Hartman Income Expands Houston Presence

16420 Park Ten. Image courtesy of JLL

Hartman Income REIT has acquired a 254,225-square-foot portfolio of three office properties in Houston, Texas. JLL represented the seller, HighBrook Investors.

The portfolio includes 16420 Park Ten Place and 1400 Broadfield, both of which are located in the Park 10 Business Park within Houston’s Energy Corridor neighborhood. Located near Houston’s major highways—Interstate 10, Grand Parkway and Beltways 6 and 8—the Energy Corridor earned its name after several energy companies, including BP America, Citgo and Shell Oil Co., moved into the area.

In addition to the two business park properties, 7915 FM 1960 is also part of the office portfolio. Located next to Willowbrook Mall with anchor tenants such as Macy’s, Sears and JCPenney, the office building is home to medical offices and legal firms. All three properties combine for a 55 percent leased rate.

For Hartman, this purchase follows an earlier purchase this year of another office property in the Energy Corridor. In February, the REIT spent $5.1 million to purchase a 78,000-square-foot office building at 11211 Katy Freeway, which is more than 5 miles away from the Park 10 Business Park properties.

JLL Capital Markets’ Senior Director Martin Hogan led the team that represented HighBrook. The deal was originally secured by HFF before JLL acquired it in July.

Houston’s healthy market

Hartman’s newly-acquired properties are well-positioned as market reports detail steady growth for Houston. According to Yardi Matrix’s second-quarter report on the area, the city’s numbers have recovered well, including an average asking price of Class A office product that hit $35.46 per square foot as of March.

Houston also saw 18,600 office-using jobs added year-over-year through February, bringing it to a total of 700,000 office jobs, the report added. Matching the job growth, developers have lined up a steady pipeline of more than 2.6 million square feet of new development under construction as of March.