Energy Corridor Gets Solid Growth Company

The Park Ten location consists of 110,452 square feet of office space.

HOUSTON— First Service Credit Union has embarked on the next phase of its growth strategy with the purchase of a six-story building in the West Houston Energy Corridor that will not only serve as its new corporate headquarters but also a long-term financial investment. It recently purchased the asset at 16430 Park Ten Pl. within the Park Ten Office Park and will relocate its headquarters from northwest Houston later this year. First Service Credit Union plans to upgrade the space prior to occupancy. First Service has had its headquarters at 9621 West Sam Houston Pkwy. North for the past 10 years. The credit union plans to maintain a branch within or near the building. The Park Ten location consists of 110,452 square feet of office space, four times the space of First Service’s current headquarters office. The size of the new headquarters building will allow First Service to easily accommodate its anticipated growth. First Service will initially occupy 35,000 square feet of the building, with current tenants occupying the majority of the remaining space. The new facility will house all of First Service’s operations, along with its technology and mortgage subsidiary organizations, and a full-service branch and drive-through window. “The new facility gives us more than enough room to grow over the next decade,” said Dave Bleazard , president of First Service Credit Union. “It is also a great real estate investment for us, with tenants that will offset some of our costs. As a member-owned financial institution, we always want to be good stewards of our financial resources. We investigated other options, and determined buying and renovating an existing building was the best use of those resources.” First Service plans to move its executive team, mortgage operations, collections, accounting, call center and other back office departments into the new building this summer. The remainder of the staff will move to the new office by year end. First Service has more than 160 employees and 10 branches to serve its 58,546 members. The credit union had assets of $597 million as of the end of 2015, a 12% growth for the year. First Service’s objective is to become an $800 million credit union by 2018, and the new headquarters building will help the credit union accommodate that growth. It has 10 full-service branches in the Houston metropolitan area. First Service is working with Turner Duran Architects in the remodeling and development of the building. Brokers for the sale were NAI Partners and Stream Realty Partners. Ryan Bishop and Mathew Volz of Stream Realty represented the seller, an entity controlled by Connecticut-based Wellbrook Corporation .  The buyer in the transaction, First Service Credit Union, was represented by Randy Wilhelm of NAI. Bishop tells GlobeSt.com: “First Service Credit Union saw an opportunity to purchase a well-located asset, with tremendous visibility along I-10, which they could call home for the foreseeable future.  It was a positive for the Energy Corridor, as the submarket is gaining a solid tenant who plans to upgrade the asset immediately.”