Reed Vestal, Taylor Schmidt and John Erck (left to right) accept the NAIOP Houston industrial award.
HOUSTON—Each year, NAIOP Houston honors the city's top commercial real estate brokers for achievements. This year, Reed Vestal, Taylor Schmidt and John Erck of Lee & Associates–Houston were awarded the Industrial Deal of the Year award for the sale of Weiser Airpark.
Weiser Airpark was one of the most highly sought-after land sites in Houston, and represented one of the last large contiguous land sites in Northwest Houston. Vestal and his team at Lee & Associates spent several years putting this deal together. He had been in communication with the Weiser family for some time, but it was not until early 2018 that the family decided to engage in the possibility of selling the property. After working for months on an off-market basis exclusively with Reed and his team, the family decided to take the property to market.
The property had a great deal of developer interest, so it was important for Vestal to find a buyer group that would be the best fit for the property. Trammell Crow was the ideal candidate given the firm's long history of delivering top industrial spaces. After working every angle, Vestal and his team were ultimately able to place the client in a strategic position and secure the deal.
"This transaction will go down as one of the most highly sought-after industrial land sites in the last decade," said Vestal. "It will contribute to the growth of the submarket and add momentum to the development of the area."
Represented by Vestal, Schmidt and Erck, Dallas-based developer Trammell Crow Co. in partnership with New York-based Clarion Partners, closed on Weiser Airpark, a 102.3-acre airpark in Cypress and a contiguous parcel of land, bringing the overall acquisition to 132 acres. Once fully developed, the industrial park will provide close to 2 million square feet of office-warehouse space, supporting new jobs and improving mobility with the creation of a new road to connect Fallbrook Drive to US Highway 290.
"Land sites of 20 acres or more are a rarity near developed-out major corridors, regardless of whether it's vacant land or has a redevelop-ability component to it," Vestal tells GlobeSt.com. "So to piece together a site over 130 acres in a relatively mature market is a rarity, and one that almost any developer would covet. The site is extremely versatile in its make up, so it could be utilized for many different types of uses. It was in our opinion, based on its characteristics, a site that lends itself best to an industrial distribution development."
To be sure, both individual and real estate investment firms from around the country and world continue moving capital into this market to purchase leased investment properties. A large portion of the investment deals that come through are traded off market and usually close within a few weeks of a lease being signed or tenant build out being completed. Attractive interest rates, good returns and a positive business climate are a driving factors behind this trend, according to a fourth quarter 2019 report by Lee & Associates–Houston.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
