HUMBLE, TX-When Vestar and partner UBS Global Asset Management acquired the 350,000-square-foot Deerbrook Marketplace, it brought to an end a two-year search in the area for the right retail property for a company interested in boosting value. Though the off-market buy is Vestar's first in the Houston region, company vice president David Larcher tells GlobeSt.com that it's also a continuation of an acquisition strategy involving value-add properties throughout the western United States.

"Our business plan for the last several years has been to acquire submarket-dominant assets in major metro area in the west," Larcher explains. "Texas is a great market, Houston in particular – and Deerbrook Marketplace fits our requirements, as it's clearly the dominant project in the Humble submarket."

Larcher says he happened to learn about Deerbrook Marketplace from George Cushing and Wendy Vandeventer of Jones Lang LaSalle, who represented seller Investcorp in brokering the transaction. "We've known George and Wendy for several years; they know what we're looking for," he says, adding that the asset at 20202 SH 59 N was not widely marketed.