In The News

As COVID-19 disrupts the American economy, healthcare system and way of life, retailers and restaurants — the commercial real estate users whose very profitability and essence thrive on social congregation — have already been pegged as

PlazAmericas, Houston Premium Outlets, Katy Mills and Galleria are ready for patrons Nine Houston-area malls are planning to reopen in early May after being closed for more than a month to slow the spread of the

Even after shelter-in-place mandates, Dallas-based Weitzman closed several retail leases using digital aids, spokesman Ian Pierce said. For example, Weitzman and a national insurance tenant signed a lease in March using digital signing tools, including digital

“No one had a pandemic plan in place, but they are quickly developing them in terms of deep-cleaning methods and controlling crowds at essential-services retailers, which are actually thriving,” said Jeff Pandolfo, a leasing director for

The Sears at Deerbrook and Willowbrook malls are reportedly closing, opening up a rare opportunity for the malls to redevelop a large portion of its retail space. The closures would join Sears locations that have shuttered

By Katherine Feser | houstoncrhonicle.com Dallas-based Crow Holdings purchased a retail development housing several popular restaurant chains in southeast Houston near Baybrook Mall from Baker Katz. The development totals 15,600 square feet in two buildings. Houston-based Baker Katz, which broke ground

For Nolan Morrison, regional manager with American Furniture Warehouse, expanding the company from its locations in Colorado and Arizona to Houston was a numbers game. Houston offered a lot of advantages to the Englewood, Colorado-based company,

American Furniture Warehouse completed the purchase of a 30-acre tract at Interstate 45 and River Plantation Drive in Conroe for its third Houston-area location. The site will house a 443,375-square-foot store, including 150,000 square feet of

American Furniture Warehouse, an Englewood, Colorado-based furniture retailer, has acquired a 30-acre tract in Conroe for its third Houston-area store, according to a press release. The store, just south of the Grand Central Park master-planned community,

Heads of the new shopping center project in Brenham say development is coming along well. The Houston-based developer Baker Katz is currently developing 35 acres of land at the Highway 290 – Chappell Hill Street intersection,

Born and raised in Texas, a graduate of Texas A&M, and having spent 15 years serving retailers in the Houston market as a principal of the Baker Katz real estate brokerage, Jason Baker knows the Lone

Developers of a new shopping center here say they are receiving positive responses from major retailers about opening stores there. Kenneth Katz of Houston-based developer Baker Katz said the company is “actively negotiating with a number

Academy Sports + Outdoors on Monday opened a store in Richmond with a revamped floor layout and design, part of the Katy athletic retailer’s initiative to improve customers’ shopping experience amid increasing brick-and-mortar and online competition.

A persistent need for a tenant mix that is resistant to e-commerce and which facilitates a unique, authentic experience is prompting owners of older retail centers and malls to assume high levels of risk and redevelop their

Bellaire Town Center, a redevelopment project of SDI Realty Advisors under construction at Bellaire Boulevard and South Rice Avenue, has signed Salata and JuiceLand as its latest tenants. Salata, represented by Wade Greene of Transwestern, signed a 2,804-square-foot lease. JuiceLand,

After months of waiting, numerous restaurants made their debut this week, and some local barbecue joints received national accolades in this week’s restaurant roundup.  Latest Goodnight Hospitality restaurant opens Rosie Cannonball opened Aug. 29. The restaurant,

Selecting the 10 Under 40 class is one of our most difficult annual duties and many worthy nominees don’t make the final cut. Here are 12 of the worthiest. Chris Ressa, 35Chief operating officer, DLCAs a

Jamba Juice’s new store at 9303 Highway 6 in Missouri City is one of nine locations in the Houston market.Photo: Jamba Juice Jamba Juice has opened at 9303 Highway 6, at the entrance of the Sienna

GlobeSt.com catches up with Baker Katz executives on the popularity of utilizing geofencing to assist retailers with site selection and for shopping center awareness among other things in preparation for the upcoming ICSC RECon conference later

The inclusion of boutique and independent retail has shifted from a curiosity to a priority. By Lunden McGill & Ben Brown, of Baker Katz. In cities around the country, growing numbers of developers are prioritizing the

The 2018 edition of ICSC’s colossal RECon convention is gearing up and GlobeSt.com chats with a few expert sources on their expectations and predictions for the show. “At neighborhood strip malls and power centers, big box

Winner: H-E-B’s Land Purchase at Kirby Boulevard and West Alabama Street Developer: Midway/H-E-B Seller: Tommy Dickey / Tom Lipincott Attorney: Greg Erwin Broker: Tim Dosch and David Marshall (represented seller); Baker Katz (represented H-E-B) San Antonio-based

Open-air landlords report strong growth among mom-and-pops Small-shop tenants took a hit when credit dried up after the 2008 financial crisis. Now, a decade later, some landlords are reporting record-high occupancies and rents for these operators,

H-E-B opened a multistory location in the Heights this week, and it is expected to significantly increase the appeal of the Shepherd corridor. The new 92K SF store, at 2300 North Shepherd Drive, includes a two-story parking structure, 50 bike-rack

From first-to-market concepts to established chains, eateries and bars are propelling retail absorption in each of Texas’ major markets, say retail brokers. Over the past couple years, retail investors and developers have begun paying special attention

Margaret Mitchell has lived in Sharpstown for nearly her whole life, watching in dismay as stores closed in the neighborhood’s main shopping center and the property slid into disrepair, despite efforts by owners to make the

HOUSTON — Houston-based retail firm Baker Katz has purchased PlazAmericas Mall, an 850,000-square-foot shopping destination in Houston. Formerly known as Sharpstown Mall, the property was built in 1961 and has undergone several renovations over the years.

Analysts worry the high amount of investment in self-storage properties may have outpaced demand for self-storage space, reports the Wall Street Journal. Forbes offers a 2019 real estate investment preview. These are among today’s must reads

Nancy Sarnoff reports in the Chronicle that the former Sharpstown Center, more recently known as PlazAmericas has been soldto Houston commercial real estate firm Baker Katz. Well, most of it has: The purchase, she writes “does not include any of

PlazAmericas, the former Sharpstown shopping center that has struggled to find its footing as regional malls have fallen out of shoppers’ favor, has a new owner that wants to turn around the property while maintaining the

Houston’s oldest enclosed mall has a new owner. Houston-based commercial real estate firm Baker Katz bought PlazAmericas Mall, formerly known as Sharpstown Mall and Sharpstown Center, from Philadelphia-based RAIT Financial Trust (OTCQB: RASF), according to a

Lidl is tweaking its U.S. expansion strategy – By Beth Mattson-Teig   It has been nearly 18 months since German grocery giant Lidl opened its first U.S. stores and boldly announced plans to have about 100

Mendocino Farms, a casual restaurant based in Southern California, will become another dining option in Uptown Park, a project of Edens undergoing a renovation at Post Oak Boulevard and West Loop 610. The 3,205-square-foot restaurant will

Rtic Outdoors has designed a flagship store that’s just begging to be Instagramed. Customers are greeted by a 24-foot “R” inlaid with a polar bear, the company’s logo. A Ford F-150 truck, displaying coolers, is parked

HighTower Texas signed a 16K SF lease for its headquarters to 4400 Post Oak Parkway in Houston. The wealth management firm committed to an eight-year lease to occupy the 26th floor and plans on expanding services in Houston. HighTower Texas

The Houston grocery chain Randalls will shutter three more local stores by year’s end as the company continues to struggle in the region’s hyper-competitive market. Randalls, a unit of the national supermarket company Albertsons, said Tuesday

Amsterdam-based coworking company Spaces inked a 53K SF lease for the first three floors of Two Post Oak Central. This marks the second Spaces’ location in Houston, a market that is starting to pick up the pace

Coming on the wave of an energy resurgence, one natural gas producer is expanding its footprint in Houston. BP Lower 48 inked a 91K SF lease at West Memorial Place at 15375 Memorial Drive in Houston. The company, wholly

Sears, an icon of American retail for more than a century, filed for bankruptcy protection early Monday morning, the latest casualty of the headwinds facing brick-and-mortar retailers. The embattled department store chain, once the world’s largest,

HUMBLE, TEXAS — Houston-based Baker Katz has completed the remodeling and sale of a 52,744-square-foot retail center in Humble, a northern suburb of Houston. The property is anchored by 24 Hour Fitness. Neal Wade of Baker

Houston developers wrestle with complex regulatory issues in the 100- and 500-year floodplains. By Kenneth Katz & Neal Wade of Baker Katz The Houston metropolitan area was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Harvey, with a tropical

As the industry goes into a new hurricane season, retail property owners and tenants have had nearly a year to evaluate their responses to last year’s trio of hurricanes, which caused a record $202 billion in

For decades, Mardie Paige drove 10 minutes out of her neighborhood to shop at Kroger stores in nearby Heights and Oak Forest. There were no major grocery stores in the traditionally African-American neighborhood off the North Loop,

Nearly a year ago, Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston-area residents with historic flooding. Houston Strong, the city’s rallying cry for recovery efforts, held true through the year since Harvey hit Texan land on Aug. 26, 2017. The city

BuffBurger, a burger restaurant launched by Paul and Sara Burden in 2015, plans to open a location this fall in the CityWest Retail Center, 10550 Westheimer, in west Houston. Other locations are at 1014 Wirt Road

Several restaurant chains are heading out to southeast Houston near Baybrook Mall. Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Snooze, an A.M. Eatery, Mod Pizza and Main Squeeze Juice Co. inked leases at a new shopping center at 820 Bay

With off-price player like Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and Ross Stores entrenched as favored anchors for shopping centers, traditional anchors like Macy’s are finding it harder than they imagined to get in on the act. There’s more

Colorado-based American Furniture Warehouse has purchased land in Katy and Webster for its entry into the Texas market. Houston-based Baker Katz represented American Furniture Warehouse in the transactions. “We worked diligently to secure high-profile sites within super

BEAUMONT, TEXAS — Houston-based Baker Katz has signed Republic Chicken, a family-style restaurant serving Southern comfort food, to a new lease in Beaumont. Located at the corner of Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 96, the new

Luxury athletic clubs in the Houston area are bulking up in size and amenities, part of a national trend to capture the growth in fitness spending. Life Time just opened one of the region’s largest gyms,

Officials with the retail brokerage firm Baker Katz announced Pet Supplies Plus has signed a 10-year lease at 9431 Jones Road, Houston, the former location of Quiltworks. The 7,500-square-foot location will offer pet food, supplies and toys

Download   Randalls — once the go-to store for grocery shopping in Houston — has been edged out over the years by its competitors offering lower prices and wider selections. The homegrown company, now a subsidiary

RECon attendees detailed strategies for major renovations and reported renewed interest in the sector from institutional capital sources. Judging by conversations with a few of the developers and project managers at RECon on Monday, a steady

Many markets are seeing new concepts expand and grow. But are they doing it smartly? Here’s advice on working with expanding concepts to develop a smart plan of attack for a market. Interview by Randall Shearin

Savvy entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry are finding success by being ‘differentiators’ in product offerings and branding. From fast casual to fine dining, Americans’ appetite for more restaurant options is growing. The Bureau of

KATY, TEXAS — VillaSport Athletic Club & Spa, an operator of upscale fitness clubs, will open a 121,000-square-foot athletic facility within Stableside at Falcon Landing, a 270,000-square-foot retail development in Katy. The facility will feature NBA-size

Rent for Houston retail space has risen to an all-time high, despite a long-term decline in brick-and-mortar businesses. The average asking rent for Houston retail space during the first quarter rose to $16.90 per square foot,

VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa will kick off the next phase of the Stableside at Falcon Landing retail center in the Katy area with its third location in the Houston market. The private club has leased

Retail observers would be hard-pressed to name a loop, high street, highway or byway in any large American market that is a bigger hotbed of retail development than Greater Houston’s aptly named Grand Parkway. When completed

Global real estate investment management firm Heitman completed the acquisition of a 1.4M SF medical office portfolio composed of 17 buildings in seven states, with Texas taking the lion’s share. Sugar Land’s Medical Plaza I and II

What will 2018 bring to Houston’s bustling business community? We turned to some of our reliable sources for their observations and predictions for the year to come. Here’s a compendium of what we learned: Economy to

For retail tenants and developers alike, Houston’s Space City moniker could easily be interpreted as a kind of tongue-in-cheek double meaning, mainly because space is one thing Houston always has plenty of. Commercial developers have taken

Houston retail construction is tapering off as the rising popularity of online shopping gives developers some pause. An estimated 3.3 million square feet of new shopping centers are slated for completion across the Houston area this

SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has opened the first location of Amazon Go, an 1,800-square-foot mini grocery store in Seattle that allows customers to shop without waiting in checkout lines. The store was open exclusively

It’s been a year of growth for San Antonio-based H-E-B Grocery Co. in Houston, and 2018 will be no different. In 2017, the company opened two locations and a Joe V’s concept in the greater Houston

WEBSTER, TX—X Team International partner Baker Katz acquired a 2-acre site in Webster earlier this year and has broken ground on two buildings, totaling approximately 15,000 square feet, which will include large outdoor patio seating and visibility to Bay Area Boulevard.

Tenant leases are ending sooner as landlords get more innovative about their space By Steve McLinden   Retail product cycles are not the only shrinking index in the shifting shopping center landscape. Leases, too, are getting

A little over a year ago, two Houston-area developers scooped up an historic property on Washington Avenue with plans to renovate. Though the property’s vacant space hasn’t been leased yet, more details on the developers’ plans

MONTGOMERY, TEXAS — Retail brokerage firm Baker Katz has secured a 7,300-square-foot retail lease at the corner of State Highway 105 and Lone Star Parkway in Montgomery on behalf of Pet Supplies Plus. Lunden McGill of

Houston may see a slowdown in retail development in 2018 – but that probably isn’t a bad thing. “Two years ago, there was no end in sight (to retail developments),” said Jason Baker of Baker Katz

Here’s a look at the trends, announcements and deals you may have missed at the mid-week point in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Arkansas. NEWS AND NOTABLES AUSTIN, TX—Legend Communities and Crescent Communities announced Rough

HOUSTON — Baker Katz has secured a 6,300-square-foot retail lease at Stonegate Shopping Center in Houston on behalf of American Family Care, a primary and urgent care provider. Ben Brown of Baker Katz and Jennifer Watson

Houston-based Baker Katz, a retail brokerage, recently recruited two real estate specialists, one of whom will focus on build-to-suit developments. John Frazier and Matt Reese joined Baker Katz in early September, the firm announced in a

The largest retail development in the Houston area is getting a residential infusion. In addition to 1.5M SF of retail, a 10,000-seat amphitheater and high school football stadium, Valley Ranch Town Center will soon be home

As the line between click-and-order and brick-and-mortar continues to blur, our preoccupation with the impact of online retail misses the point, an industry veteran contends. The narrative is so well established that even those outside the

Crossroads Trading, an eco-friendly retailer dealing in gently used clothing, will relocate its Montrose store to Rice Village. Crossroads Trading, which made its Houston debut in early 2016, has leased a 3,010-square-foot store at 2517 University

Here’s a look at the trends, announcements and deals you may have missed in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Arkansas. NEWS AND NOTABLES SAN ANTONIO—Texas business executive Weston Martinez, a member of the Texas Real

PASADENA, TEXAS — Houston-based retail brokerage firm Baker Katz has acquired a 22,000-square-foot retail asset located at the intersection of Fairmont Parkway and Beltway 8 in Pasadena. The property was 70 percent leased at the time

Houston-based Baker Katz, an X Team International partner and full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in retail tenant representation, investment sales, and project development and leasing, has completed a lease on behalf of Snooze, an

According to Jason Baker, principal with Houston-based retail brokerage Baker Katz, mid-level retailers that don’t offer a unique or private label product are going to get hurt more and more in the near future. by Natalie

Discount chain is eager to expand beyond its Midwestern stronghold, and its local growth has been speedy By Dylan Baddour Grocery discounter Aldi will invest $3.4 billion to expand its U.S. presence by 900 stores in

Landlords and tenants grapple with how to calculate rents based on omni-channel sales By Joel Groover What would happen if a basic question in the shopping center business – exactly how much  money a store makes

By Andrea Rumbaugh Total Wine & More is taking over two Houston-area Goody Goody liquor stores as the Maryland-based company continues its aggressive growth and goes head-to-head with local stalwart Spec’s. Goody Goody spokesman Armando Gonzalez

Retailers are positioning themselves as the online giant’s brick-and-mortar ambitions unfold By Joel Groover Speculation about the real estate role of Amazon.com is growing as more information emerges about its closely held plans for U.S. stores.

Jason Baker, founding partner of Houston-based retail brokerage rm Baker Katz, credits this trend to the efforts of traditional grocers such as Kroger and H-E-B to diversify their product lines and service offerings. “Twenty years ago,

Baker Katz’s Jason Baker repped Outback Steakhouse in two new Houston-area locations, 6,500 SF apiece in Katy and Pasadena. The Katy restaurant will be at the intersection of IH-10 and Katy Fort Bend Road. The Pasadena

The Landlord forgoes base rent and collects only percentage rent as a way to prop up tenants at risk of going dark. And in yet another scenario, percentage rent kicks in as a result of the

After taking a hit post-recession, construction and development lending is accelerating once more, but community banks are proceeding with caution. By Beth Mattson-Teig Construction loans that all but disappeared in the wake of the recession are

BY NATALIE DOLCE LAS VEGAS—The 2017 edition of ICSC’s colossal RECon convention is gearing up and GlobeSt.com chats with a few expert sources on their expectations and predictions for the show. LAS VEGAS—While there have been

After taking a hit post-recession, construction and development lending is accelerating once more, but community banks are proceeding with caution By Beth Mattson-Teig Construction loans that all but disappeared in the wake of the recession are

Citing the need for added restaurant options, in addition to boasting a steady and consistent neighborhood activity pace for three decades, a site has been deemed a viable match for development. And, no 80-year-old trees will

Houston-based Baker Katz LLC plans to bring more retail to southeast Houston, a bustling corner of the city that boasts one of the city’s most successful shopping malls. The brokerage recently closed on roughly two acres

Braun Enterprises, an inner-Loop developer best known for its retail projects, is planning an ambitious two-story ground-up retail development at Shepherd Drive and West 24th Street in the Heights. The Houston-based company will build a 24,000-square-foot

HOUSTON—A new generation of experiential movie theater concepts is departing with industry conventional wisdom and beginning to change mixed-use development calculations, says Baker Katz in this EXCLUSIVE. HOUSTON—While going to the movies has always been an

Adaptive reuse, or the restoration of a historic property into usable real estate, has grown in popularity among Houston developers looking for space in an increasingly dense inner Loop. But not all of these projects are

Retailers are on track to expand rapidly throughout the Houston area this year in an effort to keep up with population growth and cash in on a steadily improving economy. Developers are expected to build and

Set your alarm clocks: The popular Snooze breakfast and brunch spot will open two more locations this summer. Snooze, which made its debut in Houston in a midcentury-mod space at 3217 Montrose last year, draws a

HOUSTON—The Melt, a fast-casual restaurant serving food exclusively from natural ingredients, opened its first Texas location at The Lawn at Houston’s Baybrook Mall yesterday. An additional location is slated to open in spring of 2017 at

The retail shopping center in Port Arthur containing Hobby Lobby, PetSmart and Party City is not expected to change despite the sale of the property earlier this year, real estate firm Baker Katz said. The Houston-based