Metro Location and Class-A Status Are Plusses for Tech Firm

HOUSTON—While COVID has done a number on metro office leasing, some properties continue to attract high-level tenants. Beltway 8 is one such asset, with a desirable location and institutional-level management by Denver-based EverWest Real Estate Investors.

“The pandemic has had a notable impact on leasing volume in metro Houston, keeping many office users on the sidelines as they wait to make any long-term real estate decisions,” said Della Wegman, EverWest managing director.

With this new lease, Sourcepoint Inc. commits to 34,852 square feet, bringing the EverWest property to 100% occupied. Sourcepoint, a provider of technology-based solutions to the US mortgage industry, will use the space for mortgage underwriting, processing and closings. The company, which is already located in Houston, is scheduled to move to the building at 8101 W. Sam Houston Parkway S in late 2020. The new space will house its current Houston operations and provide room for expansion.

“The balance of our Beltway 8 building is occupied by a healthcare-related tenant,” Wegman tells GlobeSt.com. “The lease by SourcePoint was ideal for a number of reasons, including their ability to provide great diversity to our rent roll and their desire to occupy the entire remaining balance of the building, making the asset fully occupied with two very strong and stable businesses.”

Located on more than 10 acres, the EverWest building totals 136,800 square feet in two stories. It offers direct frontage to Beltway 8/Sam Houston Tollway, and is less than 30 minutes from downtown Houston and both the William P. Hobby and Houston George Bush International Airports.

“Times like this make a building’s location and operating condition more critical than ever,” says Wegman. “For Sourcepoint, a highly accessible Beltway 8 location, combined with a building that EverWest has diligently maintained in class-A condition, was the right combination for this significant lease commitment.”

Features of the building include controlled access entries, and both covered and surface parking.

John Pruitt, Jessica Ochoa and Jack Russo of JLL represented EverWest in the transaction. Mia Jarrell, Bob Parsley and Darren Gowell of Colliers International represented Sourcepoint.

EverWest is an investor, developer and lender in key US markets, and is actively seeking new acquisition and development opportunities across the industrial sector.

After months of low oil and gas prices driven by weak demand, and the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty still weighs heavily on the Houston economy. The Houston office market has recorded 11.8 million square feet of leasing activity, which is comprised of both new leases and renewals, while net absorption (move-ins minus move-outs) is at negative 3.7 million square feet, consisting of negative 3.9 million square feet of direct space and positive 211,000 square feet of sublease space, according to a report by NAI Partners. Houston’s sublease space decreased gradually during the first half of 2020, before rising to 6.3 million square feet as of the end of October 2020.