Younan Properties Inc. has purchased its sixth Houston office project since June, pursuing a goal of becoming the Texas city’s largest office landlord. The private real estate investment group paid an undisclosed sum for Two Westlake Park, a 381,327 sq. ft. high-rise at 580 Westlake Park Blvd., in the Katy Freeway West submarket and an area known as Houston’s Energy Corridor.
Younan Properties, based in Los Angeles, represented itself in the transaction. Ken Page, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc., represented the seller, Wind Realty of Chicago. The property is 97% occupied.
Younan now owns approximately 1.7 million sq. ft. of Houston office space and has stated a goal of growing the local portfolio to more than 5 million sq. ft. The California investment firm owns nearly 8 million sq. ft. in Texas, and is the largest office-owner in Dallas, where it owns approximately 12% of local inventory.
Younan Properties sees promise in Houston’s declining unemployment rate, according to Zaya S. Younan, chairman and CEO of Younan Properties. Houston is on the verge of a major recovery and growth, he says, and the vacancy rate in the Katy Freeway submarket has declined to 7% despite having the bulk of the city’s recent construction occur there. “Houston’s office market continued to perform strongly in the first half of 2007 and we remain extremely bullish about this city, as well as Dallas,” says Younan.
Now the third-largest owner of Class-A office space in Texas, Younan Properties holds title to nearly 8 million sq. ft. of prime commercial real estate in the state. In Dallas, it is the top office landlord, with approximately 12% of the city’s Class-A assets. Nationwide, Younan Properties’ holdings exceed 10 million sq. ft. of Class-A office space valued at more than $1.5 billion in Texas, Illinois and Arizona.