June 4, 2010

CORPUS CHRISTI — A&W has purchased the former Wilcox Furniture store from the Wilcox family for

an undisclosed price. Located at 5933 S. Padre Island Drive in Corpus Christi, the property includes a

30,000-square-foot retail building and a 14,000-square-foot warehouse. Wilcox Furniture relocated from

the site in 2007. Transwestern represented the buyer, and NAI Cravey’s Lynann Pinkham represented

the seller.

The post Former Furniture Store Purchased by A&W appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

April 13, 2010

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — Corpus Christi-based Beecroft Construction will

break ground next month on a 150,000-square-foot facility in Corpus Christi for

L&F Distributors. The property will be located on State Highway 44 between

Clarkwood and Bockholt roads. L&F Distributors’ new space will be twice as big

as its current Corpus Christi location; the company will employ 175 workers in

the new building. St. Louis-based S.M. Wilson and Co. is also helping oversee

the project. NAI Cravey Real Estate Services brokered the original land sale.

Click to view the Texas Real Estate Business Online article in PDF format

ALTERNATE: Click to view the Texas RE Business-L&F Distributors article in PDF format

The post 150,000-Square-Foot Facility Nearly Under Way in Corpus appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

By Fanny S. Chirinos

Thursday, April 1, 2010

CORPUS CHRISTI — Airgas Southwest, Inc. recently moved its administrative offices from two locations to a new suite on Bear Lane. The company is a distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases.

Airgas leased an office near downtown, which held some administrative offices. The rest were on Agnes Street, the site of the company’s retail store.

The 7,692-square-foot office at 5655 Bear Lane accommodates all administrative offices and staff while keeping it near the retail location. It also allows the company to expand its retail store.

The office at Bear Lane is being leased from WTF Properties. The 40,000-square-foot-plus building also houses Magnum Oil Tools International and American Medical Technologies.

Melissa DeLeon of NAI Cravey Real Estate Services represented Airgas and Josh Gaines of NAI Cravey Real Estate Services represented the new landlord.

Click to view the Caller.com article in PDF format

The post Airgas Moves Offices, Now Can Expand Retail More Easily appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

CORPUS CHRISTI — Financing completed for Mirador projectMirador Life Care Retirement Community has completed the financing of its 25,000-square-foot facility in Corpus Christi, Senior Quality Lifestyles Corporation, its parent company, announced. Financing was completed through the sale of more than $79 million in revenue bonds. The community will serve 125 families and construction is under way. It is scheduled to open in 2011 . Senior Quality Lifestyles operates similar communities in Dallas, Houston and Austin. A fifth community is under construction in Fort Worth.Mirador will support the Corpus Christi economy with a $32 million construction contract, said Burt Derr, Vice President of Developmental Services of Greystone Communities.

Derr projects that at the peak of construction Andres Construction will employ more than 300.Bank opens inside Portland H-E-B storeThe doors to the newest First Convenience Bank branch open at 9 a.m. Thursday inside the H-E-B in Portland.The second branch features a bold, new color scheme, bright LCD displays and advanced technology. The bank celebrated its fifth year in Portland earlier this year and has a branch inside the Walmart.The grand opening celebration begins at 8:30 a.m. with a ribbon cutting. KOUL 103.7 FM will broadcast live from 5 to 6 p.m.The branch will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

First Convenience Bank is part of the First National Bank Texas family of banks, which operates more than 220 branches and a network of more than 360 ATMs across Texas. Action Agency gets Robstown location. Nueces County Community Action Agency recently purchased the former Capital Farm Credit building at 801 E. Main in Robstown.The almost 2,000-square-foot building sits on about .321 of an acre. After some modifications, the agency will use it as one of its offices. Nueces County Community Action Agency is a nonprofit that provides a range of community services throughout the county.The agency was represented by Bill Odem of Joe Adame and Associates, Inc. Capital Farm Credit was represented by Josh Gaines of NAI Cravey Real Estate Services Inc.

Click to view the Caller.com article in PDF format

The post Biz Buzz: 03.28.10 appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

Originally published 02:23 p.m., March 11, 2010 Updated 03:40 p.m., March 11, 2010

CORPUS CHRISTI — American Pharmacies, a co-op of independent pharmacies, is moving its office from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. The new office. in the Frost Building downtown, opens April 1.

The company, founded in 1999, is a member-owned cooperative of more than 600 independently owned pharmacies in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The move better allows the company to accommodate the needs of the fast growth of members in South Texas, said Amanda C. Fields, the co-op’s general counsel.

“We negotiate wholesale offerings on behalf of our members,” Fields said. “There will be a staff consisting of a president, general counsel and administrative assistant, with a board of directors meeting there from time to time.”

American Pharmacies is also the parent company for the Texas Pharmacy Business Council, an Austin-based advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring patient access to quality pharmacy services and the economic viability of community pharmacies and the pharmacy profession. That office will remain in Austin, Fields added.

Fields and Mike Gohlke, American Pharmacies’ president, are Corpus Christi residents. For more information, visit www.aprx.org.

Melissa DeLeon of NAI Cravey Real Estate Services represented American Pharmacies. NAI Cravey Real Estate is the exclusive leasing agent for Frost Bank Plaza.

Click to view the Caller.com article in PDF format

The post San Antonio Company Relocates to Corpus Christi appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

Monday, March 1, 2010

CORPUS CHRISTI — Equipment Depot has moved into the old Hertz Equipment Rentals location at Interstate 37 and Port Avenue.

The property was recently purchased by Waco-based KWM Investments, a transaction handled by NAI Cravey Real Estate Services. Equipment Depot, who moved from a site on Cantwell Lane, will lease the 2.14 acre property from KWM.

Equipment Depot sells, services and leases equipment. Since Equipment Depot is not in direct competition with the Hertz Corp., the future use was not an issue for the seller.

Click to view the Caller.com article in PDF Format

The post Ex-Hertz Location Gets New Tenant appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

CORPUS CHRISTI — The white, two-story office building at the corner of Lawrence and Lower Broadway streets was known as the Brunkenhoefer Law Firm office for 13 years. A McAllen lawyer has acquired it.

Channing Slusher, a trustee with Slusher and Associates, purchased the building for an undisclosed amount. Calls on Thursday to Slusher and his representative, George Clower of The Clower Co., were not returned.

Robert Brunkenhoefer’s reason for selling was to downsize office space, said Matt Cravey with NAI Cravey Real Estate Services.

Cravey represented Brunkenhoefer during the sale. The lawyer will move to Wilson Plaza, 606 N. Carancahua St., Cravey said.

The Brunkenhoefer building is about 7,700 square feet and was built in 1912 for Southwestern Telegraph & Telephone Co. When the telephone company moved to the bluff in about 1938, the building was renovated for the Frank Sparks Insurance Co.

It later was occupied by Celanese Corp. and in 1968 by the city’s tax office. It was restored in 1997 for the Brunkenhoefer Law Firm.

It is said to be the first structure in town built expressly as a telephone building and the city’s first fireproof building, Cravey said.

The post Downtown’s Brunkenhoefer Law Firm Office Sold appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

Originally published 08:03 p.m., October 3, 2009 Updated 11:06 p.m., October 3, 2009

CORPUS CHRISTI — The past three years brought exuberant announcements of downtown condo development. The past year brought economic downturn and tight credit. Two events of the past week raise questions about the future of downtown residential development.

Those events were the plan by the owners of Atlantic Lofts to offer condos at auction, and the scheduling of the foreclosure sale of the Lichtenstein building.

The deteriorated Lichtenstein building, once Corpus Christi’s premier retail store, was to be converted to retail and condo spaces.

The Atlantic Lofts are a significant renovation and transformation of an old office building into luxury living spaces. The reviews from those who have toured Atlantic Lofts are glowing.

But only eight of the 36 units have been sold.

A developer of a nearby property assessed the situation: “Downtown is smoking hot right now.”

Bill Hoover of Nueces Lofts has reason to be excited. His development is 21 percent occupied after opening only two weeks ago.

Hoover also sees much silver lining in the foreclosure on the Lichtenstein building.

The 145,000-square-foot building and a small one adjacent to it will have a public sale on Tuesday after the developer, John Golden of Golden Properties, could not pay the note. Calls to Golden on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were not returned. Talk around town is that it’s one more dilapidated building that might never see better days and will continue to be an eyesore to downtown.

Hoover sees the foreclosure as positive for the community.

“They’re taking it from someone who can’t invest further and offering it to others who do have the financing and vision to make something happen.”

Hoover said the asbestos remediation and work Golden did inside the building during the six or so months he worked on it are significant steps.

“Mr. Golden moved the rock quite a bit,” Hoover said. “The next person who buys it will have that much less to do.”

He points to the Atlantic Lofts and Bay Vista Apartments, an expanding complex that quickly saw near-full occupancy, as examples of projects that have started the push to bring people to downtown 24/7, and he expects businesses to follow.

Lending restrictions

The motive for the Atlantic Lofts auction might reassure those who worry whether downtown Corpus Christi will ever be a thriving residential market. Lenders won’t offer 30-year fixed mortgages for condo units until the condominium development is 50 percent full. Veterans mortgage loans would require 60 percent occupancy.

That limits the likely buyers to those who can afford one outright, or those willing to chance a variable-rate loan. Under those conditions, plus the down economy, the eight sales might seem more of an achievement. With prices starting above $150,000 for an unfinished shell, the Atlantic Lofts are aimed at high-end buyers.

“The reason we’re auctioning the units is to be able to allow our young tenants the best mortgage rate and allow empty-nesters to qualify for VA funding,” said Evonne Gottsch with Atlantic Lofts. “This auction will provide a sense of urgency, which creates excitement. We’ve had the interest but have lacked the commitment, due to funding options.”

‘Big demand’

Atlantic Lofts is a joint venture between the Adame Group, an affiliate of Joe Adame and Associates, and the family of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.

Reese Ryan of Atlantic Lofts said the entire process of getting the condo project going and sold has been interesting. The economy has done its part to slow it down and the partners hired Alabama-based J.P. King Auction Co. to auction at least 15 and as many as 28 units.

“I think there’s a big demand for downtown living,” Ryan said. “We had good success selling the units, but found people’s financing options were limited. We decided to auction now instead of after the new year because we wanted people to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer federal tax credit.”

Rent vs. own

Real estate agents say the condo concept is not too familiar to Texans, but can succeed. Developers are confident it can. The demand for rentals has been stronger.

Bay Vista Apartments on Hancock Street opened a year ago and has achieved more than 90 percent occupancy. A second phase being planned will add 181 units to the current 169.

Jim Villaume, a broker with Steve Roberts Realty, agrees that apartments are doing better than condos, and not just the new ones such as the 64-unit Nueces Lofts and Bay Vista.

Places such as the Limerick, Retama and the Princess achieve 100 percent occupancy most of the time, he said. He notes that Atlantic Lofts might be slow in selling the units because of the price.

Nueces Lofts or Bay Vista rent for about $1 a square foot. That appeals to the young crowd or the older couples on a fixed income, Villaume said.

Atlantic Lofts sell for about $200 a square foot for the shell, he said. Then buyers have to customize it, which adds another $100 or $200 per square foot.

Matt Cravey, a commercial real estate broker and president of NAI Cravey Real Estate Services Inc., said Texans have a funny attitude about condos. They like living on the ground and owning it, he said.

“We’re not Florida or New York,” Cravey said. “We’re not a condo state. I’m not saying these won’t sell, but it’ll be a long process.”

One option is to market the condos to people not living in the area, he said. But the competition will be other states that have embraced condo living.

“If people from other states are willing to come to Corpus Christi, they’re willing to go to California or Florida as well,” he said. “Other places offer huge discounts, more amenities and lower property taxes. That’s what we’re up against, but it can be done.”

Less maintenance

Two doors down from Atlantic Lofts is The Broadway, a six-unit condo project being developed by Jerry and Kathy Dewbre. The three-story, 40,000-square-foot building is known for its green, Italian terra cotta exterior window accents and as the former H-E-B headquarters building.

The inside of the building has been gutted and bids for construction are expected in the next couple of weeks, Kathy Dewbre said. She said they’re not in a rush to finish the building, but construction is expected to begin during the first quarter of 2010 and the complex should open by late 2010.

“We’ve had some people interested, but you don’t really know what interest there really is until you start selling, which we haven’t,” Dewbre said. “Our goal is not to make a lot of money on this. We just want to energize downtown living.”

Dewbre and her husband have lived downtown for more than seven years.

“We want to live (at The Broadway) and make a living area there,” she said. “People we have found are interested in this kind of living are the older ones who don’t necessarily want to downsize but down-maintenance-ize. They want to stop doing the yard, fixing the roof or driving to get to the pool.”

The Broadway’s amenities will include a fitness center, pool and wine room. She said they kept it to six units because real estate agents with whom they spoke often said condos in Corpus Christi weren’t big enough.

Villaume said downtown will revitalize and the proof is in the projects that have been completed or are well under way despite the slow economy.

“There’s six units in The Broadway and it’s likely half of those are already spoken for. Atlantic Lofts did a great job of muting the noise from (Interstate Highway) 37.

“These developers believe in Corpus Christi and believe in downtown living,” he said. “I think if money was flowing, the condos and apartments downtown would have been snatched up. I think eventually it’ll happen. And when the people come, the businesses will follow.”

Click to view the Caller.com article in PDF format

The post Downtown Condo Market is Hard to Assess: Developers Hope to Revitalize Area appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

NAI Cravey Real Estate Services is the new leasing agent for One Shoreline Plaza.

The twin towers, at 800 N. Shoreline Blvd., have about 363,302 square feet of rentable space. The south tower is the tallest in South Texas south of San Antonio.

The team of Weldon Dietze, Melissa DeLeon, Terrell Miller and Matthew Cravey will lease to new office tenants as well as renew existing leases. For information, call 289-5168 or visit www.craveyrealestate.com.

Click to view the Caller.com article in PDF format

The post NAI Cravey Real Estate Services new leasing agent at One Shoreline Plaza appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Jack in the Box is opening a new location at the corner of Everhart Road and Saratoga Boulevard. Construction on the eatery has begun and it is expected to open for business later this year.

NAI Cravey Real Estate Services represented the parcel owners, Saratoga Village Partners. Ferguson Bean and Evans represented the corporate chain in negotiating the sale of the 27,000 square feet, Cravey services announced last week.

The new Jack location sits on the property of a former H-E-B grocery store, which Cravey services announced last month will become a charter school. For more information, visit www.CraveyRealEstate.com.

Click to view the Caller.com article in PDF format

The post The Buzz on Local Business: 07.26.09 appeared first on Cravey Real Estate.