Apparel, Accessories Retailer Francesca’s to Close 140 Stores, May Pursue Bankruptcy

Pictured is Francesca's store in Houston's Memorial City District. The Houston-based retailer is looking at closing about 20 percent of its stores nationwide. 

HOUSTON — Francesca’s Holdings Corp. will close 140 stores throughout the country by Jan. 30, 2021, the Houston-based women’s apparel and accessories retailer announced on Monday. According to The Wall Street Journal, the 140 shuttered stores represent about 20 percent of the company’s total store count.

Francesca’s also said that if the company is unable to raise sufficient capital to continue funding operations and paying obligations, it will likely seek to restructure its debt load by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Francesca’s stock price opened at $3.53 per share on Tuesday, Nov. 17, down from $15.91 per share a year ago.

Fort Capital Sells 606,889 SF Light Industrial Portfolio in DFW

Pictured is a light industrial building located at 1663 Hickory Drive in metro Fort Worth, one of the 18 buildings in the sold portfolio.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Locally based investment firm Fort Capital has sold a portfolio of 18 light industrial buildings totaling 606,889 square feet located throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex.

Each of the Class B properties offers proximity to one of the metroplex’s major interstates. The portfolio was 95 percent occupied at the time of sale. The buyer was not disclosed.

Titan Development Begins Construction on 330,000 SF Industrial Project in Metro Austin

GEORGETOWN, TEXAS — Titan Development has broken ground on Phase I of NorthPark 35, a project in the northern Austin suburb of Georgetown that will add 330,000 square feet of industrial space across two buildings to the local supply.

The project includes the extension of Aviation Drive to intersect with State Highway 130 and Interstate 35. Titan Development, which has offices in Albuquerque and San Antonio, expects to complete Phase I of the 146-acre project in the spring of 2021.

One building will be partially occupied by Georgetown-based Texas Speed & Performance, while the remaining space will be marketed to future users.

PNC Agrees to Acquire US Operations of BBVA in $11.6B Bank Merger

PNC plans to merge BBVA’s banking platform into PNC Bank NA, with BBVA USA branches assuming the PNC Bank name.

By John Nelson

PITTSBURGH AND HOUSTON — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and Spanish financial institution Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) have signed a definitive agreement for PNC to acquire BBVA’s American operations, BBVA USA Bancshares Inc., for $11.6 billion.

The transaction, which has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors, is expected to close in mid-2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

The transaction will bolster PNC’s national presence and create the fifth-largest bank in the United States, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PNC will move beyond Charlotte-based Truist, the newly formed merger of equals between BB&T and SunTrust Bank.

Houston-based BBVA USA Bancshares manages $104 billion in assets and provides commercial and retail banking services through its banking subsidiary BBVA USA. The bank operates 637 branches in Texas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. <read the full story>

Jackson-Shaw Completes 279,632 SF Parc 59 Industrial Project in Metro Houston

Parc 59 in Humble totals 279,632 square feet.

HUMBLE, TEXAS — Developer Jackson-Shaw has completed Parc 59, a 279,632-square-foot industrial project located in the northern Houston suburb of Humble.

Designed by Powers Brown Architecture and built by Cadence McShane Construction Co., Parc 59 consists of an 83,436-square-foot building with 28-foot clear heights and a 196,196-square-foot building with 32-foot clear heights.

The buildings also feature 130-foot truck courts, ESFR sprinkler systems and a combined 437 car parking spaces. Gulf Atlantic Packaging Corp. (GAPCO) recently signed a lease to occupy 43,539 square feet at the larger of the two buildings.

Why Dallas May Have A Competitive Advantage in the Office Market Recovery

Pictured is Highland Park Place, a 164,011-square-foot office building in the Knox/Henderson area of Dallas. This neighborhood’s dining, shopping and entertainment users may be better positioned to survive the downturn since new leasing and the return of workers to offices are both occurring at rates above national averages in Dallas.

By Brett Merz of KBS

As this unprecedented year hits the midpoint of the fourth quarter and office investors consider their options, one market in Texas stands out: Dallas. This market has historically shown strong resiliency and continues to do so throughout the pandemic.

While Texas as a whole has been ahead of many other states in terms of allowing tenants that are eager to return to the office after the COVID-19 shutdown to do so, the Dallas office market has especially embraced reopening and returning to work.

According to a new report by Kastle Systems, Dallas County leads the country in terms of the share of employees who are back to their workplaces following government-mandated shutdowns.

Across the 10 largest metroplexes in the country, an average of 27.4 percent of employees are back in the office, while Dallas employees are returning to work at a rate of 43.3 percent. This figure compares favorably to proportions of employees returning to offices in other markets, including Los Angeles (34 percent), Washington, D.C. (24 percent) and San Francisco (14.7 percent). <read the full story>

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