Powers Brown Architecture of Texas LLC specified aluminum composite material (ACM) panels and perforated aluminum panels in its design to renovate Island Transit’s Galveston Transit Terminal for busses. The perforated panels provide a vehicle screen and ventilation. The ACM was used for sunshading components.
Galveston Transit Terminal is located in the Strand Historic District in downtown Galveston, which is a National Historic Landmark District with Victorian-era buildings and retail businesses. The ground level of the 72,954-square-foot building houses the bus terminal, 4,880 square feet of retail space, 2,196 square feet of space for a visitor center and restrooms, and a 917-square-foot waiting area. The upper levels contain the garage with 159 parking spaces. (more…)
Dallas-based Crow Holdings Industrial announced last week that it broke ground on Victory Commerce Center, a spec industrial project in the southeast Houston area.
The project is a 349,050-square-foot Class A, cross-dock, tilt-wall distribution building, according to a press release. It’s at 2851 E. Pasadena Blvd. in Deer Park, near the Port of Houston.
The building is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2019, per the release. Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture designed it, and Katy-based Rosenberger Construction is the general contractor, a spokesman said. Jon Lindenberger, Walter Menuet and Paul Dominique of Colliers International will market the property, per the release.
“We are excited to kick off this project and offer a modern state-of-the-art distribution facility to a wide range of industrial users serving the expanding petrochemical and Port of Houston industries,” CHI Managing Director Cory Driskill said in the release.
Driskill leads CHI’s development and investment efforts in Houston, per the release. He was hired a year ago and previously served as vice president of leasing for Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE) in Houston. Prior to that, he worked for Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co.
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Lauren Amber Prestenbach
Lauren Amber Prestenbach, NCIDQ, LEED AP ID+C, EDAC, IIDA, was promoted to principal of Powers Brown Architecture’s Denver office.
Previously, she served as director of interiors of the firm’s Denver office.
Her most recent projects with the firm include interior design work for Travelers Insurance, Market Center renovation, Highlands Place II renovation, Face It Together, Enterprise Holdings, The Buell Foundation and Frontier Fire.
She is a graduate of the Art Institute Houston.
Colorado Real Estate Journal
Click here for full article.
A Courtyard by Marriott hotel broke ground last week in Generation Park, Houston-based McCord Development Inc.’s 4,000-acre master-planned commercial park at the northeast corner of Beltway 8.
Oxford, Ohio-based Hotel Development Services is developing the hotel — the company’s first in Texas — on a 1-acre site, according to a press release. Expo Construction Group is the general contractor, and Mark Carlsen Design and Powers Brown Architecture worked on the project’s design and architecture. HDS will partner with American Hospitality Management to oversee the hotel’s day-to-day construction and management.
The five-story, 144-room hotel will include more than 2,000 square feet of meeting space, a business center, 24-hour market, large fitness center, outdoor pool, casual workspaces and a bistro offering grab-and-go food options and Starbucks Coffee, per the release. Twenty-four of the rooms will have balconies overlooking a plaza, and the hotel’s design will be integrated into the pedestrian promenade of Redemption Square, a 52-acre mixed-use district within Generation Park. (more…)
A three-building industrial campus is breaking ground in northeast Houston -- an area where industrial activity has been steadily increasing. Dallas-based real estate development company Jackson-Shaw...
Click here for full article.
Cara Smith
Reporter
Houston Business Journal
Foster Ridge Distribution Center, a 327,000-square-foot industrial facility in northeast San Antonio, is slated for a first-quarter 2019 completion.
SAN ANTONIO — Koontz Corp., a San Antonio-based development firm, has begun work on Foster Ridge Distribution Center, a 327,000-square-foot industrial facility in northeast San Antonio. The property will be situated on a 21-acre site that is located near a distribution center leased to Dollar General and an 871-acre site that was acquired by H-E-B last fall. The cross-dock facility will feature 32-foot clear heights, 75 dock-high overhead doors, 130-foot truck courts and an ESFR sprinkler system. Foster Ridge Distribution Center will be able to accommodate a single large user or multiple smaller tenants. The groundbreaking ceremony will be held later this week and completion is slated for the first quarter of 2019. Houston-based Powers Brown is serving as the architect for the project and San Antonio-based R.C. Page is serving as general contractor. HFF arranged financing for the project through Voya Financial Inc. and Dallas-based Catlyn Capital Corp.
Click here for full article.
Taylor Williams, Rebusiness Online
As part of the extensive updates, popular local establishment Oskar Blues opened its third Denver-based restaurant, bar and music venue in January.
By Katie Rapone
Urban Renaissance Group (URG), Stars Investments and City Street Investors are nearing the completion of some major renovations at Market Center, a five-story office and retail building at 17th and Market streets in downtown Denver.
Seattle-based Urban Renaissance Group purchased the historic Market Center buildings for $29 million in September 2015, representing URG and Stars Investments’ first joint venture in the Denver market.
“Since purchasing Market Center, we’ve been thrilled to explore options for renovating these historic buildings,” said URG founder and chief executive officer, Patrick Callahan. “We’re excited to see our plans coming to fruition, ensuring that it is a premier LoDo destination for office and retail tenants.”
Renovations to the 121,000-square-foot complex include exterior and interior upgrades, as well as enhancements to the pedestrian experience and expanded amenities for tenants.
“Our goal with Market Center is place-making at the midway point between Larimer Square and Union Station, while celebrating everything LoDo has to offer and paying respect to the history of the buildings,” said Cristina Dawson, SVP-head of Asset Management at Stars Investments.
The architect for the project is Powers Brown Architecture a professional services firm practicing architecture, interior design, programming and urban design. The firm will oversee the design of the renovation through to completion. Award-winning Tryba Architects were also involved in the early stages of the project. The General Contractor is Bristlecone Construction.
The project consisted of three scopes of work starting with a full mechanical, electrical, and plumbing overhaul of the building.
Built between 1872 and 1902, Market Center includes five buildings stitched together to offer a continuous floor plate. The buildings’ façades were restored to their historic past and the outdoor patio areas have also been expanded and will include new retail and restaurant patios.
According to Tryba’s Senior Associate Sarah Snider Komppa, the five separate buildings were connected in the 1970s and renovated to create basement retail by “pushing” the storefronts away from the sidewalk.
“We were excited to help URG and their partners return the storefronts back to the sidewalk’s edge to make for a more complete pedestrian experience and create better retail frontages,” said Komppa. “As all five buildings are historic, the design of the new storefront windows needed to reflect the original window design as best we could determine from historic photos. We were able to design custom windows that replicate the historic design yet are also operable to allow the restaurants the ability to open their dining areas up to the sidewalk.”
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Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. and New York-based Clarion Partners have broken ground on the second phase of Fallbrook Pines Business Park in northwest Houston, according to an April 9 press release.
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By Martha Elwell
The groundbreaking ceremony of Thompson San Antonio and The Arts Residences took place on Tuesday at the project site in San Antonio.
Thompson San Antonio and The Arts Residences will be a mixed-use development featuring a high-rise tower and hotel with 162 guest rooms and 58 residences with luxury amenities.
The groundbreaking began with the ceremony of shovels, followed by keynote speakers, including the developer, Roberto Contreras CEO of DC Partners; Acho Azuike, COO and Managing Director of DC Partners; Leland Rocchio, President of Jordan Foster's Commercial Construction Group, the general contractor, among others.
Powers Brown Architecture, an award-winning Houston-based firm, and Guadalajara-based Amass & G were selected to design the property in collaboration with Two Roads Hospitality. The property will feature oversized guest rooms and suites, a full-service spa and fitness centre, an outdoor pool overlooking the River Walk, and a 3,600-square-foot ballroom for luxury meetings and events.
Click here for full article.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Houston-based DC Partners will break ground Jan. 30 on the Thompson San Antonio Hotel and The Arts Residences, a $116 million hotel and condominium EB 5 project on the River Walk in downtown San Antonio.
Located in the epicenter of San Antonio’s performing arts district, the 337,000-SF mixed-use development encompasses The Arts Residences condominiums atop San Antonio’s first Thompson Hotel.
Emilio Guzmán, chief of investor relations and executive vice president of DC Partners, wrote about the project in August 2017 in a guest column for the Rio Grande Guardian.
“As we see it, smart, forward-thinking investment in downtown San Antonio real estate is a non-zero-sum game; it is mutually beneficial to everyone involved,” Guzmán wrote.
“DC Partners is bullish on San Antonio, and with good reason. It is a dynamic city with the kind of robust, diverse economy that signals enduring growth and prosperity. San Antonio’s thriving business community boasts the headquarters of two Fortune Global 500 firms and seven Fortune 1000 companies. Its city government is focused on attracting and growing businesses that foster innovation and lure talent in key industries that complement the region’s strengths—aerospace, biosciences and health care, defense, energy, information technology and cybersecurity, and manufacturing.”
Guzmán said DC Partners has hired Jordan Foster Construction to build the 20-story tower, which will be constructed at the corner of North Saint Mary’s Street and Lexington Avenue, near the Tobin Center for Performing Arts.
Developed by DC Partners and San Antonio-based Universal Service Group, and designed by Powers Brown Architecture, the project is scheduled to be completed in 2019. The Arts Residences at the Thompson San Antonio is marketed by Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty. (more…)
by Mitch Bloomquist
At the 2017 Tilt-Up Convention and Expo in Miami I took the opportunity to recognize several individuals who went above and beyond in their service to this organization. Notably missing was our immediate past president, Jeffrey Brown, who for the first time in perhaps a decade, could not attend, as he was supporting his business while it battled through issues presented by Hurricane Harvey in Texas. So, I will take this opportunity to thank him here in order to help everyone understand the depth of his impact on this industry and this organization. I want to do this not only to affirm his impact but also to inspire new leaders to emerge.
Jeffrey joined the TCA Board of Directors in the same year I joined the TCA. It was perfect timing. We immediately connected, as I had just left work at an architectural firm in Iowa. Over the past eight or nine years he has been that tie for me back to the world of academia, architectural theory and design. While other friends of mine working for firms across the globe have questioned my decision to work for a construction trade organization, Jeffrey has continuously confirmed my belief that there is good work to be done related to the study and advancement of everyday architecture and building.
You may know, tilt-up has not always been perceived as the most glamorous concept in the architectural community. Calling design professionals’ attention to the versatility, applicability and aesthetic potential of tilt-up has been a focus of our organization for three decades. The Tilt-Up Achievement Awards program has been a great tool for communicating this, and it can only be effective with the great work of our members, like Jeffrey and his firm. Powers Brown Architecture has won 21 achievement awards over the past 12 years, making them one of the top five most decorated members of all time. Jeffrey is the only two-time recipient of the TCA Irving Gill Progressive Architecture Award and has been the subject or author of more than a dozen articles for the Tilt-Up Today magazine. Jeffrey has spoken at six of the last seven Tilt-Up Conventions in addition to numerous talks he has given at other industry events. While many people need a dictionary to follow along, no one can deny the passion, incredible knowledge, and infectiousness of his talks. Overall, his work has shed new light on tilt-up and broadened the appeal for many who previously had limited knowledge and/or interest. As Paul Coonrod, a developer with Stream in Houston, said: Jeffrey was making tilt wall sexy.
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HOUSTON – January 10, 2018 – Powers Brown Architecture announces the appointment of founding principal Jeffrey Brown, FAIA to the position of CEO. Brown will oversee the resources, development and management of the company’s international practice including establishment of future locations and growth in existing markets. These include the Denver and Washington, D.C. office locations established in the past five to ten years. More recently, in 2015, the firm established offices in Canada, and Brown will oversee their consolidation in Toronto. He will maintain his role as Creative Director for the firm. (more…)
HOUSTON – October 26, 2017 – Powers Brown Architecture announces the opening of the firm’s Canadian Headquarters in Toronto providing architecture, interior design and urban design services to Ontario and surrounding provinces. Building upon the firm’s successful Canadian operations, this brings the firm’s total number of offices to five including the two-year-old Atlantic Canada location, the firm’s first international office, along with its Houston, Washington, D.C. and Denver offices. (more…)
Units under 500 square feet started around $150,000, but prices went up
The model unit at the new Parc @ Midtown gives new meaning to the word small - for Houston, at least.
The 468-square-foot condo shows like one of those apartment mock-ups at Ikea - the ones demonstrating how a few pieces of undersized furniture with the right accessories can turn a few hundred square feet into a functional, even inviting, home.
When the model unit was being staged, the designer had to return several pieces of furniture because they were too big, the Parc's developer said during a recent tour of the property, which is just starting to welcome its first residents.
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ATLANTA—Special Agent in Charge David J. LeValley, FBI Atlanta Field Office, alongwith Acting Administrator Timothy Horne, General Services Administration (GSA), and Principal Claiborne Williams, FD Stonewater, announce the completion and transfer to the FBI of its new state-of-the-art, 151,066 square foot law enforcement facility that will serve as home to the FBI Atlanta Field Office at 3000 Flowers Road S., Atlanta, Georgia 30341, located on the Mercer University Atlanta Campus.
Earlier today, FBI Director Christopher Wray presided over ribbon cutting ceremonies that included Acting Administrator Timothy Horne, GSA, along with Principal Claiborne Williams, FD Stonewater.
Also in attendance were numerous local, state, and other federal law enforcement executives and their command staff.
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When Randall Davis saw private terrace-top pools advertised in a Miami condominium tower, the longtime Houston developer knew he wanted to build them into his latest luxury condo tower in the Bayou City.
The private terrace-top pools— under construction in Arabella near the River Oaks District — will allow condo owners to swim more than 27 stories in the sky. The north-south-facing building, which sits on a corner lot, allows for unobstructed views of downtown Houston and the Galleria area.
“I’ve never seen (a terrace-top pool) before, but it was something I wanted to do,” Davis said as he gave a recent tour of his project. “It’s going to be pretty neat to be in your pool looking at the whole city. The views from up here are just stupid.”
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Powers Brown Architecture has announced that John Cadenhead, AIA, has been promoted to Director of Design.
As the Director of Design, Cadenhead leads the Urban Design / Master Planning studio. He has 14 years of experience with Powers Brown Architecture overseeing projects through schematic design and design development, and ensures the design intent is expressed throughout the construction phase. He has worked on many of the firm’s most notable projects including Arabella, the tallest building ever designed by the firm.
Powers Brown Architecture has announced that Kristen Stapper, AIA, and Roman Mendez, AIA, have been promoted to Project Manager. As project manager, Kristen and Roman lead the project coordination and documentation process. They both oversee and maintain project documentation scheduling within the project team’s agreed upon schedule, and review the documents to ensure the client’s standards are fulfilled.
DC Partners selected Jordan Foster Construction as the general contractor for the Thompson San Antonio Hotel and The Arts Residences, a $116 million, 20-level mixed-use hotel-condominium tower on the San Antonio River Walk. In addition, the developer announced the opening of The Arts Residences Sales Center in the historic Tobin Center for the Performing Arts Administration Building, 115 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio.
The project marks DC Partners’ debut on the San Antonio market. In partnership with Universal Service Group, the development is anticipated to create approximately 1,300 jobs and is slated to break ground this summer.
The 337,000-square foot mixed-use development will replace the parking lot at the intersection of North St. Mary’s Street and Lexington Avenue, across the river from the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and next to Hotel Indigo. The project will include The Arts Residences—66 luxury condominiums atop the city’s first Thompson Hotel and is slated for completion in 2019.
Thompson Hotels is a member of the Two Roads Hospitality portfolio and features a collection of boutique hotels and resorts in locations such as Manhattan, Chicago, Nashville, Seattle, Playa del Carmen and Los Cabos. The project’s architect is Powers Brown, while the interior designer is Amass & G. The Arts Residences at the Thompson Hotel is exclusively marketed by Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty. The for-sale residences are priced from the $400s to over $4.5 million for penthouses. (more…)
By Jesse Hunt, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP – Powers Brown Architecture
In December of 2016, the City of Denver passed Code of Ordinances Ch. 4, ARTICLE V. – Energy Efficiency in Commercial and Multifamily Buildings. This ordinance follows in the footsteps of 17 other large cities in the United States who have decided to benchmark the energy use of their public, commercial and multifamily buildings. Now, for the first time, owners of most property types that are more than 25,000-square-feet will be required to publicly disclose how much energy their building is using. This year, the first wave of the ordinance is underway—owners of buildings more than 50,000-square-feet have until September 1 to comply or face fines—and by June 1, 2018, every building over 25,000-squre-feet is required to comply.
Why it’s Happening
The adage “what does not get measured does not get managed” explains the rationale behind the adoption of the new program. Denver’s 2020 Sustainability Goals contain two components that directly influenced the adoption of the ordinance—a climate goal to reduce overall city CO 2 emissions to 1990 levels and an energy goal to maintain the same energy usage as the year 2012—and currently commercial and multifamily buildings account for 57 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. After an 18-month stakeholder process it was deemed that benchmarking and transparency was the best way for the city to achieve significant reductions in these structures.
The program requires the use of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Two main data points from Portfolio Manager are what drive competition for efficiency in markets with similar policies—every building that complies will have an energy use intensity per square foot (EUI) and a 1-100 score comparing a building to a climate-normalized nation-wide survey on buildings of the same typology. Denver is going to rank building types on the city level as well. All the data will be publicly available in list form as well as on an interactive map. This process has worked well for other cities with this policy. Transparency and competition has driven an average 2.4 percent energy use reduction annually. Spending on those retrofits also bolsters local spending and job creation. (more…)
The U.S. branch of Tokyo-based chemical company Kuraray Co. Ltd. signed a huge lease at a brand-new industrial park in Houston, while a local ready-to-assemble furniture company inked a warehouse lease to expand its distribution operations.
Houston-based Kuraray America Inc. signed a long-term lease for 465,851 square feet in… more
COURTESY AVERA COS.
Houston-based Kuraray America Inc. signed a long-term lease for 465,851 square feet in Avera Cos.’ new Bayport Logistics Park. Houston-based Avera announced last month it would develop the industrial complex in Pasadena, and Kuraray is the first tenant.
John Littman of Cushman & Wakefield represented Kuraray, and Jason Dillee of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord.
Kuraray will occupy two build-to-suit facilities — called buildings 2 and 3 — on 30.5 acres. Building 2 is rail-served and will have a 36-foot clear height, while Building 3 will have a 32-foot clear height.
When it was announced last month, Bayport Logistics Park was billed as a 143-acre industrial complex just south of Avera’s Bayport Industrial Park, a three-building, 738,610-square-foot project announced in June 2016. Now, Avera is referring to the combined 185 acres as Bayport Logistics Park. (more…)
Capri EGM has added a build-to-suit office property in suburban Denver to its rapidly growing holdings. The company recently acquired Inova I at Inova Dry Creek, a 212,000-square-foot property that will be occupied in its entirety by Comcast Corp.“We continue to see corporations access both the sale-leaseback and build-to-suit markets. They view this as a better use of their capital; they can make more money by investing in their own product versus investing in real estate,” Shelby Pruett, co-chairman & CEO of Capri EGM, told Commercial Property Executive.
Capri EGM—which specializes in corporate sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing as well as the acquisition of institutional quality commercial properties—acquired the office project at 7250 S. Havana St. in Centennial, Colo. from its developers, United Properties and Principal Real Estate Investors. The acquisition price remains undisclosed; however, according to a report by the Winn Richey Team and CBRE Group, the development cost of the five-story building was approximately $70 million.
Comcast pre-leased Inova I in June 2016 under a 10.5-year agreement. The global mass media and technology company plans to utilize the LEED-certified building, which will accommodate 1,400 employees, as the national headquarters for its Business Services Group. Designed by Powers Brown Architecture, Inova I will feature the coveted state-of-the-art, sustainable design that many office users require as a magnet for talent. It’s the type of property that’s eyed among investors in the build-to-suit arena.
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Just under 40 miles away from Houston's core, an economic juggernaut is quietly settling into its multimillion-square-foot manufacturing hub.
Nearly 1,000 employees have moved into Daikin Industries Ltd.'s new industrial plant in Waller County. The Japanese air-conditioning giant's 4.1 million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Hockley, dubbed the Daikin Texas Technology Park, will eventually employ upward of 4,000 workers, a Daikin spokesperson said. Click through the slideshow for a look inside the facility.
Daikin Industries Ltd.'s new 4 million-square-foot facility in Waller County. Eventually,… more
The facility cost $417 million to develop. Overall, it's at roughly 25 percent operating capacity, the spokesperson said.
Around half of the plant is dedicated to manufacturing; the other half handles distribution. On the distribution side of the plant, thousands of boxes of Daikin equipment are nearly stacked wall-to-wall and inch toward the ceiling. Almost any Daikin or Goodman HVAC product – that is, mostly air-conditioning or heating units – shipped in the U.S. will pass through the new Waller County facility. (more…)
POSTED ON BY TAYLOR WILLIAMSIN HEALTHCARE, OFFICE, TEXAS
The six-story healthcare property on the Memorial Hermann Woodlands campus totals 176,836 square feet.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — E.E. Reed Construction LP has completed a six-story, 176,836-square-foot medical office building on the Memorial Hermann Woodlands campus in the northern Houston suburb of The Woodlands. Balfour Concord served as construction manager on the development and Powers Brown Architecture served as designer for the project.
Click here for full article.
New industrial developments continue to rise around the Houston area, with two new projects announced so far this week.
One Houston-based developer has announced a new industrial park in southeast Houston, while another plans to build warehouses in southwest Houston. (more…)
Congratulations to our team involved in the successful delivery of Bay Area Business Park located in Pasadena, Texas, winning the HBJ Landmark Award: Industrial. The 137-acre project near the Port of Houston’s Bayport and Barbours Cut shipping terminals was built in two phases, with over 2 million sf of warehouse space, which is among the largest over the last 10 years.
Team:
Developer: Stream Realty Partners
Architect: Powers Brown Architecture
MEP: Design-Build
General Contractor: Rosenberger
Click here for the full article from the Houston Business Journal (subscriber-only).
Powers Brown Architecture Expands Interior Design Offering in Denver
DENVER – April 18, 2017 – Powers Brown Architecture has announced that Lauren Amber Prestenbach RID, LEED AP ID+C, EDAC, has joined the firm in the new position of Director of Interiors. In this role, Prestenbach will oversee the firm’s Interior Design strategy and marketing efforts and be responsible for new business development in the Denver Market.
“We are delighted to have Lauren Amber join our growing Powers Brown Architecture family,” said Jeffrey Brown, FAIA, Principal at Powers Brown Architecture. “With Lauren Amber, we are bringing our collaborative and systems integrated approach at the core of our interior design services and practice experience to Denver. Working alongside her will only add to our knowledge base and allow us to better serve the clients in the Denver area.”
Prestenbach is a Registered Interior Designer, LEED and EDAC accredited professional, and is an active member in IIDA and ASID. She has 15 years of experience in business development and interior design, specializing in corporate and healthcare interior architectural and facility optimization.
“I am excited for this opportunity to join the Powers Brown Architecture team,” said Prestenbach. “The firm has made a commitment to the Interior Design practice, and I am very enthusiastic and eager to lead that effort in the Colorado office. I look forward to expanding the opportunities that Powers Brown Architecture has established.”
Prior to joining Powers Brown Architecture, Prestenbach worked at ELEMENTS and served the Greater Colorado Area as business development in their Architectural Products Division specializing in DIRTT and flooring needs. She has 12 years as an Interior Designer in Houston, before moving to Denver. She is a graduate of the Art Institute of Houston.
To learn more about Powers Brown Architecture, visit www.powersbrown.com.
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About Powers Brown ArchitecturePowers Brown Architecture is a professional services firm with offices in Houston, Washington DC, and Denver. The firm maintains a diverse architecture design, interior design, space planning and urban design practice that spans from regional to international projects. Founded in 1999 by Joe Powers, AIA and Jeffrey Brown, FAIA the firm has built a reputation for specialized design and technical superiority, producing award-winning work and gaining recognition from local, regional, and national organizations.
Stranded byAaron Seward TEXAS ARCHITECTPhoto by Dror Baldinger, AIA
“I still get emails about this building, saying ‘Y’all messed up our historic district,’” says Jeffrey Brown, FAIA, design principal of Powers Brown Architecture. “It was a long, slogging project — we lost our shirts on it — but it’s a great project. I’m really proud of it. The current speed of architecture rarely facilitates a project like this, where we had to go over and over our argument. I accept if someone hates this building, but it’s deliberately purposeful in terms of its argument.”
Brown and I are standing on the southeast corner of 25th Street and the Strand, looking across the road at the Galveston Downtown Transit Terminal that his firm designed. To my eyes, there is nothing especially offensive about the building. It has ground-level retail behind an aluminum and glass storefront, the corner featuring a generous, recessed stair that leads up from the street to above the current FEMA flood level. Behind the retail is the terminal for all six lines of Galveston’s Island Transit buses. They pull in on 25th Street, park in one of three spots, unload, load, and pull out on the Strand. Above are three levels of car parking behind precast concrete cladding, whose faded red color and detailing recall some of the facades down the block. Vertical pilasters and a parapet of varying height indicate the four lots the structure occupies, evoking the scale and massing of the older buildings, while a dark stucco fin running up the face points out the entrance to the terminal waiting room. Aluminum steel screens provide ventilation for the parking garage and conceal the cars from the street. The screens are articulated in a way to suggest the punch window fenestration of the connecting urban street wall. (more…)
SCHERTZ, TEXAS — Conor Commercial Real Estate has delivered Doerr Lane Industrial Park, a speculative cross-dock industrial building in Schertz, a northeast suburb of San Antonio. Situated within Tri County Business Park, the 213,864-square-foot property features 32-foot clear heights, 54 dock-high loading doors, two truck courts and on-site parking for 250 vehicles and 31 trailers. The design team includes Cadence McShane Construction Co. and Powers Brown Architecture. The building is available for immediate occupancy. Terry Warth, Rob Burlingame and Joshua Aguilar of CBRE are marketing the property.
A colorful, spiral staircase, cement-inspired wall fixtures and a tech-inspired aesthetic set apart Cemex's new U.S. headquarters.
Mexico-based Cemex SAB de CV, a building materials provider, will relocate its U.S. headquarters to 80,000 square feet in 10100 Katy Freeway in west Houstonstarting Jan. 17. The MetroNational-developed building topped out in June and is 240,000 square feet. Click through the slideshow to tour Cemex's space.
Cresa principal Stephen Heal, Cemex's director of real estate Ed Prins and Cresa… more
Cemex will vacate 42,000 square feet at Memorial Hermann Tower at 929 Gessner Rd., Cresa's Sue Rogers said. Rogers, alongside Steven Heal, represented Cresa in its 10100 Katy Freeway lease. MetroNational represented itself.
Cemex's new U.S. headquarters will serve as a testament to the company's products – there are cement fixtures inset into the walls and portions of Cemex's furniture that is made from cement. The office's main stairwell, a colorful and winding bridge between the second and third floors, has handlebars made of one of Cemex's rebar products. Most of the office's flooring is smooth, exposed cement. (more…)
A new industrial park in Missouri City has landed its first tenant.
Tire Universe leased 42,430 square feet — including 1,400 square feet for office space — at Gateway Southwest Industrial Park. The tire distributor, which has three existing locations in northwest Houston, Dallas and California, will occupy about one-third of the park’s first building.
Tire Universe leased 42,430 square feet in Building 1 at Gateway Southwest Industrial… more
MARK JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY INC./COURTESY THE MCSHANE COS.
Joint venture partners San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate Co. and Illinois-based Conor Commercial Real Estate, a member of The McShane Cos., announced plans in December 2014 to develop Gateway Southwest on 36 acres at the interchange of Beltway 8 and U.S. 90 Alternate. (more…)
Launch Charleston is a new seven-building office/hotel development planned off Montague Avenue in North Charleston. Rendering Provided/Powers Brown Architecture & Revamped FX LLC
The proposed relocation of the entry road to Charleston International Airport has prompted a developer to propose a $150 million office and hotel park in North Charleston.
Virginia-based Rushmark Properties plans to build four, four-story office buildings of 100,000 square feet each as well as three hotel pads off Montague Avenue in a development called Launch Charleston.
The office complex alone is valued at $80 million, according to Mark Mattison with commercial real estate firm Colliers International, which is handling leasing of the office park and management of the hotel bidding process.
No construction schedule has been announced, but Mattison believes the first office building could begin to rise by mid-2017.
"It's possible a hotel could go up first," he said.
The planned new airport access road is set to run along a power line right-of-way off Montague Avenue and tie into the existing airport loop road over the next few years. Access to the airport from International Boulevard will go away once that road is completed. (more…)
The Work Lodge, a co-working space in Vintage Park well-known for its slide in the lobby, is opening a second location, this time in The Woodlands.
The new space will be called The Work Lodge at Havenwood and is expected to open in early 2017, said CEO and founder Mike Thakur. It will be located in the new Havenwood development from J. Beard Real Estate Co., which is wrapping up construction.
While there won't be any slide in this location, Thakur expects to still jazz it up.
"We're going to put in some fun stuff," Thakur told the HBJ. "I don't know if I'm ready to shout about it yet, but it will have that playful feel in the co-working space." (more…)
With the advent of modern architecture and its commitment to material and formal honesty came the prominence of the minimalist memorial — designs of commemoration that favored the absorbent meaning of abstract forms to the prescriptive qualities of literal sculptures. After Maya Lin sliced the ground on the National Mall to create the black granite wound of the Vietnam War Memorial, and Peter Eisenman raised disorienting stelae out of Berlin’s fraught urban space to form the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe, many recent memorial designs have taken similarly understated routes, suggesting in a combination of both allusive and unspecific forms the shapeshifting nature of collective memory.
The memorials in this collection, apart from their shared tendency towards minimalism, are by no means equivalent. But whether it is trauma or reverence, individual tragedy or mass conflict, the impetus behind commemoration is often rooted in a desire to pinpoint the collective memory in a shared physical experience, a space of reflection designed to hold the heaviness of history. Sometimes memorials, like the histories they embody, are controversial in their messages, audience and design. But in these moments, public repositories tend to work best when rendered abstract, allowing flecks of individual remembrance to color in their volumetric outlines.
Dallas-based real estate investment group Copeland Commercial LLC has landed $43.5 million in funds — $33.5 million in acquisition and development financing and another $10 million in equity — to build a new large speculative logistics hub.
The 900,043-square-foot industrial facility, called I-20 Commerce Center, is expected to get underway at 3535 N. Houston School Road in Lancaster in the near future. The facility sits in close proximity to three major interstates, as well as the Union Pacific Intermodal terminal and the FedEx ground facilities.
The development is one of a number of speculative projects throughout North Texas, with capital still becoming available for such logistics hubs.
A JLL team secured the $33.5 million in acquisition and development financing from American National Insurance Co. and raised $10 million in equity from ANICO Eagle LLC, who will be the joint venture partner in the spec project.
JLL's Kurt Griffin and Nathan Orbin led the team on the acquisition of the land and are overseeing leasing of the project. Adam Mengacci of JLL led the team's financing efforts.
Powers Brown Architecture is the project architect for I-20 Commerce Center. (more…)
A rendering of the upcoming offices at 4624 N. Central Park Blvd.
Bursting out of an office that is now in the wrecking ball’s path, a concessionaire company is building itself a new headquarters.
Service Systems Associates Inc. is planning a new 45,000-square-foot office building in Northfield.
Building co-developer John Comunale said SSA grew out of its office at the National Western Complex, a space it will need to vacant anyway to make way for the planned stock show redevelopment.
“Their current space is about 11,000 square feet, and they’re on top of each other,” Comunale said. “They’re sharing offices; they’re sharing cubicles.”
One Central Park, as the new building will be called, will take shape at 4624 N. Central Park Blvd., just north of the Drury Inn and Suites off of Interstate 70. Right now the city owns the real estate, but Comunale said they will buy the property in a deal closing next month. (more…)
A bundle of 10 speculative buildings spanning four suburban counties and totaling 650,000 square feet are now under construction by St. John Properties.
The projects will produce a total of 400,000 square feet of new Class A office in Anne Arundel, Howard, Carroll and Baltimore counties. In Anne Arundel, for example, four buildings comprised of more than 200,000 square feet are under development.
A 100,000-square-foot office building is under construction at the Annapolis Junction… more
ST. JOHN PROPERTIES
The Anne Arundel projects include a 126,500-square-foot building at I-97 Business Park.
The new construction "is spurred by our continued confidence in the Maryland economy," Rick Williamson, St. John's senior vice president of leasing, said in a statement.
Williamson said the company's leasing activity this year is showing strength in health care and technology. (more…)
When Novel Creative Development LLC announced plans for Houston’s first major micro-unit condominium in fall 2015, the new developer expected to sell all 550 units before breaking ground in June 2016.
Novel Creative Development was confident it would find a market among young, single working professionals interested in buying affordable homes that are less than 500 square feet. The Houston developer, founded by a group of doctors and real estate investors in New York, unveiled plans to build Ivy Lofts, a 24-story, 550-unit condo project at 2604 Leeland Avenue in East Downtown.
Ivy Lofts, designed by Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture, offered micro-unit condos ranging in size from 304 square feet to 1,001 square feet. Prices started from $119,000 for a 300-square-foot loft to $375,000 for condos 700-square-feet and larger. These units would feature space-saving amenities, such as transformable furniture like Murphy beds and a coffee table that turns into a desk.
However, four months after opening an on-site sales center, Ivy Lofts had secured contracts from only 68 prospective buyers, said Wen Pin Tsai, Novel Creative Development’s vice president of business development. (more…)
Randall Davis and Robert Contreras are moving forward with the 95-unit downtown condominium building they announced more than a year ago when the Houston economy was in much better shape.
"It's financed and ready to go," Davis said Tuesday.
Yet after more than a year of selling, fewer than half the building's 95 units have been spoken for. Other developers are canceling projects as low oil prices have crushed demand for high-end properties.
So why build now?
"We're almost half sold and we obtained favorable financing that's just hard to walk away from," Davis said of the new project, Marlowe. "We feel like the market will be healed in the next 18 months or so and we'll be delivering product shortly thereafter."
Marlowe is being developed at the southwest corner of Caroline and Polk across from the House of Blues. Units in the 20-story building range from $375,000 for a one-bedroom unit up to $1.5 million. Many of the 42 buyers that have signed contracts for condos are young professionals who work downtown, Davis said. (more…)
A Midtown building built in 1955 will be restored to have office, ground-floor retail, and rooftop event space right as the submarket is undergoing a rebirth of its own.
The Greensheet building at 2601 Main St. was sold to Houston's PLC Capital Corp. for an undisclosed price. PLC Capital plans to renovate the building's facade, entry lobby and common areas.
Renovations should kick off in mid-July and wrap up in September. The building has 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail space that Brent Friedman, president of PLC Capital, hopes to split between a restaurant user and another retail user. Greensheet Inc. occupies the second and third floors of the building, leaving the 12,000-square-foot fourth floor open for leasing. The building's fifth floor, a 2,000-square-foot air-conditioned penthouse space with rooftop access, could be used for an event-venue user. PLC Capital has already been approached by two event-venue users, Friedman said, even though he hasn't started marketing the building yet.
"We're working (with) mid-century modern architecture, so we'll embrace that," Friedman said of the building. "We want to replace existing entryway trim and glass with a cooler, period-specific entrance."
Friedman said he wasn't immediately wooed by Midtown as an office market, but was struck by its ability to attract and retain Millennials. Among other things, he said a recent visit to Tampa's Hyde Park Village, a revitalized historic neighborhood that's attracted both Millennials and office users, made him realize that Houston is lacking in that area. (more…)
A big office lease in Irving will fill a big chunk of one new building, and a second will prompt construction of another project.
International firm Atos SE has rented more than 100,000 square feet for a new North Texas office in Stream Realty Partners Connection Park building near Interstate 635.
The business technologies firm signed a long-term lease for three floors in the 141,000-square-foot office building, which just opened its doors.
The Connection Park building near Freeport Parkway and Interstate 635 is just north of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The building is a joint project by Stream Realty, Chief Partners and Alex Brown Realty. (more…)
Houston-based MetroNational's first office building north of Interstate 10 is moving toward completion.
The building at 10100 Katy Freeway topped out on June 14, a MetroNational representative said. The 240,000-square-foot office building should deliver in early 2017, the spokesperson said. The core and shell will be complete in fall 2016. Houston-based Anslow Bryant Construction is building the core and shell.
The building's sole tenant, Cemex (NYSE: CX), a Mexico-based building materials company, will occupy 80,000 square feet on the second and third floors. Cemex has had an office in Memorial City since 2005. Its current U.S. headquarters are at 929 Gessner Road, suite 1900. Sue Rogers and Steven Heal of Cresa represented Cemex in its lease, and MetroNational represented itself in the deal.
Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture designed the building.
Powers Brown, which reported $18.61 million in 2015 billings, spent the last 17 years at 1314 Texas Avenue in the Central Business District. Powers Brown was one of the building's first tenants, and Brown said the area's amenities were bleak at best.
"It was a food desert," Brown said. "When we first moved down there in 1999, it was nothing – no clubs, no bars, certainly nothing within walking distance."
Houston's downtown core is now bustling today. The 1314 Texas Avenue building is home to Irma's Southwest Grill, a household name among Houston foodies and a tenant that Brown remembers as a newcomer. A number of now-esteemed downtown restaurants are scattered around 1314 Texas Avenue, including Treebeards, Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse and more. Powers Brown didn't want to move out of the building, Brown said, but the building was sold and pegged to become a residential tower. He wanted to keep his company in an urban environment, too – but finding a building downtown that would take a smaller lease in 2016 was a tall order.
"We’re only a 12,000- or 15,000-square-foot lease space," Brown said. "Nobody downtown wants that." (more…)
Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture LLC is the first office tenant in a 280,000-square-foot building undergoing a massive renovation at 2100 Travis St. in Midtown.
Powers Brown signed an 11,637-square-foot lease at Central Square, which occupies the entire city block bordered by Travis, Milam, Gray and Webster streets.
Powers Brown, the 10th-largest architectural firm in Houston, relocated from 1314 Texas Ave. Powers Brown said in a statement it will pursue a wellness certification and LEED certification, which will be made possible by extremely competitive rent rates. (more…)
Today Jeffrey Brown was inducted into the AIA College of Fellows.
Please click on the link below to download the video.
Jeffrey Brown, FAIA Investiture Ceremony
Demand for office space in suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia is still struggling to rebound to pre-recession levels, but at least one D.C.-area developer is rolling the dice that the tenants will come if you build it first.
Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) plans to break ground speculatively on a 75,000-square-foot office building at the University of Maryland's 126-acre research park. The park, called M Square, is already home the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Raytheon.
The planned three-story building at 5801 Research Park Drive was designed by Powers Brown Architecture and is slated to include 25,000-square-foot floorplates and an outdoor plaza.
The vacancy rate in suburban Maryland now hovers at about 20 percent, according first-quarter stats from JLL, with Prince George's County coming in higher at about 29 percent. At the same time, the university's presence has been a positive influence on the office market, generating demand from university spinoffs like FlexEl LLC, which committed earlier this year to leasing 10,000 square feet in College Park for a new research, development and manufacturing facility. (more…)
Powers Brown Architecture Houston office has moved to its new location at 2100 Travis St, Suite 501. The firm has moved from its original location at the Historic Great Southwest Building in Downtown Houston to the recently renovated building in midtown. Please update your address books with our new address.
Powers Brown Architecture
2100 Travis St, Suite 501
Houston, TX 77002
MISSOURI CITY, Texas – Phase I of Gateway Southwest Industrial Park, a 349,000-square-foot, multi-building development has been completed in Missouri City, on the southwest side of Houston.
Joint venture partners Conor Commercial Real Estate and USAA Real Estate Co. said the first phase consists of two speculative, industrial structures designed and built to provide warehouse and distribution space for single- or multi-tenant uses. (more…)
21-story hotel and condo tower: Thompson Hotel
[pdf-embedder url="http://powersbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/San-Antonio-Express-News-Mar-2016-Riverwalk.pdf"]
by John David Suayan
The City of Galveston and the Port of Galveston on Wednesday hosted the grand opening of the Downtown Intermodal Transportation Terminal.
Galveston County Navigation District No. 1 Chair Vandy Anderson served as the master of ceremonies. Anderson began the program by paraphrasing a quote from President John F. Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech. Listen (3:41)
“We all do these things (not) because they are easy; we do it because they are hard,” said
Anderson, adding the terminal is among the “hard” things Galveston has done.
The terminal serves as the terminus and headquarters of Island Transit. Located at 25th Street and Strand, it is a project of the Galveston Livable Communities Initiative.
It also offers additional parking spaces for Downtown and will house three retailers.
(more…)
Ivy Lofts to feature small living spaces, customizable amenities in downtown
By Allen Jones
A development company is planning to construct Houston's first "micro-unit" condominium in east downtown and is marketing its small living spaces and customizable amenities as an affordable option for young single adults wanting to live and work in the area.
As the millennial generation enters the workforce, land developers are attempting to determine where the demographic of adults between the ages of 20 and 37 want to work, live and play.
Novel Creative Development LLC is betting that its development, The Ivy Lofts, will appeal to that generation. (more…)
by Doug Storum on
LOUISVILLE — Denver-based Comunale Properties said Wednesday it will construct a building with small-bay industrial and flex space in the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville. (more…)
Office amenity space in Lake Jackson just got a lot swankier.
That's where Michigan-based The Dow Chemical Co.(NYSE: DOW) has a five-building research and development complex, dubbed the Texas Innovation Center, underway. One of the buildings called the Diamond Center wrapped up a few weeks ago, said Mike Wyatt of Core Real Estate LLC, the developer of the project. Click through the slideshow to take a tour of the Diamond Center.
The Diamond Center is the employee services building at Dow's new campus in Lake Jackson.… more
The Greater Houston Partnership received Business Facilities' gold award in its 2015 Economic Development Deal of the Year competition for a major campus under construction.
Japan-based Daikin Industries Ltd.' s new $417 million campus in northwest Houston, dubbed the the Daikin-Goodman Comfortplex Campus, claimed the highest-ranking award in the competition. Business Facilities estimates that the new campus will generate $3.9 billion in annual economic impact for the Houston region, creating 4,600 direct jobs and more than 11,000 indirect or induced jobs.
The multistate site selection began in 2013, and Houston was chosen because of Daikin’s $3.7 billion acquisition of Houston’s Goodman Global. The northwest Houston site was chosen for its visibility and the accessible outbound distribution of products made at the plant. (more…)
Realty News Report editor Ralph Bivins has selected the most significant projects, deals and ideas of the Houston real estate market for 2015. These aren’t necessarily the largest or the first. But the deals point to future trends, potential gold mines, noble visions and notable accomplishments by the smart professionals who are making them happen.
Ralph Bivins’ Realty News Report Awards – The Best of Houston 2015:
Realty News Report Award for:
Best Construction Project of the Year – The largest tilt-wall construction project in the world is Daikin Industries’ 4 million square-foot HVAC manufacturing facility, under construction in northwest Houston. Some 4,000 will be employed there, including hundreds relocating from Tennessee. Architecture for the $420 million project is by Powers Brown Architecture, LJB Inc. is the engineer and D.E. Harvey Builders is general contractor. The project, slated to open in 2016, is on Highway 290, three miles west of the Grand Parkway.
Rendering of Daikin’s 4 Million SF Houston facility, which is the largest tilt-wall project in the world
Novel Creative Development LLC has revealed new details for Ivy Lofts, the first “micro-unit” condominium project in Houston.
The Houston developer plans to build the 24-story, 550-unit project on a 1.4-acre city block, bounded by Leeland Avenue, Nagle Street, Pease Avenue and Live Oak Street in East Downtown. The land, which formerly housed a Vietnamese grocery store, was purchased in November 2014 for a little less than $3 million.
Novel Creative Development — founded by a group of doctors, real estate investors and midrise condo developers in New York — was inspired by My Micro NY, the first affordable micro-unit apartment building developed by Michael Bloomberg in Manhattan. They hope to bring the micro-unit concept — units that are less than 500 square feet and geared toward young, single working professionals— to Houston's up-and-coming EaDo neighborhood.
“It’s a new concept for Houston,” said Wen Pin Tsai, Novel Creative Development's vice president of business development. “We feel there’s potential for this in Houston.”
This week, construction is officially under way on a 211,657 square-foot office building at the INOVA Dry Creek campus in southeast metro Denver. Adolfson & Peterson Construction is the general contractor on this development.
INOVA Dry Creek is a campus that will include residential, office, and industrial components. INOVA Dry Creek is located at 7250 South Havana Street near Centennial Airport.
This speculative office project is the first building to begin construction at the 58-acre campus. The development is pursuing LEED Silver certification for energy efficient design.
(more…)
Construction of a transit terminal that will add 159 parking spaces and fresh retail to the island’s downtown could be complete by mid-November, a year later than originally planned, port officials said.
Next month, Port Director Michael Mierzwa is expected to present several leases to the port’s governing board that would allow a restaurant, a specialty convenience store and possibly an art gallery to move into the bottom floor of what will be called the Galveston Transit Terminal underway on the northeast corner of The Strand and 25th Street. Mierzwa declined Monday to divulge the names of the restaurant and retail tenants, saying only that the convenience store would cater to passengers and crews of cruise ships, as well as downtown residents. The retail shops likely won’t be open until December.
The $6.3 million transit terminal, financed largely with a Federal Transit Administration grant, takes up half a block in The Strand Historic District and also will include public restrooms and a city bus terminal. It will connect by ramp to Shearn Moody Plaza, 25th Street and Harborside Drive. New construction of such magnitude is rare downtown, particularly in The Strand Historic District, defined by its 19th-century feel and carefully restored buildings occupied by galleries, restaurants, lofts, professional offices and shops.
The port hopes to eventually use the spaces at the new terminal for parking for cruise-ship passengers. But until then, the spaces will be available to the general public in a downtown that has a shortage of places to park.The port in November of 2011 agreed to partner with the city in building the transportation terminal after outbidding Mitchell Historic Properties for the neighboring Shearn Moody Garage, which the city owned. The port bid about $3 million for the parking garage where it had a long-term lease and charged downtown office workers and others to park. Port employees, other tenants atShearn Moody Plaza and the public all use the 330-space Shearn Moody garage.
Mitchell Historic Properties bid $1.75 million. After losing the bid Mitchell Historic Properties withdrew as developer of the transportation terminal saying Shearn Moody Garage had been essential for its development.
The port also agreed to bring the Shearn Moody Garage up to code at the cost of about $1 million. The city will lease the transportation center from the port for 40 years.
(more…)
Stream Realty has broken ground on the second phase of Bay Area Business Park, bringing more spec industrial space to what's become a very tight submarket.
The first phase of Bay Area Business Park includes three buildings, delivered in 2009, that total 1.2 million square feet. That phase is 100 percent leased to tenants including Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) and Calpine Corp. (NYSE: CPN)
Randall Davis Co. plans to break ground this fall on a new high-rise condominium, which is seeing brisk sales despite the oil slump.
The Houston developer and its development partner, DC Partners, expect to start construction in mid-October on Arabella, a 33-story, 99-unit condo tower at 4521 San Felipe. The condominium project, which will feature 10 units with private terrace-top swimming pools, is planned for the former site of Westcreek at River Oaks apartments near Westheimer Road and the 610 Loop in the Galleria area.
Buyers have purchased about 45 percent of the condo units inside Arabella since Randall Davis Co. began presales in April. The project — which will be built near the River Oaks District, a high-end retail development from San Diego-based OliverMcMillan — is expected to be completed in January 2018.
(more…)
A ground breaking ceremony was held at 40th Avenue and Central Park Boulevard in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood which will become the new home for Beverage Distributors Company, LLC, Inc. Construction of this new Stapleton project is now underway.
In August United Properties announced that Beverage Distributors Company, LLC, Inc. has signed to lease 500,000 square feet of space and closed on the purchase of 45 acres of land from Forest City Stapleton. This land is located at I-70 and Havana Street in Denver.
“In 2003 when I became an elected representative of this area there were 3,000 residents living in Stapleton. Today over 20,000 people live in Stapleton and it’s growing everyday. Today is another symbol of that effort and the tremendous dynamic of projects that are taking place here at Stapleton,” stated Mayor Hancock. (more…)
Posted by bruce_buckley at 8/20/2015 1:47 PM CDT
ENR MidAtlantic is proud to announce the winners of its 2015 Best Projects competition, honoring the top projects in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
An independent jury named 34 projects in 17 categories. Seventeen projects were awarded the high honor of “Best Project” in their respective categories. Those projects will advance to the national competition to be considered for a “Best of the Best” national award.
All winning projects will be featured in the October 26, 2015 issue of ENR MidAtlantic and honored during our awards event on Nov. 6 in Baltimore. One project will also be honored as our Best Overall Project in the region. In addition, the jury will also select winners in the Safety award category. Announcements for the additional awards will be made soon. (more…)
POWERS BROWN ARCHITECTURE | St. John Properties is developing a 100,000-square-foot office building in Howard County… more
St. John Properties Inc. is taking over a 100,000-square-foot office project in Howard County that will be a central component of the Annapolis Junction Town Center development.
Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust originally planned to develop the office portion of the $180 million, mixed-use Annapolis Junction development, led by master developer Somerset Construction Co. But when COPT signed on, Somerset hadn't determined whether the office project would be built on a speculative basis, said Neil Greenberg, chief operating officer of Somerset. (more…)
COURTESY | UNITED PROPERTIES
United Properties is planning 850,000 square feet of new industrial development at Enterprise Business Center.
United Properties has leased 500,000 square feet of industrial space to Beverage Distributors Co. LLC in what it calls one of Denver's largest-ever industrial leases, and has purchased 45 acres of land in Stapleton to build even more industrial product.
Beverage Distributors has pre-leased 70 percent of one of the new buildings Minneapolis-based United Properties is planning at Interstate 70 and Havana Street. (more…)
COURTESY | NEWMARK GRUBB KNIGHT FRANK
The first new phase of Inova Dry Creek will break ground in September.
The first new phase of Inova Dry Creek, a Centennial mixed-use development formerly called the Dry Creek Corporate Center, is set to break ground in September near the soon-to-open Topgolf entertainment complex.
Additions to Inova Dry Creek were announced under its former name in November. Four buildings totaling about 300,000 square feet were built on the Dry Creek Corporate Center campus years ago, but 58 acres of land sat untouched there until it was acquired by United Properties last October.
Current plans by United Properties call for 695,000 new square feet of industrial, office and multi family space in a total of six new buildings on the campus, to be built in phases over the coming years.
The first new phase of the project will be a five-story, 212,000-square-foot speculative office building. The building will be located at 7250 S. Havana St. near Topgolf International, which will open in August.
The Class A office building will include 14.5-foot ceilings, nine-foot window heights, flexible floor plates and will seek LEED Silver certification.
The new building will be only the second speculative building to break ground in the southeast suburban market in the last few years, with One Belleview Station being the first. (more…)
National shipping retailer UPS (NYSE: UPS) plans to invest an additional $35.19 million to expand its Northeast San Antonio distribution center.
Additional space for the industrial center, which sits on a 19.8-acre plot at 6400 Seven States Blvd., will bolster UPS' presence in San Antonio amid the city's industrial boom.
Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture is leading the expansion, which will include additional warehouse space, an autoshop, and site renovations and improvements.
This won't be the first industrial project for Powers Brown, which has done design work for Walgreens and FedEx. An associate for the company confirmed that it is working on the project.
Work is set to begin Sept. 15 and take about six months to complete, according to a construction permit. The site has an appraised value of $5.3 million.
by rnrbivins
HOUSTON – MetroNational is developing an office building on the north side of the Katy Freeway, representing a northward expansion of its 265-acre Memorial City mixed-use development.
The 240,000-square-foot office building will house the U.S. headquarters of Cemex, a Mexico-based cement and building materials company.
The six-story office building will be situated on MetroNational’s 18-acre tract located at the northwest corner of Gessner Road and the Katy Freeway.
(more…)
A proposed condominium tower in downtown Houston will try to entice apartment renters into owning a condominium with aggressive pricing and a glamorous Hollywood theme.
Houston real estate developer Randall Davis plans to break ground this summer on the Marlowe, a 20-story, 100-unit condominium tower on about 0.3 acres at 1311 Polk Street, across the street from the House of Blues and a couple of blocks from the Toyota Center and Discovery Green park.
The gray and white glass building will resemble a pinstripe suit, and the floor plans are named after great movie legends like Brando, Newman and Redford. The one- and two-bedroom units, which average 1,200 square feet, are priced between $400,000 and $1.4 million.
Well-heeled Houstonians can save money by owning a condominium unit at Marlowe rather than renting an apartment downtown, Davis said. Marketing materials for Marlowe state that someone making at least $150,000 a year with good credit theoretically can have a lower monthly mortgage than the average downtown apartment rent of $2,800 per month.
“Why would you want to rent and throw your money into the street?” Davis said. “We want to get people who rent into homeownership. That’s the premise for Marlowe.”
Davis also hopes his in-unit and common-area amenities will entice renters into homeownership.
The units feature 10-foot ceilings with high-end appliances, gas ranges, imported cabinets and choices of hardwood floor, stones and porcelain finishes. The Marlowe also has seven penthouse units with larger terraces, an enclosed two-car private garage, 12-foot ceilings, solar shades, a wine cooler, a Bertazzoni kitchen appliance package and an air jet tub.
(more…)
A proposed luxury condominium tower in the Galleria area will feature six penthouse units with private swimming pools on their terraces.
Houston real estate developer Randall Davis plans to break ground in October on the Arábella, a 33- or 34-story luxury condominium tower on the site of the former Westcreek apartment complex, within walking distance to the River Oaks District, a ultra high-end retail development from San Diego-based OliverMcMillan.
Arábella will feature 105 to 109 condominium units, ranging in size from 1,400 square feet to 5,800 square feet and in price from $800,000 to $4 million. The units — which will have floor plans named after New York City neighborhoods like SoHo and Tribeca — will feature European cabinets, high-end Miele appliances and a range of customizable options for wood floors, stone finishes and carpeting. (more…)
Construction is underway at Daikin Industries’ campus in Waller, which will consolidate many of the company’s operations for its Daikin, Goodman and Amana heating and cooling products in Texas and Tennessee.
Company officials from Japan and Houston gathered with community representatives at a groundbreaking last month.
The campus represents a $417 million investment for the Japanese company, which gained a foothold in the U.S. with the purchase of Houston-based Goodman Manufacturing Co. several years ago.
The campus will house engineering, logistics, procurement, manufacturing and marketing operations. It’s being built on 90 acres just north of U.S. 290, about three miles west of the Grand Parkway.
Daikin will employ up to 4,000 people at the campus, which will open in mid 2016. The campus will contain 3 million to 4 million square feet of space.
Nora OlabiDigital associate editor-Houston Business Journal
California-based private real estate investment trust Griffin Capital Corp. will put down $135 million for two buildings in the Energy Corridor's Westgate development.
Griffin Capital is expected to snatch up Westgate 2 and 3, which currently headquarters the Houston-based engineering firm Wood Group Mustang,according to Real Estate Alert. HFF has been marketing the buildings, Houston Business Journal previously reported.
The Westgate 2 and 3 cumulatively are 412,000 square feet. Westgate is a three-building development built on 21 acres on the north side of Interstate 10, east of Barker Cypress Road at 17320 Katy Freeway and 17325 Park Row Road. (more…)
Suzanne EdwardsReporter-Houston Business Journal
Houston-based auto repair franchise Christian Brothers Automotive has kicked off its nationwide expansion by 135 stores — including three new Houston locations — with a new headquarters at 17725 Katy Freeway, representing a significant increase in square footage. (more…)
Olivia PulsinelliWeb Producer-Houston Business Journal
Another new business park is underway near The Woodlands despite falling oil prices.
The J. Beard Real Estate Co., based in The Woodlands, announced plans for Havenwood Office Park earlier this month. Construction is expected to be complete by the fourth quarter.
Havenwood will replace the Brookhaven Business Park at 25700 Interstate 45 North, between Woodlands Parkway and Sawdust Road in Spring. The development team cleared Brookhaven's two single-story, 1970's-era buildings from the site last week, the Houston Chronicle reports. (more…)
Olivia PulsinelliWeb Producer-Houston Business Journal
Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. and New Jersey-based Prudential Real Estate Investors have begun construction on One Grand Crossing, a speculative office building in a mixed-use development in west Houston.
The Class A, three-story building will be 172,000 square feet, and the offices will be ready for occupancy in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Sugar Land-based Rosenberger Construction is the general contractor, and Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture designed the project, which is seeking LEED Silver certification. Alabama-basedCadence Bank provided construction financing, and CBRE Houston's Bonnie Kelley and Dave Hanusa will handle leasing. (more…)
Molly ArmbristerReporter-Denver Business Journal
A new mixed-use corporate center will bring 650,000 square feet of space to Centennial in a development called Dry Creek Corporate Center.
It's not far from the 42-acre Jones District development announced a month ago.
United Properties has partnered with Principal Real Estate Investors to develop a 58-acre parcel east of Interstate 25 along East Dry Creek Road into office, industrial, residential and hospitality uses, beginning with a 158,000-square-foot office building that will break ground in spring 2015. (more…)
A new shopping center under construction in a hot Galleria location counts a big-box store as well as an extended-stay hotel among its tenants.
A site plan for the Shoppes at Uptown Crossing at the southeast corner of Westpark and South Rice Avenue includes a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a TownePlace Suites Hotel, El Pollo Loco, a Chick-Fil-A, a Jack in the Box, aMattress Firm, dentist's offices, an AT&T store and a Starbucks. The size of the Wal-Mart was not immediately available.
Jenny Agee-Aldridge
Reporter-Houston Business Journal
A privately held commercial real estate company is set to develop a low-rise office building to add to its growing portfolio near the Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) campus.
The Woodlands-based Halberdier Holdings LLC has purchased 2.5 acres at the southeast corner of Hardy Toll Road and Northgate Crossing to build a 96,000-square-foot, four-story, Class A speculative office building. It plans to break ground on the project in December, with a completion date slated for the end of 2015. (more…)
By: Mitch Bloomquist | Tilt-Up Concrete Association
CLASS A TILT?
Contrary to a once popular belief, class A tilt is not an oxymoron. Architects, engineers, contractors and developers aware of the architectural potential of tilt-up concrete construction have demonstrated time after time the superb quality that can be expected of the construction method.
According to CoStar Group, the world leader for commercial real estate intelligence, “a class A building is an extremely desirable investment-grade property with the highest quality construction and workmanship, materials and systems, significant architectural features, the highest quality/expensive finish and trim, abundant amenities, first rate maintenance and management; usually occupied by prestigious tenants with above average rental rates and in an excellent location with exceptional accessibility.” While these criteria offer a general picture of a class A facility, the label is somewhat subjective and most definitely relative to the market it is in. An excellent location in Houston, for example, may not fit the same criteria as an excellent location in New York City. Essential amenities in one market may not be as important in another. In Houston, every class A facility offers structured parking, for example. As Paul Coonrod, Managing Director of Stream Realty’s Houston office team and Partner in the firm’s Houston office put it, “Houston gets hot!” The intricacies of each market affect these ratings. “Even every submarket is different,” said Coonrod. “Houston, for instance, is divided into nine major submarkets.”
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Written by Powers Brown Architecture’s Jeffrey Brown, Tiltwallism is designed to be an introductory resource to architects and an inspiration to contractors, developers and structural consultants who have encountered the technology of tilt wall construction. The vast amount of trade and technical information available on the subject is interpreted in a formal treatment for the first time on a subject at the forefront of the architectural role in an era of lowered construction costs.
Brown provides a full synthetic treatment of tilt wall construction by laying out the design opportunities in engaging in the architectural exploration of a low-technology / low-cost form of construction. He explains its history, methodology, and relationship to current architectural approaches to meaning. Brown writes in a balanced style targeted at both architects and academics that will also be accessible to non-architects and allied professionals. The title is richly illustrated in an effort to be useful to the many ancillary professions such as contractors, developers, and real estate brokers who are driving this increasingly prevalent approach to investment architecture.
This year’s show benefited the Houston Furniture Bank, The Texas Association for Interior Design (TAID) and The Houston Design Community. The Houston Furniture Bank is a non-profit organization whose mission statement is to “make empty houses into homes”. The IIDA Houston City Center is proud to support an organization that is actively changing the Houston community, one home at a time. The Texas Association for Interior Design (TAID) is an advocacy group representing designers and speaking as a single, unified voice on legislative issues which affect the business of interior design in Texas. IIDA strongly supports this organization that ensures the future of Texas interior design. (more…)
Houston-based Freeway Properties has broken ground on the first mid-rise office building to be built west of the Grand Parkway in Katy.
The six-story, 151,000-square-foot building, dubbed Katy Ranch Offices Phase, will be located immediately off the eastbound exit ramp in the 130-acre mixed-use Katy Ranch Crossing complex, and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2015. The Class A-building will feature 24,800-square-foot floor plates with 45-foot bay depths for flexible space planning.
An Illinois-based manager and developer of industrial warehouse and distribution facilities has entered the Houston market with its first project.
International Airport Centers broke ground earlier this month on a 225,360-square-foot warehouse property located at 300 West Airtex Blvd. in North Houston near Interstate 45. It is scheduled for completion later this summer. Ed Frantz and Faron Wiley of CBRE’s Houston office have been hired to lease the project.
“Institutional capital has favored Houston due to the market’s sustained growth and excellent opportunities for business development,” Tom Lynch of CBRE said in a release. “This project is an indication of Houston’s continued demand for Class A warehouse and distribution facilities, particularly those with high clear heights.” (more…)
Transwestern said Thursday it will begin construction on a 660,000-square-foot Class A office project within the Energy Corridor.
The development, Westgate, sits on a 20.8-acre tract near Interstate 10 and Barker Cypress Road and will consist of three buildings that are 67 percent preleased. Transwestern did not disclose the tenants.
The Houston-based real estate company acquired the land for the development on Sept. 13 from Hearst Corp. for an undisclosed amount.
Powers Brown Architecture of Texas LLC specified aluminum composite material (ACM) panels and perforated aluminum panels in its design to renovate Island...
A Courtyard by Marriott hotel broke ground last week in Generation Park, Houston-based McCord Development Inc.’s 4,000-acre master-planned commercial park at the...
Powers Brown Architecture of Texas LLC specified aluminum composite material (ACM) panels and perforated aluminum panels in its design to renovate Island Transit’s Galveston Transit Terminal for busses. The perforated panels provide a vehicle screen and ventilation. The ACM was used for sunshading components.
Galveston Transit Terminal is located in the Strand Historic District in downtown Galveston, which is a National Historic Landmark District with Victorian-era buildings and retail businesses. The ground level of the 72,954-square-foot building houses the bus terminal, 4,880 square feet of retail space, 2,196 square feet of space for a visitor center and restrooms, and a 917-square-foot waiting area. The upper levels contain the garage with 159 parking spaces. (more…)
Construction is the general contractor, a spokesman said. Jon Lindenberger, Walter Menuet and Paul Dominique of Colliers International will market the property, per the release.
“We are excited to kick off this project and offer a modern state-of-the-art distribution facility to a wide range of industrial users serving the expanding petrochemical and Port of Houston industries,” CHI Managing Director Cory Driskill said in the release.
Driskill leads CHI’s development and investment efforts in Houston, per the release. He was hired a year ago and previously served as vice president of leasing for Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE) in Houston. Prior to that, he worked for Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co.
A three-building industrial campus is breaking ground in northeast Houston -- an area where industrial activity has been steadily increasing. Dallas-based real estate development company Jackson-Shaw...
“Since purchasing Market Center, we’ve been thrilled to explore options for renovating these historic buildings,” said URG founder and chief executive officer, Patrick Callahan. “We’re excited to see our plans coming to fruition, ensuring that it is a premier LoDo destination for office and retail tenants.”
Renovations to the 121,000-square-foot complex include exterior and interior upgrades, as well as enhancements to the pedestrian experience and expanded amenities for tenants.
“Our goal with Market Center is place-making at the midway point between Larimer Square and Union Station, while celebrating everything LoDo has to offer and paying respect to the history of the buildings,” said Cristina Dawson, SVP-head of Asset Management at Stars Investments.
The architect for the project is Powers Brown Architecture a professional services firm practicing architecture, interior design, programming and urban design. The firm will oversee the design of the renovation through to completion. Award-winning Tryba Architects were also involved in the early stages of the project. The General Contractor is Bristlecone Construction.
The project consisted of three scopes of work starting with a full mechanical, electrical, and plumbing overhaul of the building.
Built between 1872 and 1902, Market Center includes five buildings stitched together to offer a continuous floor plate. The buildings’ façades were restored to their historic past and the outdoor patio areas have also been expanded and will include new retail and restaurant patios.
According to Tryba’s Senior Associate Sarah Snider Komppa, the five separate buildings were connected in the 1970s and renovated to create basement retail by “pushing” the storefronts away from the sidewalk.
“We were excited to help URG and their partners return the storefronts back to the sidewalk’s edge to make for a more complete pedestrian experience and create better retail frontages,” said Komppa. “As all five buildings are historic, the design of the new storefront windows needed to reflect the original window design as best we could determine from historic photos. We were able to design custom windows that replicate the historic design yet are also operable to allow the restaurants the ability to open their dining areas up to the sidewalk.”
Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. and New York-based Clarion Partners have broken ground on the second phase of Fallbrook Pines Business Park in northwest Houston, according to an April 9 press release.
The groundbreaking ceremony of Thompson San Antonio and The Arts Residences took place on Tuesday at the project site in San Antonio.
Thompson San Antonio and The Arts Residences will be a mixed-use development featuring a high-rise tower and hotel with 162 guest rooms and 58 residences with luxury amenities.
The groundbreaking began with the ceremony of shovels, followed by keynote speakers, including the developer, Roberto Contreras CEO of DC Partners; Acho Azuike, COO and Managing Director of DC Partners; Leland Rocchio, President of Jordan Foster's Commercial Construction Group, the general contractor, among others.
Powers Brown Architecture, an award-winning Houston-based firm, and Guadalajara-based Amass & G were selected to design the property in collaboration with Two Roads Hospitality. The property will feature oversized guest rooms and suites, a full-service spa and fitness centre, an outdoor pool overlooking the River Walk, and a 3,600-square-foot ballroom for luxury meetings and events.
Emilio Guzmán, chief of investor relations and executive vice president of DC Partners, wrote about the project in August 2017 in a guest column for the Rio Grande Guardian.
“As we see it, smart, forward-thinking investment in downtown San Antonio real estate is a non-zero-sum game; it is mutually beneficial to everyone involved,” Guzmán wrote.
“DC Partners is bullish on San Antonio, and with good reason. It is a dynamic city with the kind of robust, diverse economy that signals enduring growth and prosperity. San Antonio’s thriving business community boasts the headquarters of two Fortune Global 500 firms and seven Fortune 1000 companies. Its city government is focused on attracting and growing businesses that foster innovation and lure talent in key industries that complement the region’s strengths—aerospace, biosciences and health care, defense, energy, information technology and cybersecurity, and manufacturing.”
Guzmán said DC Partners has hired Jordan Foster Construction to build the 20-story tower, which will be constructed at the corner of North Saint Mary’s Street and Lexington Avenue, near the Tobin Center for Performing Arts.
Developed by DC Partners and San Antonio-based Universal Service Group, and designed by Powers Brown Architecture, the project is scheduled to be completed in 2019. The Arts Residences at the Thompson San Antonio is marketed by Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty. 
At the 2017 Tilt-Up Convention and Expo in Miami I took the opportunity to recognize several individuals who went above and beyond in their service to this organization. Notably missing was our immediate past president, Jeffrey Brown, who for the first time in perhaps a decade, could not attend, as he was supporting his business while it battled through issues presented by Hurricane Harvey in Texas. So, I will take this opportunity to thank him here in order to help everyone understand the depth of his impact on this industry and this organization. I want to do this not only to affirm his impact but also to inspire new leaders to emerge.
Jeffrey joined the TCA Board of Directors in the same year I joined the TCA. It was perfect timing. We immediately connected, as I had just left work at an architectural firm in Iowa. Over the past eight or nine years he has been that tie for me back to the world of academia, architectural theory and design. While other friends of mine working for firms across the globe have questioned my decision to work for a construction trade organization, Jeffrey has continuously confirmed my belief that there is good work to be done related to the study and advancement of everyday architecture and building.
You may know, tilt-up has not always been perceived as the most glamorous concept in the architectural community. Calling design professionals’ attention to the versatility, applicability and aesthetic potential of tilt-up has been a focus of our organization for three decades. The Tilt-Up Achievement Awards program has been a great tool for communicating this, and it can only be effective with the great work of our members, like Jeffrey and his firm. Powers Brown Architecture has won 21 achievement awards over the past 12 years, making them one of the top five most decorated members of all time. Jeffrey is the only two-time recipient of the TCA Irving Gill Progressive Architecture Award and has been the subject or author of more than a dozen articles for the Tilt-Up Today magazine. Jeffrey has spoken at six of the last seven Tilt-Up Conventions in addition to numerous talks he has given at other industry events. While many people need a dictionary to follow along, no one can deny the passion, incredible knowledge, and infectiousness of his talks. Overall, his work has shed new light on tilt-up and broadened the appeal for many who previously had limited knowledge and/or interest. As Paul Coonrod, a developer with Stream in Houston, said: Jeffrey was making tilt wall sexy.
HOUSTON – January 10, 2018 – Powers Brown Architecture announces the appointment of founding principal Jeffrey Brown, FAIA to the position of CEO. Brown will oversee the resources, development and management of the company’s international practice including establishment of future locations and growth in existing markets. These include the Denver and Washington, D.C. office locations established in the past five to ten years. More recently, in 2015, the firm established offices in Canada, and Brown will oversee their consolidation in Toronto. He will maintain his role as Creative Director for the firm. 
Brennan Investment Group LLC is launching its first development in the Denver market with a...
By Jill Jamieson-Nichols
ATLANTA—Special Agent in Charge David J. LeValley, FBI Atlanta Field Office, alongwith Acting Administrator Timothy Horne, General Services Administration (GSA), and Principal Claiborne Williams, FD Stonewater, announce the completion and transfer to the FBI of its new state-of-the-art, 151,066 square foot law enforcement facility that will serve as home to the FBI Atlanta Field Office at 3000 Flowers Road S., Atlanta, Georgia 30341, located on the Mercer University Atlanta Campus.
Earlier today, FBI Director Christopher Wray presided over ribbon cutting ceremonies that included Acting Administrator Timothy Horne, GSA, along with Principal Claiborne Williams, FD Stonewater.
Also in attendance were numerous local, state, and other federal law enforcement executives and their command staff.
Powers Brown Architecture has announced that John Cadenhead, AIA, has been promoted to Director of Design.
As the Director of Design, Cadenhead leads the Urban Design / Master Planning studio. He has 14 years of experience with Powers Brown Architecture overseeing projects through schematic design and design development, and ensures the design intent is expressed throughout the construction phase. He has worked on many of the firm’s most notable projects including Arabella, the tallest building ever designed by the firm.
Powers Brown Architecture has announced that Kristen Stapper, AIA, and Roman Mendez, AIA, have been promoted to Project Manager. As project manager, Kristen and Roman lead the project coordination and documentation process. They both oversee and maintain project documentation scheduling within the project team’s agreed upon schedule, and review the documents to ensure the client’s standards are fulfilled.
The project marks DC Partners’ debut on the San Antonio market. In partnership with Universal Service Group, the development is anticipated to create approximately 1,300 jobs and is slated to break ground this summer.
The 337,000-square foot mixed-use development will replace the parking lot at the intersection of North St. Mary’s Street and Lexington Avenue, across the river from the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and next to Hotel Indigo. The project will include The Arts Residences—66 luxury condominiums atop the city’s first Thompson Hotel and is slated for completion in 2019.
Thompson Hotels is a member of the Two Roads Hospitality portfolio and features a collection of boutique hotels and resorts in locations such as Manhattan, Chicago, Nashville, Seattle, Playa del Carmen and Los Cabos. The project’s architect is Powers Brown, while the interior designer is Amass & G. The Arts Residences at the Thompson Hotel is exclusively marketed by Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty. The for-sale residences are priced from the $400s to over $4.5 million for penthouses. 
In December of 2016, the City of Denver passed Code of Ordinances Ch. 4, ARTICLE V. – Energy Efficiency in Commercial and Multifamily Buildings. This ordinance follows in the footsteps of 17 other large cities in the United States who have decided to benchmark the energy use of their public, commercial and multifamily buildings. Now, for the first time, owners of most property types that are more than 25,000-square-feet will be required to publicly disclose how much energy their building is using. This year, the first wave of the ordinance is underway—owners of buildings more than 50,000-square-feet have until September 1 to comply or face fines—and by June 1, 2018, every building over 25,000-squre-feet is required to comply.
Why it’s Happening
The adage “what does not get measured does not get managed” explains the rationale behind the adoption of the new program. Denver’s 2020 Sustainability Goals contain two components that directly influenced the adoption of the ordinance—a climate goal to reduce overall city CO 2 emissions to 1990 levels and an energy goal to maintain the same energy usage as the year 2012—and currently commercial and multifamily buildings account for 57 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. After an 18-month stakeholder process it was deemed that benchmarking and transparency was the best way for the city to achieve significant reductions in these structures.
The program requires the use of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Two main data points from Portfolio Manager are what drive competition for efficiency in markets with similar policies—every building that complies will have an energy use intensity per square foot (EUI) and a 1-100 score comparing a building to a climate-normalized nation-wide survey on buildings of the same typology. Denver is going to rank building types on the city level as well. All the data will be publicly available in list form as well as on an interactive map. This process has worked well for other cities with this policy. Transparency and competition has driven an average 2.4 percent energy use reduction annually. Spending on those retrofits also bolsters local spending and job creation. 
“We continue to see corporations access both the sale-leaseback and build-to-suit markets. They view this as a better use of their capital; they can make more money by investing in their own product versus investing in real estate,” Shelby Pruett, co-chairman & CEO of Capri EGM, told Commercial Property Executive.
Capri EGM—which specializes in corporate sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing as well as the acquisition of institutional quality commercial properties—acquired the office project at 7250 S. Havana St. in Centennial, Colo. from its developers, United Properties and Principal Real Estate Investors. The acquisition price remains undisclosed; however, according to a report by the Winn Richey Team and CBRE Group, the development cost of the five-story building was approximately $70 million.
Comcast pre-leased Inova I in June 2016 under a 10.5-year agreement. The global mass media and technology company plans to utilize the LEED-certified building, which will accommodate 1,400 employees, as the national headquarters for its Business Services Group. Designed by Powers Brown Architecture, Inova I will feature the coveted state-of-the-art, sustainable design that many office users require as a magnet for talent. It’s the type of property that’s eyed among investors in the build-to-suit arena.
Congratulations to our team involved in the successful delivery of Bay Area Business Park located in Pasadena, Texas, winning the HBJ Landmark Award: Industrial. The 137-acre project near the Port of Houston’s Bayport and Barbours Cut shipping terminals was built in two phases, with over 2 million sf of warehouse space, which is among the largest over the last 10 years.
Team:
Developer: Stream Realty Partners
Architect: Powers Brown Architecture
MEP: Design-Build
General Contractor: Rosenberger
DENVER – April 18, 2017 – Powers Brown Architecture has announced that Lauren Amber Prestenbach RID, LEED AP ID+C, EDAC, has joined the firm in the new position of Director of Interiors. In this role, Prestenbach will oversee the firm’s Interior Design strategy and marketing efforts and be responsible for new business development in the Denver Market.
“We are delighted to have Lauren Amber join our growing Powers Brown Architecture family,” said Jeffrey Brown, FAIA, Principal at Powers Brown Architecture. “With Lauren Amber, we are bringing our collaborative and systems integrated approach at the core of our interior design services and practice experience to Denver. Working alongside her will only add to our knowledge base and allow us to better serve the clients in the Denver area.”
Prestenbach is a Registered Interior Designer, LEED and EDAC accredited professional, and is an active member in IIDA and ASID. She has 15 years of experience in business development and interior design, specializing in corporate and healthcare interior architectural and facility optimization.
“I am excited for this opportunity to join the Powers Brown Architecture team,” said Prestenbach. “The firm has made a commitment to the Interior Design practice, and I am very enthusiastic and eager to lead that effort in the Colorado office. I look forward to expanding the opportunities that Powers Brown Architecture has established.”
Prior to joining Powers Brown Architecture, Prestenbach worked at ELEMENTS and served the Greater Colorado Area as business development in their Architectural Products Division specializing in DIRTT and flooring needs. She has 12 years as an Interior Designer in Houston, before moving to Denver. She is a graduate of the Art Institute of Houston.
To learn more about Powers Brown Architecture, visit www.powersbrown.com.
Photo by Dror Baldinger, AIA
A big office lease in Irving will fill a big chunk of one new building, and a second will prompt construction of another project.
International firm Atos SE has rented more than 100,000 square feet for a new North Texas office in Stream Realty Partners Connection Park building near Interstate 635.
The business technologies firm signed a long-term lease for three floors in the 141,000-square-foot office building, which just opened its doors.
The Connection Park building near Freeport Parkway and Interstate 635 is just north of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The building is a joint project by Stream Realty, Chief Partners and Alex Brown Realty. 
Powers Brown Architecture Houston office has moved to its new location at 2100 Travis St, Suite 501. The firm has moved from its original location at the Historic Great Southwest Building in Downtown Houston to the recently renovated building in midtown. Please update your address books with our new address.
Powers Brown Architecture
2100 Travis St, Suite 501
Houston, TX 77002
MISSOURI CITY, Texas – Phase I of Gateway Southwest Industrial Park, a 349,000-square-foot, multi-building development has been completed in Missouri City, on the southwest side of Houston.
Joint venture partners Conor Commercial Real Estate and USAA Real Estate Co. said the first phase consists of two speculative, industrial structures designed and built to provide warehouse and distribution space for single- or multi-tenant uses. 
“We all do these things (not) because they are easy; we do it because they are hard,” said
Anderson, adding the terminal is among the “hard” things Galveston has done.
The terminal serves as the terminus and headquarters of Island Transit. Located at 25th Street and Strand, it is a project of the Galveston Livable Communities Initiative.
It also offers additional parking spaces for Downtown and will house three retailers.
A development company is planning to construct Houston's first "micro-unit" condominium in east downtown and is marketing its small living spaces and customizable amenities as an affordable option for young single adults wanting to live and work in the area.
As the millennial generation enters the workforce, land developers are attempting to determine where the demographic of adults between the ages of 20 and 37 want to work, live and play.
Novel Creative Development LLC is betting that its development, The Ivy Lofts, will appeal to that generation. 
Novel Creative Development — founded by a group of doctors, real estate investors and midrise condo developers in New York — was inspired by My Micro NY, the first affordable micro-unit apartment building developed by Michael Bloomberg in Manhattan. They hope to bring the micro-unit concept — units that are less than 500 square feet and geared toward young, single working professionals— to Houston's up-and-coming EaDo neighborhood.
This week, construction is officially under way on a 211,657 square-foot office building at the INOVA Dry Creek campus in southeast metro Denver. 
Construction of a transit terminal that will add 159 parking spaces and fresh retail to the island’s downtown could be complete by mid-November, a year later than originally planned, port officials said.
Next month, Port Director Michael Mierzwa is expected to present several leases to the port’s governing board that would allow a restaurant, a specialty convenience store and possibly an art gallery to move into the bottom floor of what will be called the Galveston Transit Terminal underway on the northeast corner of The Strand and 25th Street. Mierzwa declined Monday to divulge the names of the restaurant and retail tenants, saying only that the convenience store would cater to passengers and crews of cruise ships, as well as downtown residents. The retail shops likely won’t be open until December.
The $6.3 million transit terminal, financed largely with a Federal Transit Administration grant, takes up half a block in The Strand Historic District and also will include public restrooms and a city bus terminal. It will connect by ramp to Shearn Moody Plaza, 25th Street and Harborside Drive. New construction of such magnitude is rare downtown, particularly in The Strand Historic District, defined by its 19th-century feel and carefully restored buildings occupied by galleries, restaurants, lofts, professional offices and shops.
The port hopes to eventually use the spaces at the new terminal for parking for cruise-ship passengers. But until then, the spaces will be available to the general public in a downtown that has a shortage of places to park.The port in November of 2011 agreed to partner with the city in building the transportation terminal after outbidding Mitchell Historic Properties for the neighboring Shearn Moody Garage, which the city owned. The port bid about $3 million for the parking garage where it had a long-term lease and charged downtown office workers and others to park. Port employees, other tenants atShearn Moody Plaza and the public all use the 330-space Shearn Moody garage.
Mitchell Historic Properties bid $1.75 million. After losing the bid Mitchell Historic Properties withdrew as developer of the transportation terminal saying Shearn Moody Garage had been essential for its development.
The port also agreed to bring the Shearn Moody Garage up to code at the cost of about $1 million. The city will lease the transportation center from the port for 40 years.
Randall Davis Co. plans to break ground this fall on a new high-rise condominium, which is seeing brisk sales despite the oil slump.
The Houston developer and its development partner, DC Partners, expect to start construction in mid-October on Arabella, a 33-story, 99-unit condo tower at 4521 San Felipe. The condominium project, which will feature 10 units with private terrace-top swimming pools, is planned for the former site of Westcreek at River Oaks apartments near Westheimer Road and the 610 Loop in the Galleria area.
Buyers have purchased about 45 percent of the condo units inside Arabella since Randall Davis Co. began presales in April. The project — which will be built near the River Oaks District, a high-end retail development from San Diego-based OliverMcMillan — is expected to be completed in January 2018.
A ground breaking ceremony was held at 40th Avenue and Central Park Boulevard in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood which will become the new home for Beverage Distributors Company, LLC, Inc. Construction of this new Stapleton project is now underway.
In August United Properties announced that Beverage Distributors Company, LLC, Inc. has signed to lease 500,000 square feet of space and closed on the purchase of 45 acres of land from Forest City Stapleton. This land is located at I-70 and Havana Street in Denver.
“In 2003 when I became an elected representative of this area there were 3,000 residents living in Stapleton. Today over 20,000 people live in Stapleton and it’s growing everyday. Today is another symbol of that effort and the tremendous dynamic of projects that are taking place here at Stapleton,” stated Mayor Hancock. 
COURTESY | UNITED PROPERTIES
United Properties is planning 850,000 square feet of new industrial development at Enterprise Business Center.
COURTESY | NEWMARK GRUBB KNIGHT FRANK
The first new phase of Inova Dry Creek will break ground in September.
National shipping retailer UPS (NYSE: UPS) plans to invest an additional $35.19 million to expand its Northeast San Antonio distribution center.
Additional space for the industrial center, which sits on a 19.8-acre plot at 6400 Seven States Blvd., will bolster UPS' presence in San Antonio amid the city's industrial boom.
Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture is leading the expansion, which will include additional warehouse space, an autoshop, and site renovations and improvements.
This won't be the first industrial project for Powers Brown, which has done design work for Walgreens and FedEx. An associate for the company confirmed that it is working on the project.
Houston real estate developer 
Arábella will feature 105 to 109 condominium units, ranging in size from 1,400 square feet to 5,800 square feet and in price from $800,000 to $4 million. The units — which will have floor plans named after New York City neighborhoods like SoHo and Tribeca — will feature European cabinets, high-end Miele appliances and a range of customizable options for wood floors, stone finishes and carpeting. 
Company officials from Japan and Houston gathered with community representatives at a groundbreaking last month.
The campus represents a $417 million investment for the Japanese company, which gained a foothold in the U.S. with the purchase of Houston-based Goodman Manufacturing Co. several years ago.
The campus will house engineering, logistics, procurement, manufacturing and marketing operations. It’s being built on 90 acres just north of U.S. 290, about three miles west of the Grand Parkway.
Daikin will employ up to 4,000 people at the campus, which will open in mid 2016. The campus will contain 3 million to 4 million square feet of space.
California-based private real estate investment trust 
A privately held commercial real estate company is set to develop a low-rise office building to add to its growing portfolio near the 
