Houston developers unveil speculative industrial projects for smaller tenants
Two Houston-based companies unveiled plans for speculative industrial buildings to meet demand from smaller tenants.
The activity comes as new speculative deliveries pushed industrial vacancy to 5.3% across the Houston area in the third quarter, according to commercial real estate firm Transwestern. That compares with 4.4% in the third quarter of 2022.
The latest projects contribute to a robust pipeline of industrial developments totaling 21.4 million square feet across the Houston area in the third quarter, according to Transwestern. That’s down from a peak of more than 30 million square feet at the end of 2022.
In northwest Houston, Clay Development & Construction is wrapping up development of its 21-acre High Life Business Park as it puts the finishing touches
on High Life Distribution Center, a roughly 103,000-squarefoot project at Texas 249 and Beltway 8. Located on 8.1 acres at 15930 Tomball Parkway, its completion will mark the build out of the business park by year end.
“That 100,000-square-foot range for dock-high distribution
is very difficult to find in the northwest,” said Robert Clay, president of Clay Development & Construction.
Designed with a 32-foot clear height, 27 dock doors, two drive-in doors and a 122-foot truck court, the building could accommodate e-commerce, warehousing, office/lab or light
manufacturing operations such solar panels or other green energy businesses.
“The city has been seeing a lot of solar and green infrastructure deals happen,” Clay said. “Houston, because we’re the oil capital of the world and the energy capital of the world,
we’re seeing a lot of that come here too.”
In north Houston, across from the nearly 1,000-acre Pinto Business Park at Beltway 8 and Interstate 45, Griffin Partners purchased 9 acres at 1444 Greens Parkway near Greensmark Drive as the site of its Carter Crossing development.
The 137,000-square-foot cross-dock industrial building is planned for completion in late 2024. The acquisition brings to seven the number of properties acquired through Griffin Partners Income & Value Fund IV, which is buying and developing industrial projects in Texas, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee and North Carolina. The fund also invests in office and retail assets.
“We are building this type of product to have optionality in terms of tenant size of 25,000 square feet up to 150,000 square feet,”
Andrew Montgomery, president of investment management at Griffin Partners, said. “We like that demand segment for industrial.”
Carter Crossing also has a 32-foot clear height, 130-foot truck court and office buildouts. Potential tenants include area service providers such as an HVAC supplier or a client of nearby businesses such as Coca Cola, Sysco or Amazon in Pinto Business Park, Montgomery said.
Griffin intends to own and operate the property, but would sell it if the right offer came along, Montgomery said. Last year, Griffin sold its 282,000-square-foot Pinto #23 building developed in partnership with Pinto Realty Partners in Pinto Business Park upon completion in October.
Jim Stark of CBRE and Copeland Rhea of Clay are handling leasing of High Life Distribution Center, while Craig Bean and Brian Gammill of Transwestern are marketing Carter Crossing for lease.