HOUSTON — Whitestone REIT has finalized its acquisition of the BLVD Place mixed-use development and announced plans to build a new six-story office and retail building adjacent to the existing property.
The firm purchased the 217,000-square-foot office and retail center on South Post Oak Boulevard, anchored by Whole Foods, for $158 million. The transaction included a 1.4-acre parcel where the new development will be constructed in the Uptown Houston area near San Felipe.
The planned building will provide approximately 46,000 square feet of retail space across the first two floors and about 91,000 square feet of office space on the upper four floors once it is completed. This expansion is intended to complement BLVD Place’s existing mix of shopping, dining and professional services within a high-demand, upscale neighborhood.
BLVD Place was originally developed and owned by a joint venture between Houston-based Wulfe & Co. and Bailard, Inc., of San Francisco. The mixed-use project was completed in multiple phases over roughly 13 years. Wulfe & Co., led by Ed Wulfe, focuses on retail development, property management and leasing.
The BLVD Place concept dates back nearly 15 years when Ed Wulfe, chairman and CEO, and Bob Sellingsloh, president, envisioned a vibrant, mixed-use destination along prestigious Post Oak Boulevard that would combine retail, restaurants and office space adjacent to high-rise residential towers. The selling entity, Wulfe-Bailard, was represented by Rusty Tamlyn, Matt Kafka and Trent Agnew of HFF in Houston.
Today BLVD Place reports occupancy of 99.2 percent and is anchored by a balanced mix of well-known tenants including Whole Foods Market, Frost Bank and Verizon. These anchor tenants act as destination drivers, attracting steady customer traffic and supporting a variety of commercial activities on the property.
The project’s design work included contributions from Jose Palacios along with teams at AECOM and SOM in Los Angeles.
James C. Mastandrea, chairman and CEO of Whitestone REIT, praised the development, saying, “Ed Wulfe, one of the premier developers in the country, created and developed an award-winning and premier property in the heart of a dynamic upscale marketplace with superb demographics and demand drivers.”
Bailard, Inc., Wulfe’s partner on the original development, is a wealth management firm founded in 1969 that manages more than $3.5 billion in assets for a range of individual and institutional investors.
May 30, 2017 Realty News Report Copyright 2017