Wellby Financial broke ground on its new five-story headquarters building at Baybrook Center in Friendswood.
The 102K SF campus will consolidate the credit union team and include a new member branch.
Courtesy of Wellby Financial
Wellby Financial leadership during the groundbreaking ceremony for Wellby’s new headquarters on Thursday
The building is on a 9.5-acre site at 19130 Gulfbrook Drive, near Baybrook Mall. Wellby acquired the land and unveiled plans for a new headquarters in 2024.
“The Bay Area has been part of the Wellby story since its inception, and will continue to be an important part of it well into the future,” Wellby Financial CEO Marty Pell said in a statement. “This location puts us close to the communities that Wellby has proudly served since 1961, when we are positioned to serve more people in Greater Houston. It also provides the accessibility, visibility and room to grow that we need for years to come.”
Construction completion is targeted for October 2028. Project partners include La Macchia Group for site selection, Colliers Houston for transactions and land brokerage, Powers Brown Architecture, Griffin Partners for development, and Harvey Cleary as general contractor.
PEOPLE
Brandi Sikes and Katherine Bowler Rosen have joined the Savills Houston office as executive directors and assistant directors. The team joins from Sikes Solutions, the boutique commercial real estate advisory firm that Sikes founded.
Sikes and Bowler Rosen will focus on advising Houston-based companies with real estate needs across multiple markets, including headquarters strategy, office and leasing industry, and life science-related real estate requirements.
Sikes brings more than 30 years of commercial real estate experience advising corporate occupiers. Bowler Rosen brings six years of commercial real estate industry experience, including about 18 months in brokerage.
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Bellows Construction announced that Laura Bellows will step down as CEO on January 1 and be replaced by Tony Mansoorian, Bellows’ chief operating officer. This will replace Bellows Construction from family-run leadership for the first time in its 112-year history.
Mansoorian is a 26th generation Bellows employee. Laura Bellows will serve as CEO emeritus until her official retirement on October 16, 2027.
Jack Bellows will complete his term as president at the end of the year and continue on the board of directors.
SALES
Cabot Properties purchased Port 225 Commerce Center, a 484K SF industrial development, from Brightshore Capital. At 307 and 315 Beltway Green Blvd. in Deer Park, Port 225 has two buildings: a 129K SF open back warehouse and a 355K SF cross-dock facility.
Brightshore acquired the site in 2023 and, through its in-house development team, completed construction in 2025. The sale followed an unsolicited offer from the buyer.
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Dallas-based Apricus Realty Capital acquired an industrial space storage property with crane-served warehouse and office space on 1.5 acres at 2225 Sens Road in La Porte. The property has 16,500 SF of on-site improvements and is fully leased to Sage Envirotech, a provider of industrial cleaning, environmental services and waste management services.
Apricus acquired the property in partnership with ABR Capital Partners, continuing the company’s joint venture targeting IOS and industrial aggregation.
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A 245-unit storage facility traded hands after a bidding war between a 1031 exchange buyer and a REIT. The property at 13505 State Highway 75 in Willis opens in February 2024. Phase 1 consists of 245 units totaling 42,500 SF. Phase 2, a 30K SF expansion, is expected to bring the facility to 468 units and 72K SF by the end of 2026.
Marcus & Millihap’s Dave Knobler, Mixson Staffel and Charles “Chico” LeClaire represented the seller.
LEASES
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Bisnow/Maddy McCarty
Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC plans to move the office from Sage Plaza in the Uptown area to 3 Houston Center in Downtown Houston. Law firm leases 25K SF in 3.3M SF office campus.
JLL’s Chad Baker, Lauren Stifflemire Kelly and Kennedy Gamble represented KRCL. Steam Realty Partners Ryan Barbles and Matt Asvestas represented the ownership.
The law firm grew in Texas. It opened an Austin office last year and hired 12 new people in Houston, Dallas and Austin last month.
FINANCING
Lightstone secured a bridge loan to refinance Citadel Apartments, a 293-unit multifamily community at 2220 Pinegate Drive in Houston Heights.
Newmark’s James Maynard and Rob Wright secured the financing on behalf of the borrower, Lightstone, along with Matt Williams, Kyle Schlitt and David Williams. Greystar provides funding through its debt funding platform.
Lightstone acquired the community, which was built in 2019, with a transaction on the market in 2021.
THIS AND THIS
Partners Capital, the investment platform of Partners Real Estate, is launching a new investment vehicle to acquire, title and position land in the top corridors of Texas and the Sun Belt. Land Fund II has an equity goal of $25M.
The fund will target raw and light tracts, especially industrial sites of 35 to 200 hectares.
The new fund comes after Land Fund I, which was launched in September 2022, recently completed the sale of the last Phase 1 tract in the North Houston Commerce Park, a 189-hectare project at FM 1960 and Aldine Westfield Road.
The Partners Land Fund team, led by Dan Moody and Holcombe Crosswell, will manage the fund.