posted on September 24, 2010 13:52
Midway Cos. hopes to break ground in 2011 on both an urban and suburban office development.
The local developer is looking ahead to the next phase of office construction at CityCentre, as two existing buildings at the West Houston project near full occupancy.
Midway is also gaging interest in M Fifty Nine, a proposed building in the Museum District.
CityCentre One and Two, which have a total of 184,000 square feet, could be fully leased by the end of the year.
CityCentre Three will feature two six-story office buildings with a total of 250,000 square feet of space, including 33,000 square feet of ground level retail space. The development site is north of Hotel Sorella.
Brad Freels, chairman and CEO of Midway, says initial plans called for one nine-story building with 250,000 square feet, but the decision was made to split it into two facilities.
Approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of the space will need to be leased before construction begins.
“We’re not planning to put a shovel in the ground tomorrow,” says Freels.
The mixed-use CityCentre project is located at the southwest corner of Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 in West Houston. The site include apartments, restaurants, stores, a movie theater, hotel and gym.
Tenants are attracted to the office space, says Freels, because of the surrounding amenities.
“The office is more successful because of the environment,” he says.
Michael Anderson of Colvill Office Properties, who is responsible for leasing office space in CityCentre, says all of the commercial uses in the project also help its office tenants recruit employees.
Closer to downtown, Midway’s proposed M Fifty Nine project will have 74,000 square feet of space with ground level retail. Once some tenants have committed to the 13-story project, construction will start at the northeast corner of Montrose and Highway 59.
Midway will develop the project in partnership with the land owner, whose name was not disclosed.
“We’d like to get it kicked out of the ground,” Freels says. “It will only take two to three pre-leases to get there.”
Preston Young of Stream Realty Partners LP is responsible for finding tenants for the Inner Loop office.
September 20th, 2010 | Houston Business Journal | Jennifer Dawson