Averitt, a privately held firm based in Nashville that today is known as one of the nation's leading freight transportation and supply chain management providers. Following its success in Dallas, Averitt wanted to upgrade and expand its Texas presence and chose Houston as the next obvious stop because of Houston’s strong transportation infrastructure. Recognizing the dynamic growth and development along Houston’s major centric freeways, Averitt’s requirement was to secure a site near Bush Intercontinental Airport and in close proximity to major freeway corridors. But the highest priority was placed on quality and image as only first class, restricted business park locations were to be considered.

The Challenge...

Averitt had been courted by numerous developers over a period of 12 plus months, but none of the sites presented meet their quality criteria. Further, the pricing and limited amount of land in quality business parks along with the economic uncertainty following the 2001 national downturn represented the greatest challenges for this assignment. Overcoming these challenges required a thorough knowledge of the market availability, property ownership, pricing and an established trustworthy relationship with area land owners.

Solutions...

Based on a through review of the markets and individual business parks in the Airport and Beltway area, Todd and his team recommended the area FM 525 near JFK Blvd as the epicenter for selection for a new development. Todd and his team completed a thorough analysis of the individual properties which included detailed mapping, photography and meetings with individual owners and their representatives to determine potential availability, pricing and restrictions on specific and surrounding properties.

After thoroughly researching the market, offers were submitted to multiple owners of key properties. After receiving positive feedback from the Wolff Companies regarding their InterWood site along JFK Blvd and Heathrow, Todd began negotiating with Wolff to acquire 30+ acres of land along JFK Blvd. Todd’s team negotiated the purchase and sale terms for the land acquisition, as well as the restrictions on the development criteria and coordinated the ultimate acquisition of the 30+ acres in InterWood.

Results...

Averitt’s initial entry in the Houston market was a solid success. Todd’s team successfully secured a premium site at a fair price that was considered one of the largest land acquisitions in the airport area in 2002. The acquisition allowed Averitt to start construction on a new office and distribution facility within a premier business park development and within 3 miles of Bush IAH and the largest US Post Office in Houston as well as FedEx. Averitt remains a satisfied customer following the success of another Colliers client "Win".

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