Wellby Financial broke ground on a new five-story headquarters building at Baybrook Center in Friendswood.
The 102K SF campus will bring the credit union’s teams together and include a new member branch.
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The building is on a 9.5-acre site at 19130 Gulfbrook Drive, near Baybrook Mall. Wellby acquired the land and unveiled plans for the new headquarters in 2024.
“The Bay Area has been part of Wellby’s story from the beginning, and it will continue to be an important part of our future,” Wellby Financial CEO Marty Pell said in a statement. “This location keeps us close to the communities Wellby has proudly served since 1961, while positioning us to serve more people across Greater Houston. It also provides the accessibility, visibility and room to grow that we need for the years ahead.”
Construction completion is targeted for October 2028. Project partners include La Macchia Group for site selection, Colliers Houston for land transaction and brokerage, Powers Brown Architecture, Griffin Partners for development, and Harvey Cleary as general contractor.
PEOPLE
Brandi Sikes and Katherine Bowler Rosen joined Savills' Houston office as executive managing director and assistant director, respectively. The team joins from Sikes Solutions, a boutique commercial real estate advisory firm Sikes founded.
Sikes and Bowler Rosen will focus on advising Houston-based companies with real estate needs across multiple markets, including headquarters strategy, office and industrial leasing, and life sciences-related real estate requirements.
Sikes brings more than 30 years of commercial real estate experience advising corporate occupiers. Bowler Rosen brings six years of commercial real estate industry experience, including about 18 months in brokerage.
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Bellows Construction announced Laura Bellows will step back from her role as CEO on Jan. 1 and be replaced by Tony Mansoorian, Bellows’ chief operating officer. This will transition Bellows Construction from family-led leadership for the first time in its 112-year history.
Mansoorian is a 26-year, second-generation employee of Bellows. Laura Bellows will serve as CEO emeritus until officially retiring on Oct. 16, 2027.
Jack Bellows will conclude his tenure as president at the end of the year and continue to serve on the board of directors.
SALES
Cabot Properties bought Port 225 Commerce Center, a 484K SF industrial development, from Brightshore Capital. At 307 and 315 Beltway Green Blvd. in Deer Park, Port 225 has two buildings: a 129K SF rear-load warehouse and a 355K SF cross-dock facility.
Brightshore acquired the site in 2023 and, through its in-house development team, completed construction in 2025. The sale followed an unsolicited offer from the buyer.
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Dallas-based Apricus Realty Capital acquired an industrial outdoor storage property with crane-served warehouse and office space on 1.5 acres at 2225 Sens Road in La Porte. The property has 16,500 SF of improvements on-site and is fully leased to Sage Envirotech, a provider of industrial cleaning, environmental services and waste management services.
Apricus acquired the property in partnership with ABR Capital Partners, continuing the firm’s joint venture targeting IOS and infill industrial aggregation.
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A 245-unit self-storage facility traded hands following a bidding war between a 1031 exchange buyer and a REIT. The property at 13505 State Highway 75 in Willis opened in February 2024. Phase 1 comprises 245 units totaling 42,500 SF. Phase 2, a 30K SF expansion, is expected to bring the facility to 468 units and 72K SF by the end of 2026.
Marcus & Millichap’s Dave Knobler, Mixson Staffel and Charles “Chico” LeClaire represented the seller.
LEASES
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Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC plans to relocate its office from Sage Plaza in the Uptown area to 3 Houston Center in Downtown Houston. The law firm leased 25K SF in the 3.3M SF office campus.
JLL’s Chad Baker, Lauren Stifflemire Kelly and Kennedy Gamble represented KRCL. Steam Realty Partners’ Ryan Barbles and Matt Asvestas represented ownership.
The law firm is growing across Texas. It opened an Austin office last year and hired 12 new people across Houston, Dallas and Austin last month.
FINANCING
Lightstone secured a bridge loan to refinance Citadel Apartments, a 293-unit multifamily community at 2220 Pinegate Drive in the Houston Heights.
Newmark’s James Maynard and Rob Wright secured the financing on behalf of the borrower, Lightstone, alongside Matt Williams, Kyle Schlitt and David Williams. Greystar provided the financing through its debt fund platform.
Lightstone acquired the community, which was built in 2019, in an off-market transaction in 2021.
THIS AND THAT
Partners Capital, the investment platform of Partners Real Estate, launched a new investment vehicle to acquire, entitle and position land in the highest-growth corridors of Texas and the Sun Belt. Land Fund II has a $25M equity goal.
The fund will target raw and lightly improved tracts, primarily industrial sites of 35 to 200 acres.
The new fund comes after Land Fund I, which launched in September 2022, recently completed the sale of its final Phase 1 tracts at North Houston Commerce Park, a 189-acre project at FM 1960 and Aldine Westfield Road.
The Partners Land Fund team, led by Dan Moody and Holcombe Crosswell, will manage the fund.
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