The official buyer, HCC Southwest Ventures LP, has just closed the deal with the Fleishman Trust. The structure is positioned on slightly more than five acres at 13855 Bissonnet in southwest Houston. David Cook, Todd Mason and Jeff Peden of Cushman and Wakefield of Texas Inc. have represented the college in the acquisition.

The community college will use the property for its new Alief Center, which will open in August. The renovated building will house 14 classrooms, including five computer labs, science lab, staffed child-care facility and bookstore. All classrooms will have telecommunications capabilities. There also will be a 1,700-sf meeting room for community groups and college activities.

The college's Southwest president Sue Cox says about 2,000 students from the Alief area are HCC students. "The fact is that we needed larger space than we had at Elsik (high school) where we also were limited to evenings and weekends, emphasis will be on technology at the center," she says.