Pagewood Breaks Ground On EaDo Reuse Project: The Houston Deal Sheet
Pagewood broke ground on Phase 1 of East Blocks, an adaptive reuse project in Houston’s East End that was first announced in November 2023.
The firm closed on construction financing and acquired two warehouse properties for the phase.
Pagewood also leased 2K SF to Handies Douzo, a Houston-based handroll and sushi concept from Patrick Pham and Daniel Lee, part of the Duckstache Hospitality group.
Phase 1 encompasses the adaptive reuse of two 15K SF warehouses, at 1107 Hutchins St. and 2202 Dallas St. Upgrades will include new stucco facades, enhanced storefronts, outdoor patios to activate street-level engagement, new lighting and a landscape overhaul.
"East Blocks reflects a long-term belief in EaDo and the kind of place it’s becoming," Pagewood Managing Principal Mat Volz said in a statement. "Breaking ground on Phase 1 is an exciting step forward."
Retail leasing is being led by Brooks Shanklin and Claire Salazar of Blue Ox Group.
"With the FIFA Fan Festival taking place just steps from East Blocks and bringing thousands of visitors daily to EaDo, we see this project playing a meaningful role in that energy and in the long-term evolution of the district," Volz said.
PEOPLE
First America Homes, the homebuilding division of The Signorelli Co., hired David Assid as division president for the Houston region. Assid brings 37 years of experience to the role, in which he will oversee operations across the firm's greater Houston communities.
Most recently, Assid was the Houston division president for Chesmar Homes. Prior to that, he spent 24 years with Toll Brothers.
SALES
Newman Commercial Real Estate acquired Grogan’s Forest Center, a 7K SF neighborhood retail center at 25114 Grogans Mill Road near The Woodlands, in an off-market transaction. The center is occupied by tenants including Komeya Sushi & Ramen, Great Clips and Prime Dental Care USA.
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Eastham Capital sold University Green Apartments, a 194-unit apartment complex at 1620 Bay Area Blvd. in Southeast Houston. Eastham Capital Fund V acquired the property in 2018 as a joint venture between Eastham Capital and Mosaic Residential.
The owners executed a capital improvement program with interior and exterior renovations and amenity enhancements to reposition the community and boost rents from $739 to $1,040. It was 97% occupied at the time of disposition.
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MyPlace Self Storage bought GuardBox Storage, a 650-unit self-storage property on 8 acres in Fresno, Texas, in Fort Bend County.
Dave Knobler, Adam Schlosser, Charles “Chico” LeClaire and Mixson Staffel of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a Texas-based investor, and procured the buyer. The property includes 320 climate-controlled units, 231 units that aren't climate-controlled and a climate-controlled office.
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Sports Haven Land and Cattle LLC, owned by Sean and Shane Finn of Finn & Co., purchased 250 acres at 28103 Margerstadt Road in Waller, near the Houston Oaks Country Club & Retreat. Finn & Co. will partner with homebuilders for a future residential development. The purchase adds to Finn & Co.’s portfolio across Texas, Florida and California, Sean Finn said.
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Triten Real Estate Partners sold Fairbanks Northwest Distribution Center, a two-building Class-A distribution center at 7810 Fairbanks N. Houston Road in Northwest Houston.
An Ares Real Estate fund acquired the 358K SF Triten-developed asset, which is 80% leased. Marq Logistics, which represents Ares’ logistics real estate platform, will manage the property.
Triten was represented by JLL’s Trent Agnew, Charlie Strauss, Lance Young and Brooke Petzold.
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Chicago-based CenterPoint Properties acquired two distribution facilities in the South Belt industrial market at 11217 Telephone Road. The fully leased warehouses, totaling 192K SF, were built in 2024. JLL Capital Markets brokered the transaction.
LEASES
Smurfit Westrock, a Fortune 200 sustainable paper-based packaging company, leased 79K SF at Patriot Business Park, a newly developed three-building industrial campus at 10326-10330 Veterans Memorial Drive in North Houston.
Stream Realty Partners' Tyler Maner, Natalie Gilbert and Jeremy Lumbreras represented the developers and owners, Standard Real Estate Investments and Investment & Development Ventures. Paul Dominique and Hayden Dominique of Colliers represented Smurfit Westrock.
The development totals 463K SF. Smurfit Westrock will occupy space in the 219K SF Building 2.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Crescent Energy Co. plans to build out office space at 609 Main, a 48-story building in Downtown Houston. The 75K SF build-out will cost about $26.9M and add new partitions, ceilings and finishes to the office space, according to the Houston Business Journal.
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Pinecroft started construction on a fully leased 40K SF medical office building at 8933 Tamina Road in Shenandoah. The $16.2M development is preleased to health providers in primary care, nephrology, urology, cardiology, infectious disease and other specialties.
The development will include tiltwall construction and 213 parking spaces. It is slated for completion in January 2027.
The project team includes O’Donnell/Snider Construction, Browne McGregor Architects, Bleyl Engineering, Dally & Associates, Spectrum Design Engineers and Wong & Associates. First Citizens Bank is the lender.
FINANCING
Nuveen Green Capital, in conjunction with Lone Star PACE, announced the closing of an $8M commercial property assessed clean energy transaction for Ashford Yard, a new 83K SF multitenant retail development at 12550 Briar Forest Drive.
The development near the Energy Corridor will feature 62K SF of general retail space alongside a 21K SF anchor space preleased to Ashford Beer Garden. The sponsor is leveraging C-PACE to finance energy- and water-efficiency improvements, including high-efficiency building envelope and windows, upgraded HVAC systems, enhanced lighting fixtures and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
THIS AND THAT
First Houston Properties, one of Houston’s oldest industrial brokerage firms, was acquired by Patrick McKiernan and James Mashni.
McKiernan and Mashni acquired the intellectual property, naming rights and physical assets of First Houston Properties, a firm that has exclusively focused on industrial real estate since its 1982 founding. The firm plans to continue its momentum in the industrial outdoor storage sector.
First Houston Properties operates in Houston and Laredo and represents a client roster including large private equity groups.
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Teel Valuation Group, a commercial real estate valuation and advisory company, launched an independent firm and a transition to a partner-led firm. Teel now operates from seven offices nationwide, with established locations in Houston, Dallas, Lubbock and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and new offices in Austin, El Paso and Tampa, Florida.
A component of the firm’s expansion is the addition of Gayle Reid Appraisal Services in El Paso, led by Martha Gayle Reid Lynch.
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The $470M CMBS loan on One and Three Allen Center, the Downtown Houston office towers owned by Brookfield, moved to special servicing ahead of its maturity date this month. The towers, which total 2.3M SF, were 75% occupied as of December, down from 80% at loan issuance, according to Morningstar Credit.
Net cash flow dropped in sync with occupancy. Last year’s net cash flow sat 29% below the underwritten level, according to Morningstar. The loan originally matured in April 2023, and all three one-year extension options have been exercised.
