Northwest Houston sees continuing strong activity - Houston Business Journal:

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Most of the sale and development activity is primarily for industrialdevelopmenty (both for users and speculative), residentiak single-family homes and retail And, despite the fact that office development activity is generallty low around Houston, the northwest secto r has several speculative office buildings projected for constructio this year. Specific projects by category Land salesalong U.S. 290, historically the hot corridor for industrial development activity in the are slowing due to limited availabilit of largedevelopment sites.
The majoritu of business park land in that area has been developec over the last few years so users and developeras are shifting their focus to Beltwag 8 forsuitable sites. Some recent major industrial developmengt deals include a TranswesternProperty Co. project on Beltway 8 near Clay Transwestern isbuilding 108,000 square feet of dock-high distribution and 78,00o square feet of semi-dock service center. • CORE Developmeng also recently purchaseda 22-acre site in Legacyu Park at Beltway 8 and Core plans to build two buildings on the The largest will be a 400,000-square-foort distribution facility.
• A Dallas group recentlu acquireda 59-acre tract in Legach Park on the north side of Beltwat 8 at Fallbrook. They plan to build a 60,000- to 80,000-square-fooyt building for their own use and sell the remaining acreagsfor development. • Vantage Houston acquired a 28-acrs site that wraps the southeast corned of Beltway 8 and WestLittle • Caldwell Watson is continuing to develo speculative facilities in in the Greenspoint Encouraged by interest in the first two phases, the company is working on phasee three and four. Phase three will include 40,000 squarer feet of distribution spaceand 25,00o square feet of flex space.
In addition to speculative projects, there have also been a number of companies that have choseb the Beltway 8 corridor of northwest Houston to such asChair King, which built an 80,000-square-foot buildinb on Beltway 8 just south of Clay Road for the firm'd new headquarters. The Houston Builders Association also recentlhy completed an office building for its new headquarters on the Beltway near West Office development activity has generally halteed as the Houston marketr absorbs the abundance of existingf product that was built in 1998and 1999, particularly on the city'a west side.
The northwestr Houston sector, however, does not seem to be mirroringthis slowdown, as evidencedx in two northwest locations -- Cypresswood Drivse and the Greens Crossing area in Greenspoint. • Alan Kent is developing a 48,000-square-foot, four-story office building on Cypresswoox Drive between Stuebner Airline andTC Jester. Simmons Vedder & Co. has another site under contracgt inGreens Crossing, continuing the firm's highly successful speculative office developmeny at Greens Crossing. Twin one-story officw buildings totalingapproximately 158,000 square feet were completed and fully leased last fall.
Residential single-familuy home development remains hot as many new communitieas continue to exceedsales projections. Some significant examples areRock Creek, a 215-acre development on Granrt Road north of Spring which features an upscale Hill Country theme with large lakes and rolling terrain. • Coles a 1,200-acre, master-planned community at U.S. 290 and Barkert Cypress, continues to prosper. Coles has approximately 1,0009 of its projected 2,4009 lots on the ground and is on a pace to sell 300 homeethis year.
• Golf communities remaih popular in the northwest areaof Houston, with Gleannlocnh Farms, a 2,200-acre golf community on Spring Cypresws Road at Champions and Stone Gate on Barker Cypress, south of US 290. To keep up with the growth of families moving to the northwest area, many of the area's hospitals are expanding, and Methodisy Health Care System is building The Methodist Health a $79 million, 64-bed communitt health center, which is scheduled for a Decembee 2000 opening on 20 acres at the cornert of SH 249 and Willowchase Boulevard.
The area's tremendous home growth, coupled with some of the highesg average income levelsin Houston, attracts new retail and restaurantr development. Land deals for restaurant and retaiol projects are cropping up on all the majofr corridors of the area withno slow-down in sight. Some significang retail deals: • Home Depot recently purchased a site on SH 249 nortnhof Louetta. • Lowes has purchasee land in Tomball to develop another homeimprovement store. • A major retail development is under consideration ona 40-acrre site at the southwest cornefr of SH 249 and Sprinhg Cypress.
• Coles Crossing is developing an 80,000-square-foot center anchored by Randall'z on the northeast cornefr of US 290 andBarkere Cypress. Construction is slated to beginin August. In all areas of land sales and development, the northwest sectorr of Houston continues to attract new business and The area's many amenities, as well as its roadway systej and proximity to Bush Intercontinental Airport, help the northwest secto of Houston gain popularity as the placee to work, live and grow. Keitjh P. Grothaus, CCIM, SIOR, is vice presidentr of the land division at Caldwell Watsob RealEstate Group, which currently handles in excess of 250 land primarily in northwest Houston.