Caldwell Cos. A few years ago, the tract had been under development by Royce Homes, which had proposed to create 1,300 home sites there, the HBJ reported.

July 26, 2010 -The Betz Companies has sold 9 acres, located at West Road and Westland West Blvd, within Westland Business Park to Pro-Plastics. Ron Dagley with Betz Commercial Brokerage represented the seller. Steve Adkisson with National Realty Group represented the purchaser...... ..... ..... ... . . . Marcus & Millichap sold a 14,490-square foot Walgreens located in Kissimmee, Fla. for $5.6 million. Kissimmee is the site of the Houston Astros spring training facility. .... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. Woodbine Development Corp. is developing a 214-room Hyatt Place hotel in the Sugar Land area of Houston. Michael Gleeson will be general manager of the hotel.

July 22, 2010 - New York-based Phoenix Realty Group has paid $31.5 million to acquire three apartment projects in Southern California. The sale totalled 424 units purchased in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Phoenix Realty Group is actively pursuing acquisitions of multifamily properties in Southern California, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. For more details, please go to Multi-Family Magazine. ... ... .. ... ... ... ... ... Ritz-Carlton will open the world's tallest hotel, a 312-room property that will be located on floors 102 to 188 of the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong. ... ... ... ... ...

July 21, 2010 - Wedge Real Estate Holdings purchased the 539-unit Safe-Keeping Self Storage, 900 West NASA Parkway, in southeast Houston from Weiss Realty. The seller was represented by Aaron Swerdlin and Doug McCarron of HHF. ..... ... ... ... ... The 352-unit Broadstone Walker Commons apartments in League City, Texas has been purchased by Sunstone Realty Advisors. For more details, please go to Multi-Family Magazine.

July 20, 2010 - The 53-story Heritage Plaza office tower in downtown Houston is expected to bring approximately $300 million in a sale being organized by Eastdil Secured. The 1.2 million-square-foot building, 1111 Bagby in downtown, was completed in 1987 and is 80 percent leased. The building sold in 2005, when occupancy was much lower, for $130 million. Bernard Branca of CB Richard Ellis' capital markets group said institutional investors are now very receptive to investments in Houston's stable economy, a change from years past. “There are a lot of people bullish on Houston,” said Richard Rudd of Allied Advisors. For more click here: http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-19-10-houstons-300-million-skyscraper-the-for-sale-heritage-plaza-could-reach-that-ceiling/

July 19, 2010 -Dallas-based Stratford Land has purchased four prime properties on the Georgia coast from Sea Island Co., totaling more than 20,000 acres. Located one hour from Savannah, Ga. and Jacksonville, Fla., the properties are also surrounded by high-end resort and tourist destinations. Stratford Land focuses on acquiring properties in high-growth corridors in Texas, Arizona, southern California, Colorado, Tennessee and the eastern seaboard from Virginia to Florida.. ... ... ... Fort Bend County, Texas, near Houston, climbed to fifth on a national list of counties who experienced the most job growth over the past nine years, according to CNN/Money Magazine. The county experienced 55 percent job growth from 2000-2009.

July 18, 2010 - Through the first six months of 2010, Hillwood leased 2.6 million square feet at its AllianceTexas development in Fort Worth. That’s the highest lease total for the first half of a year in the development’s 21-year history..... ... ... ... ... ... Hines says prospective tenants have been looking at space in the new MainPlace in downtown Houston. The 46-story building will be complete in January. For the full story please go to http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-12-10-new-hines-building-adds-to-the-most-impressive-skyline-in-the-nation-yes-houstons/.

July 16, 2010 - Boxer Property bought 14405 Walters Road, a 10-story, 174,072 sf office building located in North Houston. Rudy Hubbard and Leah Gallagher of Transwestern represented the seller in the transaction, LNR Texas Partners. .... .... ... ... ... Taylor Morrison Homes purchased 1,200 lots in Crystal Falls, the largest master planned community in Austin. Joe Duncan of Duncan Commercial Properties represented the seller, The Lookout Group, the developer of the 5,000-acre project. ... ... ... ... ...

July 13, 2010Archstone has started construction on a 469-unit apartment project in Washington, DC. For more details, please go to Multi-Family Magazine. .. ... .... .... .. ... Richard Dias Construction Co. has begun to build homes in the Royal Oaks community in Rockport, Texas. .... .... ... ...... CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has been ranked the #1 commercial property management firm in the world, according to National Real Estate Investor, a magazine for professional real estate investors. CB Richard Ellis manages more than 2.5 billion sf of commercial property globally. ..

July 12, 2010 - A shareholder, Lyle Weisman of Weisman Group in Sherman Oaks, Calif. is calling for the publicly-held Thomas Properties Group to go private, according to a report by OKCReview.com. Thomas owns a number of properties in Texas........ ... ... .. ... .. Solera Holdings, which provides software and services to the auto insurance claims industry, is looking for a headquarters location in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to Relocation.com. The company, now in San Diego, seeks a place in the Central time zone, said company founder and CEO Tony Aquila. ..... ...... ..... ... ... ... ... ... American Lofts, a 40-unit 45,825-square foot luxury condominium high-rise in Philadelphia has been sold, says Marcus & Millichap. The sales price of $10.7 million represents $267,500 per unit and $233 per square foot.

Details in the Multi-Family Magazine

July 10, 2010 - Veteran Dallas commercial real estate executive Jesse Pruitt, who has been responsible for the development, management and leasing of more than 50 million square feet, has started his own company, Somervell Commercial Real Estate. Pruitt, who began with Vantage Cos. in 1974, most recently served as a principal with CMC-Commercial Realty Group in Dallas. He also was one of the four founders of the Dallas Real Estate Council. Pruitt represented Tulsa, Okla.-based Quik N Tasty Foods Inc., the parent company of QuikTrip convenience stores, in its purchase of a 316,000-sf distribution center in Midlothian, Texas.

July 9, 2010 - Jonathan Farb, grandson of apartment magnate Harold Farb, is developing a 185-unit apartment complex in the Midtown area of Houston. The City Place project, scheduled for completion in November, is located near the corner of McGowen and Bagby. Jonathan Farb has built 175 townhomes in Houston before launching his first large-scale multi-family project. Harold Farb, who died in 2006, developed almost 30,000 units in Houston over the years. For more details: http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-05-10-just-like-old-granddad-with-apartments-in-his-dna-jonathan-farb-takes-on-midtown/

July 7, 2010 - American Spectrum Realty purchased two office buildings in the 2600 block of Fountainview in Houston. The two buildings, containing a total of 125,000 sf, are across the street from American Spectrum's headquarters building. The buildings, 80 percent occupied, have an average rental rate of $12 per sf. American Spectrum, led by William J. Carden, controls a 2.9 million sf portfolio in California, Texas and other states.... ... ... ... ... . ... ... . ... .. .. .. ... ... ... ... NGP Fund V LLC purchased a portfolio of four South Florida office buildings for $95.1 million. The Miami office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) handled the sale. The portfolio totals 196,915 sf and is fully occupied by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under 15-year firm term leases through the GSA.

July 5, 2010 - Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has acquired the 422-room Buckhead Atlanta for $105 million. InterContinental Hotel Group PLC sold the Atlanta hotel. ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Hines Global REIT and Moorfield, the UK real estate private equity investor and fund manager, have contracted to buy Brindleyplace in Birmingham, England, from The Brindleyplace Limited Partnership. The properties consist of five prime office buildings including ground-floor retail, restaurant and theatre space, and a 903-space garage. ... ... .... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ... .... ... Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has brokered the sale of a 171,069-sf Lowe’s store in Shippensburg, Pa. The sales price of $17,550,000 represents $103 a square foot.

July 1, 2010 - Cornerstone Market, 17,800-sf retail center in Westlake Hills, a suburb of Austin, a sale handled by George Cushing, Wendy Vandeventer and Benjamin Kogut of Grubb & Ellis, along with Sean Quinn of The Quinn Co. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... Access Self Storage sold its 85,125-sf self storage facility located at 2115 FM 1960 in Humble, Texas to WEDGE Real Estate Holdings, owner/operator of 20 storage facilities under trade names Stor-A-Way and US Storage in Houston, Austin and Dallas. Grubb & Ellis’ Steve Mellon and Joshua Jacobs of Page Partners negotiated. ... ... ... ... ... ... Mountain Real Estate Capital, a Charlotte, N.C.-based firm led by Ed Burr, has partnered with Greenpointe Communities to buy the Cedar Bay residential community in Jacksonville, Fla. Mountain Real Estate has an active acquisition program.

June 30, 2010 - Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II has acquired Livingston Medical Arts Pavilion, a two-story, 30,000-sf, multi-tenant medical office building in Livingston, Texas. Livingston Medical Office Building was acquired from McShane Development, represented by Toby Scrivner and Jeff Matulis of Stan Johnson Co.... ...... .... ...... ... ...... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Corporate Office Properties Trust bought a office building containing 152,000 sf known as the Rappahannock Building in Tysons Corner, Virginia for $40 million. The six-story office building is 100% leased to The MITRE Corporation...... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF), served as the exclusive financial advisor to iStar Financial Inc. in the sale of a nationwide portfolio of 32 corporate tenant-leased properties,, totaling 11.3 million sf of office and industrial space. Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust, Inc. purchased the portfolio for $1.35 billion.

June 29, 2010 - The Sutherland Asbill & Brennan law firm leased 41,000 sf in First City Tower, 1001 Fannin in downtown Houston. Chip Colvill and Michael Anderson of Colvill Office Properties represented the landlord, FC Tower Property Partners, an affiliate of JMB Realty. Kevin Snodgrass of Cushman & Wakefield represented Sutherland. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... GTG Holdings bought a 67,000 sf industrial building at 13202 Murphy Road in the Houston area. Clay Peeples, SIOR & Bo Pettit of Boyd Commercial represented the seller. Jack Baber of Lexington Associates represented the buyer. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... CB Richard Ellis is the highest-ranked commercial real estate services company in Engineering News-Record’s 2010 list of the largest construction management firms. In a list led by major engineering firms, CBRE is ranked No. 9 overall in construction management. ... .... .... .... ... ... ... ... Gulfeagle Supply Co. leased a 40,000 sf building on Royal Avenue in Oklahoma City from Scott Investment Corp. Dan Spika of Henry S. Miller Brokerage and Gerald Gamble Co. negotiated the deal.

June 28, 2010 - DGM USA Houston, which specializes in the safe and secure transport of dangerous goods, will build a new warehouse/distribution facility. The 68,000 sf facility will be constructed by Urban Construction Southwest on a 6.5-acre tract located in north Houston at 1813 Greens Road. Glynn Mireles of CB Richard Ellis handled the deal.

June 25, 2010 - Hines announces UniCredit, a major international financial institution, has agreed to lease space for its headquarters in the Porta Nuova, a major mixed-use development under construction in Milan, Italy. The Porta Nuova project will have a large amount of office space, 400 residential units, a hotel, and 400,000 sf of retail. ... ... ... ... An affiliate of Dallas-based Realty Capital Partners invested $2.2 million to acquire River View Medical Center—a 75,000 sf professional medical office building in Lancaster, Ohio. ... ... ... ... ...

June 23, 2010 -The Sacramento office of Hines and New York-based Sterling American Property Inc., joint owners of 300 Capitol Mall in Sacramento, announced that the property has received LEED Gold certification. ........ A significant amount of retail leasing has been announced in Houston. For details please go to Leasing Briefs.

June 22, 2010 -Boxer Property acquired 9950 Westpark and 10333 Harwin in Houston. Combined, both office properties represent nearly 260,000 sf. The seller was represented by Robert Williamson and Dan Miller of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler. This year alone, Boxer has acquired over 1.4 million sf of office and has been awarded leasing and management assignments from other property owners in excess of 1.5 million sf across the United States. Boxer Property was founded by Andrew J. Segal in 1992 and has acquired over 114 buildings during the past 18 years now managing and leasing over 12 million sf.

June 21, 2010 - Archstone has entered into a joint venture agreement with Bluerock Real Estate, LLC to complete the development of 256-unit Archstone Tech Ridge apartments. US Bank is providing financing for construction and lease-up. “The City of Austin has proven to be a solid model of economic growth for the State of Texas and the entire country,” said Neil Brown, Archstone’s executive vice president. .... ... ... ... ... ... Kimco Realty Corp. will partner with BIG Shopping Centers, an Israeli publicly traded company, in a new joint venture to acquire a portfolio of 15 neighborhood and community shopping centers for approximately $422 million including $385 million in mortgage debt. The properties are currently owned by a joint venture of an institutional investor and Kimco. The portfolio, which comprises approximately 2.6 million sf, is primarily located on the West Coast..... ... ... ... Hines Global REIT has acquired 17600 Gillette from AJ Irvine Owner Corp. The two-story office building is located in the Orange County Airport area of Irvine, CA.

June 20, 2010 -The historic Sir Francis Drake hotel in San Francisco has been sold for $90 million. Constructed in 1928, the iconic 23-story hotel 416 rooms. The hotel is located on Union Square, San Francisco's popular retail section that is a major tourist attraction. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust purchased the hotel from a partnership led by The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC

June 15, 2010 -The UCLA Anderson Forecast makes the case for a tepid recovery from the national recession, with unemployment levels slowly declining. In a report titled, “A Homeless Recovery,” UCLA Anderson Forecast Director Edward Leamer notes that while expansive, free-spending consumers fueled past economic recoveries, today’s “frugal consumers” cannot be counted on to power a strong recovery for the foreseeable future. “If the next year is going to bring exceptional growth,” Leamer writes, “consumers will need to express their optimism in the way that really counts – buying homes and cars. And that is not going to happen if businesses continue to express their pessimism in the way that really counts – by not hiring workers.” ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Inland Real Estate Acquisitions announced the $67 million acquisition of two shopping centers. Draper Crossing in Draper, Utah, a 166,845-sf grocery-anchored shopping center, was purchased for $23.5 million. Regal Court in Shreveport, La. a 343,457-sf shopping center anchored by JC Penney, was acquired for $43.5 million.

June 14, 2010 - The nation's hotel sales are up 124 percent in 2010, according to OKCReview.com. Quoting the Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, FocusOn: Market Equilibrium Leading to Opportunities for Hotel Buyers and Sellers, the web site noted hotel transaction volume totaled $1.8 billion through May 2010, up 124 percent over the the comparable five-month period of last year. Hotels are selling at a big discount to replacement costs. And hotel construction is down, meaning the supply of new rooms is not a big problem.

June 11, 2010 - The occupancy rate for the Dallas/Fort Worth office market has dropped to its lowest level in six years, according to DFWRealSmart.com. George Roddy, Sr., President of DFWRealSmart.com, said: “Just 74 percent of the multi-tenant office space in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro was occupied at the close of the first quarter of 2010. This was the lowest level for first quarter office occupancy in six years.” A year ago, the D/FW occupancy rate was 77 percent. The last time office occupancy dipped below 75% was in the First Quarter of 2004.

June 9, 2010 - Developers of Port Crossing Commerce Center selected Colliers International for the leasing and marketing of the 300-acre logistics industrial business park located in La Porte, Texas. Port Crossing Commerce Center will consist of buildings ranging in size from 55,000 to 413,000 sf. Upon completion, Port Crossing Commerce Center will total 4 million sf of new, state-of-the-art industrial facilities.Michael J. Taetz, Gary A. Mabray and Jason Dillee of Colliers International are the marketing agents for the park. ... ... ... ... Hendricks & Partners handled the sale of the 370-unit University Heights apartments on Burton Drive in Austin. The buyer was Post Investment Group of Los Angeles

June 5, 2010 - Angel/McIver Interests of Conroe has sold Houston's 104-acre former AstroWorld to the Mallick Group of Fort Worth, which plans to redevelop the site…. …. ….Beazer Homes USA Inc. has bought 93 lots in the Settlement, a master-planned residential community in the 2,200-acre Craig Ranch in North Texas. Ground will break in 30 to 45 days on the builder's new designs…. ….. ….Grubb & Ellis has hired Douglas Haney and Eduardo Alegre to lead Grubb & Ellis Landauer Appraisal & Valuation. The new division plans to secure a presence in all key markets by year's end...... ... ... Hines announced that its MainPlace tower in downtown Houston has topped out. The 46-story, 972,000-sf office building is scheduled to open in January 2011. D.E. Harvey Builder is general contractor. The KPMG firm has leased four floors in the building, according to Stewart Robinson, director of leasing on the project for Hines. Jon Pickard of Pickard Chilton is architect for the project, 811 Main St.

June 2, 2010 - Houston-based Boxer Property, a firm led by Andrew Segal, has acquired Executive Center II and III on the LBJ Freeway in Dallas. The buildings have a combined total of 383,000 sf. Since founded the company in 1992, Segal has purchased 112 office buildings. ...... ... ... ... Chris Pollard of LMI Capital arranged $1,688,000 in debt for the refinance of Windsor Park Apartments, a 80 unit multifamily project located in Victoria, Texas. The owner of the apartments is WPVT, LLC.... ... ... .. CB Richard Ellis has negotiated the bulk sale of 238 multifamily units at Sonterra at Williams Center, a fractured condominium project in Tucson. The buyer is Holualoa Cos. Built in 1995 as a rental community, Sonterra at Williams Center was converted to for-sale condos in 2005. Just over thirty percent of the 344 condominiums built were sold.

Lease or Buy? Buying a home is not always the best solution. A number of excellent rent vs. buy calculators are available online. For the full debate: http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/06-28-10-how-the-other-half-lives-the-renting-vs-buying-debate-heats-up-and-the-correct-answer-surprises/

May 28, 2010 -Behringer Harvard purchased of 7166 at Belmar, a mid-rise multifamily community providing 308 apartment homes in Lakewood, Colo., seven miles west of downtown Denver. .... ... ... ... .. ... R.A. Properties, Inc. acquired 15.156 acres on Randol Mill Road just east of East Loop 820 in Fort Worth, according to Stream Realty Partners. ... ... .. The Commons at Presidio Square, a 189,340-sf, H-E-B grocery-anchored shopping center in west Houston, has been purchased by North American Development Group, a Canadian-based real estate firm. HFF senior managing director Rusty Tamlyn and HFF real estate analyst Trent Agnew worked on behalf of l the seller, Camden Securities. The Commons at Presidio Square is situated on 22.5-acres at the intersection of Highway 6 and Bellaire Boulevard in west Houston. The shopping center is 90 percent leased. “The Commons at Presidio Square’s five mile primary trade radius has a population of approximately 300,000, which is expected to grow by more than 12 percent over the next five years,” said Tamlyn.

May 25, 2010 -Hines has sold the 600 Lexington building in New York to SL Green Corp. for $193 million. The building is a 36-story 303,515-sf office tower located on the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 52nd Street. The seller, a subsidiary of the Hines U.S. Core Office Fund LP, was represented by CB Richard Ellis. SL Green was represented by Greenberg Traurig, LLP. The property was acquired by the Hines Core Fund in 2003 for $91 million. The building is 93 percent leased to tenants including: Alvarez & Marsal, MKP Capital Management LLC, and Brencourt Advisors, LLC.

May 24, 2010 - Equity One has agreed to acquire Capital and Counties USA in a deal valued at $600 million. The deal, which includes 15 California shopping centers totalling 2.6 million sf in California, is structured as a join venture with Capital and Counties parent company, Capital Shopping Centres Group..... ... ... ... ... LEGO Systems, the toy maker, has leased 600,000 sf of warehouse space in Hillwood's Alliance project in Fort Worth. LEGO will be relocating from a smaller building it already has in Alliance. .... ... ... Tishman Speyer announced that Accenture has signed a 68,000-square-foot lease agreement with expansion and extension options at WaveRock, a Class A office development in Hyderabad, India.....

May 20, 2010 - Property Development Centers, a subsidiary of Safeway, nearly 61 acres in the Lake Travis area of Austin, Texas to develop a 163,027 sf mixed use shopping center, anchored by a Randalls supermarket at the southwest corner of RM Highway 620 and Quinlan Park Road in Austin. ... ... .... ... . Constructive Ventures Inc. of Austin and Trammell Crow plan to build 425 high-rise condominiums on the 1.7-acre home of Austin Energy Control Center. ... ... In La Porte, Texas, Air Liquide broke ground for construction for a hydrogen plant that will serve industrial clients on the Texas Gulf Coast.

May 19, 2010 - Holliday Fenoglio Fowler is marketing a 16-building, 2 million sf portfolio of Oklahoma industrial buildings for Gardner Tanenbaum Group, a developer based in Oklahoma City. ... ... ... Hendricks & Partners negotiated the sale of the Peachtree Village and Peachwood apartments in Fairfield, Calif. -- a total of 109 units that sold for $8.8 million..... .... ... Hillwood, a Perot company, has sold off five parcel of land in the Las Vegas area to a joint venture between Ridgewood Real Estate Partners and Angelo, Gordon & Co. This sale represents more than 1,800 residential lots and land that is already zoned for 759 multifamily units, plus approximately 10 acres for commercial use. Michael Stuart of Colliers represented Hillwood.

May 18, 2010 - A Hendricks & Partners' team sells the 264-unit Hills in West Fort Worth. Details in the Multi-Family Magazine…. ….VERUS Real Estate Advisors has been retained by Landcore Development to lease Timbercreek Medical Park, a four-building project with 120,000 sf of class A space in Flower Mound. The new project abuts Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital…. …..The People Blog features SCM's new portfolio manager.

May 14, 2010 - Dallas/Fort Worth Leasing features the completion of nine deals for retail, office and industrial space in the metroplex. ..... ... ... UPDATE: The Mansion Market - Sales of upscale homes are rising in Houston.

http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/05-10-10-cash-for-chandeliers-houstons-mansion-market-is-booming/

May 13, 2010 - Transwestern is expanding its Houston area multifamily services group with the addition of Ed Cummins, senior vice president; Clint Duncan, senior associate; and Lupe Olivares, senior financial analyst. ..... ... ... ... ... ProLogis has signed three build-to-suit agreements in Europe, totaling 1.7 million sf. ........ ....HHF has arranged $1.8 million in financing for the acquisition of 27 units at Liberty Lofts, a fractured condominium development in Kansas City, Mo. The building was built in 1904.... ... ... CBRE launched a real estate auction service in the United States. This new service expands the company's capabilities for assisting lenders, investors and users in the disposition of commercial real estate assets. Doug Johnson and Paul Galanis will lead this initiative..... ...... .....Two hires and one promotion from Transwestern and Bradford lead the People Blog.

May 12, 2010 - United Surgical Partners International expands and extends its lease in the Colonnade III. The 82,706-sf lease leads Dallas/Fort Worth Leasing news, which also spotlights Regency's new tenant at Prestonwood Park…. …..Dallas/Fort Worth news features a local investor's purchase of the Boca Bargoons' building in Plano.

May 10, 2010 - Dallas/Fort Worth news features SNG Realty's 1.2-acre purchase in Tarrant County…. …..In Dallas/Fort Worth Leasing, Vintage Interests gets a full-building tenant for an industrial holding in Luna Business Park.

May 7, 2010 - The People Bog spotlights hires by SCM Real Estate, Grubb & Ellis and CBRE…. …..Dallas/Fort Worth Leasing showcases 73,997 sf of leases in North Texas…. ….Mohr Partners snags a new corporate account, Solis Women's Health, while Trademark Property Co. takes a Fort Worth project off the backburner. Dallas/Fort Worth news has the news.

May 6, 2010 - BioMed Realty Trust purchased a five-building, 217,983-sf, office/laboratory campus plus adjacent land parcel in Rockville, Maryland from J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). the property from JCVI for $53 million. JCVI is leasing back the entire campus. BioMed was represented by HHF.... ... ... ... ... Construction of a 400,000-square-foot office building on Half Street in Washington, DC has resumed after sitting idle for almost a year, according to Douglas Wilson Cos., the receiver of the property. The prior developer had financial difficulties.

May 5, 2010 - In Dallas/Fort Worth Leasing, LG Electronics takes over the entire 165,402-sf Commerce Center 4 in Hillwood's AllianceTexas while dealmakers all across the metro finalize 23 leases totaling 86,426 sf…. …..The People Blog features StarPoint Commercial Properties' promotions in Dallas and Los Angeles. Also, Grubb & Ellis creates a new position for a veteran broker. ... ... ... ... .. Waterton Residential purchased a large midrise apartment project in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. See: Multi-Family Magazine for details...

May 4, 2010 - Marcus & Millichap announced the sale of The Madison, a 90-unit apartment project in Rancho Palo Verdes, Calif. for $22.8 million or $254,033 per unit. The buyer was Alliance Residential of Phoenix.. ...... ... ... Grubb & Ellis announced that Richard W. Pehlke has stepped down as executive vice president and chief financial officer effective May 3. Pehlke will remain a consultant to the firm until the end of the year. .... ... ... ... .. .. CBRE handled some large industrial leases for New Jersey-based AS America, Inc. d/b/a/ American Standard Brands, a leading North American manufacturer of bath and kitchen products. For more details please go to Leasing Briefs.

May 3, 2010 - Year-to-date commercial foreclosure postings in Bexar County (San Antonio) are up 17 percent over the 2009 pace, according to Foreclosure Listing Service. The firm reported 393 postings were filed on commercial properties compared to 336 for this same five-month period last year. ... ... ... ... Houston’s office market closed the first quarter of 2010 with a vacancy rate of 16.8 percent, up 50 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Grubb& Ellis.

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Web site editor Ralph Bivins "has extensive print journalism experience in the real estate field, and it shows.”-- Judges' comments

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PLEASE Click below for more daily blogging archives

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Houston Association of Realtors:

Bob Hale, president and CEO of the Houston Association of Realtors, has been getting a lot of recognition in the media. Hale was recently named one of the most influential people in the nation's real estate business by Inman News. Hale's leadership of the association's web site, HAR.com, also received notice in the Houston Chronicle. HAR's web site offers listings in English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Italian. An amazing 77 percent of home buyers now use the Internet to find a home. HAR.com had 3.7 million visitor sessions in July alone. For the month, people spent a total of 60 million minutes looking at real estate listings on HAR.com. The Houston association's web site is one of the best in the nation - it has won three national "best web site" awards. The Houston real estate community has a lot to brag about because it is sort of the Silicon Valley of real estate on the Internet. To read the Houston Chronicle story please go to www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4156006.html

RealtyNewsReport.com

RealtyNewsReport.com covers Texas and the Nation

Led by veteran Journalist Ralph Bivins, RealtyNews Report provides insights and items to prepare you for the changing marketplace.

Mayor Bill White

Endorsed for

Texas Governor

Bill White, former Houston

mayor, is running for governor

of Texas as a Democrat. White

will face incumbent

Gov. Rick Perry.

White has been praised

for many accomplishments,

including his management

of handling the influx of

300,000 evacuees into

Houston following the Hurricane

Katrina.

Editor's Opinion: Bill White

is a phenomenal leader and

would be an outstanding

governor for Texas.

RealtyNewsReport.com Editor Ralph

Bivins with Houston Mayor Bill White.

Stanford Building

Under Contract

Stanford Financial's

three story office building in

Houston is under

contract to be sold for

$12.2 million.

The building, 5050 Westheimer,

is located across the street

from the Galleria center.

The sale is being handled

by CB Richard Ellis on behalf

of a court appointed receiver.

The former chairman of the

firm, Robert Allen Stanford,

has been charged in connection

with a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.

REIT Buys

Hawaii Office

for $232 Million

Douglas Emmett, Inc.,

has acquired Bishop Square,

an office project containing

960,000 sf in downtown

Honolulu, Hawaii for

$232 million, or

$242 per sf.

The project, which is

91 percent leased,

consists of two Class A

towers of 28 and 30 stories.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based

Douglas Emmett now owns

36 percent of the office

space in Honolulu.

Hines & Crescent

Sell Orange Co.

Asset to Kilroy

for $103 Million

Hines and Crescent

Real Estate Equities

have sold their

2211 Michelson office building,

located in the heart of the Irvine

Business Complex in

Orange County, Calif. to

Los Angeles-based

Kilroy Realty Corp. for

$103.2 million.

The 12-story, 271,556-sf

office building was

developed by Hines in 2007.

It is 95 percent leased.

Eastdil Secured represented

Hines and Crescent.

Hines to Sell

60 Story Chicago

Tower for $625 Mil

Hines is selling a

60-story building

in Chicago for $625

million, according to

Crain's Chicago Business.

KBS Realty Advisors

is paying $480 per sf for

the 300 North LaSalle

building, Crain's said.

The deal would be the

largest transaction in

Chicago since Sears Tower

sold in 2004 for $840

million.

Finger Signs

Grocer to

Downtown Tower

Downtown Houston

is getting a new specialty

grocer.

Phoenicia Specialty Foods,

a Houston-based firm,

leased 28,000 sf on

the ground floor of

One Park Place, the

residential high-rise

owned by Finger Cos.

Phoenicia will have

a restaurant at the

downtown location,

which will open in

December.

Hines Moves on

Dirt in Las Colinas

Hines and GoldenTree

Insite Partners have purchased

24 acres of residential

land in the Las Colinas

project in the Dallas suburb

of Irving.

The site will be developed

as the Villas at Emerald

Park, a community with

92 homes.

The lots have been

pre-sold to Meritage Homes

for delivery beginning

in January 2011.

Houston'sTop

Selling Realtor

Leaves Re/Max

... He Sold

779 Homes

Last Year

Joe Rothchild, the

most prolific Realtor

in Houston, has left Re/Max

to join Keller Williams.

Rothchild and his team

closed 779 transactions

last year with total volume

of $155 million.

Rothchild was ranked

No. 1 in Houston last year,

according to the Houston

Business Journal.

Rothchild and his team

ranked as the top-selling

Re/Max team in the world

on three occasions.

Green Retires

From Top Slot

at M&M

Harvey E. Green has

retired from his position

as president and CEO

of Palo Alto, Calif.-based

Marcus & Millichap.

Green had been with

the brokerage and investment

firm since 1981.

Green will assist in

selecting his replacement,

said company founder

George M. Marcus. The

firm has 76 offices and

1,200 agents.

HomeAway Launches

Web Site to Sell

Vacation Homes

Austin-based HomeAway

has launched

HomeAway Real Estate,

the first online marketplace

dedicated to buying,

selling and identifying

vacation homes with

rental potential.

With more than 200,000

vacation homes for sale

on the site, HomeAway

Real Estate offers an

expansive marketplace

of vacation homes for sale.

The National Association

of Realtors recently

announced vacation

home sales are up

8 percent.

C &W Moves

to Downtown

Dallas Offices

Cushman & Wakefield,

one of the largest

commercial real

estate firms, will

relocate its Dallas

branch office to

Downtown Dallas.

The company has

leased 24,000 sf

in Rosewood Court

in downtown.

“2010 is certainly

starting out as a

great year for

Downtown,” said

John F. Crawford,

President & CEO

of Downtown

Dallas, Inc.

Hawaii Realty:

Better Market

In the Pipeline

Real estate prices

appear to have hit bottom

in Hawaii, according to

the Prudential Locations

firm.

Despite a soft economic

climate in 2009, home

prices on Oahu had

relatively small declines,

a 7.2 percent for single-family

homes and 6.2 percent

for condominiums, Prudential

reported.

National Association

of Realtors lists

Honolulu as the highest-priced

real estate in the country, now

surpassing declining markets

in San Diego, Orange County

and San Francisco.

The median price for a

single-family home in Honolulu

in February was $570,000,

the Honolulu Board of

Realtors reported.

A Lot of Java

Move over, Starbucks. A

truly large-scale coffee

deal has been brewed

in Houston.

Cadeco Industries

Inc., a leading provider

of raw coffees,

leased 154,114 sf

industrial space at

the Lockwood Distribution

Center near Loop 610 in

east Houston.

Representatives of

Grubb & Ellis and

InSite Realty Partners

handled the lease.

The warehouse will

be used for storage of

raw coffee..

Beacon Buys

Office in Houston's

Energy Corridor

Beacon Investment LLC

has purchased Timberway II,

in west Houston's Energy

Corridor.

The 131,000 sf building, is

located at 15995 North Barkers

Landing, adjacent to

BP’s North American

headquarters.

Dan Miller, Martin Hogan

and Trent Agnew, all of HFF,

represented the seller, PS

Business Parks, a

publicly-traded firm.

HFF's Susan Miller arranged

financing for the purchase

though First Community

Credit Union.

Beacon, based in

Hallandale Beach, Fla.,

has purchased three

properties in Houston.

Westway Office

Tower Sold in

Houston 1031 Deal

The 210,000 sf

Cameron International

office building in West

Houston has been sold

to Potamkin Automotive

in a 1031 exchange.

The 9-story building,

completed in 2001, is

located at 4646 West Sam

Houston Parkway in the

Westway Park business

park.

The seller, Beltway

Assets LLC, was

represented by Robert

Williamson, Jeff Holliden

and Barbara Guffey, all

of HFF.

Chase Building

in Downtown

Houston Sold in

$200 Million Deal

Brookfield Asset

Management

has purchased

2.9 million sf of

properties, including

the historic Chase

building in downtown

Houston, from

JPMorgan Chase for

$200 million.

The deal includes

the 800,000 sf Chase

building at 712 Main St.

in downtown Houston.

The 36-story building,

completed in 1929,

was the headquarters

of Texas Commerce

Bank years ago.

The sale also includes

buildings in Tampa,

Dallas, Columbus, Ohio

New Jersey.

Chase bank will lease

back about 60 percent

of the space.

Mayor White

Running for

Texas Governor

Mayor Bill White of Houston

has announced his

plans to run for governor

of Texas as a Democrat. White,

who has served as Houston

mayor since 2004, will

face incumbent Gov. Rick

Perry.

White has been praised

for many accomplishments,

including his management

of handling the influx of

300,000 evacuees into

Houston following the Hurricane

Katrina.

Editor's Opinion: Bill White

is a phenomenal leader and

would be an outstanding

governor for Texas.

RealtyNewsReport.com Editor Ralph

Bivins with Houston Mayor Bill White.

RealtyNewsReport.com

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this honor. RealtyNewsReport.com

and Candy Evans' Dallas Dirt

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Last Updated: July 28, 2010