Swamplot Archives by Category: Leasing

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Coming Migration of the Buffalo Grille?

February 24, 2010 – 9:14 am
   

Is the Buffalo Grille, left as the lone strip-center survivor at the corner of Bissonnet and Buffalo Speedway after the recent invasion of the new H-E-B Buffalo Market, looking to shuffle off to a new location? An H-E-B representative did tell the West U city council the restaurant would stay where it’s been for the last 26 years — but that was last May. More recently, restaurant co-owner Mac McAleer says H-E-B managers have “expressed concerns” about there not being enough parking for the grocery store. So he’s looking into a possible new location for the West U breakfast joint — namely, a portion of the former JMH Market less than a mile to the southwest, at the corner of Edloe and Rice Blvd. “McAleer said the restaurant has not received official word from the grocery store about what will happen in April 2011 when its lease expires. There’s still the chance that The Buffalo Grille will stay put, but the family is exploring all its options . . . ‘They’re worried some of our customers are taking their spots, and their customers are going over to Kroger, which is obviously their biggest competitor,’ he said.” [Instant News West U; previously on Swamplot]

9:14 am | Add a Comment | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Leasing, Neighborhoods: West University, Parking, Quicklink, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers
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Monday, February 22, 2010

Matthew Dilick: Wilshire Village Residents Were Just “Squatters”

February 22, 2010 – 4:49 pm

Did Matthew Dilick, managing partner of the partnership that owns the 7.68-acre site of the former Wilshire Village Apartments, really refer to the long-term tenants of the long-neglected property at the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy — many of whom had lived in their apartments and paid rent for decades before they were evicted last year — as “squatters”?

In a February 1st affidavit he provided to the 133rd District Court in hopes it might help forestall Wedge Real Estate Finance from foreclosing on the property, Dilick states that “the Plaintiff [Alabama & Dunlavy Ltd., of which Dilick is the general partner] expended considerable time and expense in evicting squatters on the Property.” This just a page or so after declaring his qualifications: “The Plaintiff and/or limited partners of the Plaintiff have owned this Property for over 50 years.”

Gosh, maybe there’s a bit of confusion here? Maybe the “squatters” Dilick is referring to weren’t the actual long-term rent-paying Wilshire Village residents, but some other people he found hiding out in the complex who didn’t have authorization to be there from “the Plaintiff and/or limited partners of the Plaintiff”?

Uh . . . no. By “squatters,” Dilick clearly means Wilshire Village’s long-term residents. The ones he sent eviction notices to; the ones he addressed as “reported occupants” in the release forms he asked them to sign. Otherwise, why should it have taken “considerable time and expense” for Dilick to evict them? How about just . . . “shoo!”?

Neatly left out of the affidavit: The apparent ongoing conflicts Dilick had with Jay Cohen, the sole owner of the property for the bulk of those 50 years. Until they were evicted, the tenants paid their rent to him every month. What’s Cohen’s role?

A person familiar with the situation writes in:

Continue Reading This Story >

4:49 pm | 15 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Foreclosures, Leasing, Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Lancaster Place
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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Dressing Up Those Little Montrose Drive-Ups

February 18, 2010 – 1:28 pm

Vespa-riding Montrosian Brittanie Holland is curious about two retail buildings in her ’hood recently dressed up for lease:

We live in the northeast part of the Montrose. I was sad when the Hyde Park Supermarket shut down (across from Ziggy’s on Taft and Fairview) because they sold St. Arnold’s and Mexican Coke and were within walking distance. Plus the Pakistani (?) guys who worked there were so nice and knew me by name. Back when Ziggy’s was BYOB having the store there was, well, convenient.

The building has been vacant since summer but over the past few months workers have painstakingly removed all the original brick, refurbished the structure and the rebricked it with most of the original brick. It’s kind of an interesting mid-century building — it looks like it might once have been a garage, and there is a sign for business lease outside but I can’t believe the owners would do all that refurbishing without a [tenant] in mind. This is right down the street from Boheme and the new Deans, and has ample parking, so maybe they’re hoping to draw some similar high-brow ventures? Is Midtown continuing it’s fast encroachment on my filthy Montrose? (We’ll always have Lola’s. Hopefully.)

The other building probably needed a much more extensive cleaning:

Continue Reading This Story >

1:28 pm | 7 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Avondale, Neighborhoods: East Montrose, Neighborhoods: Montrose, Renovations, Retail
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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Suburban Commercial Real Estate Bust Is Kiddie Paradise

February 9, 2010 – 10:24 am
   

“With the tens of millions of square feet of vacant commercial real estate lining our roadways out in the ‘burbs, I am seeing a glut of “bounce houses.” Combine free or reduced rents, low start-up costs and thousands of laid-off middle and upper management types reaching career endpoints due to layoffs, I think we are experiencing a new economic bubble.” [Lou Minatti] Photo: Monkey Joe’s

10:24 am | 1 Comment | Read more about Leasing, Quicklink, Retail
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Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Empty Dome of St. Agnes: Bank Shuts Down a Houston Megachurch

February 4, 2010 – 11:13 am

Private security guards were stationed outside the premises of the St. Agnes Missionary Baptist Church south of the Loop yesterday, and an attorney for the bank that owns the property confirms to Fox 26 reporter Isiah Carey that the church has closed. The guards were originally under orders from Herring Bank not to allow anyone to enter or remove any furniture or equipment from the church building off Scott St. near Sims Bayou. However, bank attorney Dwight Jefferson told Carey late last night that

church workers have been given approval by the bank to remove certain personal items and belongings from the building. Just to make sure that’s all they take security guards outside the building are also video taping all activities.

What’s all the fuss?

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11:13 am | 6 Comments | Read more about Churches, Foreclosures, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Southeast Houston, Openings and Closings
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Friday, January 8, 2010

Houston Real Estate Downturn: Great for Strip Centers and Fast Food Joints

January 8, 2010 – 4:27 pm
   

Who’s benefiting from Houston’s not-so-go-go commercial real estate market? “‘Cell phone stores are still doing well, and still want to open up new stores,’ [Riverway Retail retail broker Jake] Baker points out. ‘We’re also seeing companies like Edward Jones looking for, and getting good retail space.’ Edward Jones? Well, yes. ‘When you start to see your bank account shrinking, you want to start being conservative with your money,’ Baker says. ‘This is an ideal place for the Edward Joneses to expand and take a lot of retail space.’ Baker and [Weitzman Group senior VP James] Namken say that another category of tenant expansion is the franchisee. ‘With the economy so poor, people have been laid off, and are interested in starting their own businesses,’ Namken explains. ‘Many of them want to become franchisees. That’s where most of the growth has been recently, and will likely continue to be.’” [Globe St.]

4:27 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Franchises and Chain Stores, Leasing, Quicklink, Strip Centers
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Monday, January 4, 2010

Taking the Shepherd Balcony: Américas River Oaks

January 4, 2010 – 4:26 pm

And now the official announcement of “what everyone already knew” about the new River Oaks Shopping Center: That second-story space with the overextended (and intensely negotiated) porte-cochere facing onto Shepherd is slated to be a third Américas restaurant. Weingarten Realty reports that Michael Cordúa will open a 9,150-sq.-ft. West-Gray-and-Shepherd version in the fall of this year, featuring an elevated bar area and private event spaces. Cordúa will work again with Cheesecake Factory stylist Jordan Mozer to design his 7th local restaurant. Tony and Jeff Vallone backed out of plans to open a restaurant named Il Tavolo in the same location one year ago.

Photo of River Oaks Shopping Center: River Oaks Examiner

4:26 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Leasing, Neighborhoods: River Oaks, Restaurants
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Monday, December 14, 2009

New Life for Greenspoint Multiplex, After Conversion

December 14, 2009 – 11:46 am

“The former six-screen AMC movie theater at 1100 Greens Parkway” just north of Beltway 8 at Ella, reports Nancy Sarnoff, “is becoming convention space that will house the International Faith Based Business Expo and the Vision Changers Performing Arts Christian Center.”

Photo: LoopNet

11:46 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Greenspoint, Renovations, Shopping Centers
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Friday, December 4, 2009

Your Best Deal Now: Will Lakewood Buy Its Own Church?

December 4, 2009 – 1:19 pm

City officials are discussing a possible sale of the former basketball stadium now occupied by the nation’s largest megachurch, reports the Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff. When Lakewood Church took over the Compaq Center (formerly the Houston Summit) from the city in 2001, the institution prepayed the entire $12 million rent amount of the 30-year lease, and spent considerably more than that on renovations. The city won’t see any more income from the property for 22 years. According to the agreement, Lakewood has the option of extending its lease for a second 30-year period, for $22.6 million.

How much could the city get for the little church by the Southwest Freeway?

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1:19 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Buildings for Sale, Land for Sale, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Greenway Plaza, Religious Facilities
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Old Sharpstown Target: New Center of Convenience

October 7, 2009 – 4:57 pm

A reader reports that the long-shuttered and fallow former Target store on the northbound 59 feeder just north of Bellaire Blvd. (and across the freeway from the Sharpstown Mall) will finally be used for something productive — though it’s “probably not the kind of use the Greater Sharpstown Management District had in mind.” What’s that?

The new owner, Golden Sharpstown Inc, is reportedly in the process of turning the 160,000 square foot building into the new home of Texas Jasmine, “the leading wholesaler for C-Store Owners.” (That’s Convenience Store, for the uninitiated.) Texas Jasmine is out of space at their old location [at 7800 Harwin near Fondren, pictured above], and does a thriving business supplying gas stations and convenience stores throughout Houston with everything from dill pickles-in-a-bag to pipe tobacco.

Well, who doesn’t need a dill pickle in a bag now and then? How convenient for the convenience-store owners, no?

Sure, says our tipster, but:

Continue Reading This Story >

4:57 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Neighborhoods: Sharpstown, Retail
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Comment of the Day: Apartment Model Showings

September 23, 2009 – 6:45 pm
   

“If ‘Nudist sundeck + 1 hired model –> 100% occupancy’ was the case, then the Core (on Washington Ave) and Bel Air (on Allen Parkway) and many others in the similiar ’scene’ and price range would be at 100% occupancy too. But they are not. BTW, the Bel Air pool is really really nice!” [irfan, commenting on Taking More Than Half Off at Those Apartments with the French Quarter Look]

6:45 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Apartments, Comments, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Montrose, Neighborhoods: Washington Corridor, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing
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Monday, September 21, 2009

Taking More Than Half Off at Those Apartments with the French Quarter Look

September 21, 2009 – 3:00 pm
   

How hot are those apartment specials? “One complex is pushing a concept that’s even more unusual: a clothing optional sun deck. ‘I don’t know if anybody uses it or not,’ said George Renfro, who leased a two-bedroom apartment at the French Quarter-style complex called La Maison at River Oaks. ‘It’s up on the top floor and in a very secluded area.’” [Houston Chronicle]

3:00 pm | 7 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Upper Kirby, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing
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Friday, September 18, 2009

All Those New Energy Corridor Office Buildings

September 18, 2009 – 11:56 am
   

“Among projects slated to begin construction soon are the 477,000-square-foot Energy Tower III from Mac Haik Realty Ltd. on the Katy Freeway, the 170,000-square-foot Enclave Corporate Center and the 230,000-square-foot Energy Crossing II, developed by Phoenix-based Opus West Corp. on the Katy Freeway. Currently, 13 new office buildings are being constructed in the Energy Corridor, according to the Energy Corridor Management District. Major developments coming online in the near future include the 300,000-square-foot Three Eldridge Place at 737 North Eldridge Parkway being developed by Dallas-based Behringer Harvard; the 447,000-square-foot Energy Tower II, which is expected to be completed this fall and will be occupied primarily by Technip; and Eldridge Oaks I, a 350,000-square-foot building at 1080 Eldridge Parkway being developed by Transwestern. In all, the market will gain an estimated 1.25 million square feet of new space, of which about 33 percent is pre-leased. Class A vacancy is expected to increase by about 50 percent this year, its highest rate in five years, according to market experts.” [Houston Business Journal]

11:56 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Energy Corridor, New Construction, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

In and Around the New North Montrose Whole Foods

September 15, 2009 – 10:11 am

A few details on that new Whole Foods Market planned for the corner of West Dallas and Waugh, just south of the now AIG-sign-free America Tower: Finger Companies, the owners of the land, says the new store will be 40,000 sq. ft. — slightly smaller than reported when the company first announced the project more than a year ago. Also: The store will have “a variety of eco-conscious elements and tons of inviting space for neighbors to congregate.”

The Finger Companies says the Whole Foods will be built “in conjunction with the developer’s proposed new luxury apartment project.” That project, also announced in the spring of 2008, was slated for the eastern portion of the site, closer to Montrose Blvd.

Image: The Finger Companies

10:11 am | 28 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Commercial Real Estate, Land Development, Leasing, Neighborhoods: Montrose, Neighborhoods: North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Retail
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Friday, August 21, 2009

Comment of the Day: I Was a Schmuck for Michael B. Smuck

August 21, 2009 – 7:37 pm
   

“. . . We, as managers, were forced to lie to residents about repairs as no company would sell us supplies. We had numerous occassions where trash service and water were stopped due to non-paynment. New residents were moved into dirty apartments with shoddy repairs, old uncleaned carpet and were expected to deal with it. All ‘extras’ tenents had come to expect were discontinued when MBS took over. I was also employed when our christmas paychecks bounced, although it didn’t happen at all properties. Forget a refund on your deposit as well. Even if the apartment was left in perfect condition we were forcefully told to find something to charge them for to keep all their money. Keep in mind all of what I experienced happened before Katrina — I was long gone by then. Working for those people made me leave the apartment industry for good.” [Laura, commenting on The Lodge at Baybrook: Smuck Survivor]

7:37 pm | 1 Comment | Read more about Apartments, Comments, Crime, Fraud, Leasing, Quicklink
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