Univision Buys 120,000-SF Building for TV Studio

HOUSTON-Univision Television Group Inc., the Los Angeles-based Spanish language communications company, has purchased a 120,000-sf office building at 5100 Southwest Freeway near the Galleria for its local television and radio broadcasting units. The seller was Radler LP, a locally based investor that purchased the building empty about three years ago.The parties involved in the transaction declined comment on the sale price; however, other industry sources tell GlobeSt.com that a class B building of this type, sold to a user, would trade for somewhere between $64 per sf and $69 per sf, which translates to between $7.7 million and $8.3 million.H. Dan Miller with CB Richard Ellis in Houston tells GlobeSt.com that the building was once occupied Children’s Protective Services, but has been empty for more than five years. The marketing campaign to sell the property began in earnest about a year ago, says Miller, who represented the seller along with fellow CBRE broker Maggie Ogilvie. About six different bidders made offers, including a church and several investors. Miller says Univision had the best use plan among the bidders and aggressively pursued the property.Roy Longman with Cresa Partners in Los Angeles and Phil Arnett of CBRE/Trione & Gordon in Houston represented Univision in the purchase. According to Longman, Univision will be relocating to 5100 Southwest Freeway from leased space near the Astrodome in south Houston. The move is slated to occur in the next 12 to 18 months. The property was actually larger than the 75,000-sf Univision was targeting, says Longman. In the end, executives liked the visibility the property had from Southwest Freeway, 610 Loop and Westpark Tollway. The radio stations in particular conduct many promotions and have up to 100 people per day dropping by to redeem prizes. For that reason and for the convenience of its reporters, Longman says Univision wanted the location to be easily accessible.