Preston Cunningham, vice president of development for the locally based AmREIT, says the purchase of the 45-acre West Road Plaza at 10241 North Freeway was legally complicated due to dual owners. AIG Inc. of New York City owned the center, but Bart McClendon of Houston held title to several ground leases with sublessors bound to the pad sites. Cunningham says AmREIT organized all of the entities and bought out all interests in the property. Martin Bronstein and Ronnie Hecht of Situs Cos. in Houston represented AIG in the deal.
"This project presented many intricate leasing and property ownership issues relating to the unification of the fee and leasehold estates," Kerr Taylor, AmREIT's CEO, says in a press release about the development at the intersection of West Road and Interstate 45.
Wade Green, the REIT's leasing manager, says negotiations have begun with several national retailers for an empty 136,000-sf Hewlett Packard electronics outlet and a 112,000-sf Kmart. The center's third box is a 107,000-sf design leased to Fry's Electronics through 2017. Green says AmREIT's other developments in the trade area have "developed strong interest from credit tenants looking into this intersection." The pad sites are leased to Payless Shoes, Whataburger, Taco Bell and Pep Boys.
Cunningham says the deal got its start last year when AmREIT developed the 16,000-sf McClendon Plaza at the front of the property. The center has since been sold to an investor from California, but the project introduced AmREIT to the various players involved with the property. Cunningham, though hushed about the closing price, says property's value will rise to $20 million or perhaps as much as $25 million when the West Road Plaza work is done. Southwest Bank of Texas provided acquisition and renovation capital.
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