JLL completes sale of Houston-area retail center

HOUSTON, January 15, 2020 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has closed the sale of Bay Area Plaza, a 72,569-square-foot retail center with flex industrial space in the Houston-area community of Webster, Texas.

JLL marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Orr Commercial, Inc. A local buyer purchased the asset.  

Bay Area Plaza comprises 45,269 square feet of retail and 27,300 square feet of flex industrial space that includes R&D and storage. The 98% leased property has an e-commerce-resistant tenant base, with 89% of retail space occupied by service-oriented tenants such as Total Body Work, Samurai Steak & Sushi, Laser Booking Contouring Center, Lenny’s Sub Shop, Dapper Doughnuts, Pizza Hut and Amy’s Nails.

Bay Area Plaza is 20 miles southeast of downtown Houston and home to several of Houston’s premier suburbs, including Clear Lake and Webster. Bay Area Plaza is situated at 103-133 and 151 Bay Area Boulevard and 16830-16888 TX-3, which exposes the property to a combined 68,523 vehicles per day. The property is one mile from Baybrook Mall and along Bay Area Boulevard, which is in Clear Lake’s premier retail corridor and, with more than 48,000 vehicles a day, the most heavily trafficked east-west thoroughfare in Southeast Houston. Additionally, the flex space has direct access to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

The JLL Retail Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Senior Managing Director Ryan West, Director John Indelli and Analyst Ethan Goldberg.

“Investor demand for necessity-focused and service-oriented strip centers is growing fast,” Indelli said.

“Strong occupancy fundamentals, limited required capital outlays and current financing options from CMBS, life companies and banks are all generating double-digit cash on cash returns, which is very attractive to buyers.”

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment advisory, debt placement, equity placement or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,700 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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