Texas Border Business
LOS ANGELES – BH Properties has acquired a vacant 86,640-square-foot warehouse building in the Rio Grande Valley city of Harlingen, TX from Valley Baptist Hospital. The transaction increases the Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm’s holdings in the South Texas/Mexico border region to approximately 750,000 square feet of commercial and industrial space.
Built in 1970 as a regional distribution facility for Sears, it was previously operated by locally-based Valley Baptist Hospital as a laundry and supply storage facility. The building, which had been vacant since suffering hurricane damage, was among a portfolio of six non-essential assets that were being marketed for sale by the hospital.
“Despite its current appearance, the property is structurally sound and benefits from its strategic location within the middle of the Rio Grande Valley, creating an opportunity for us to restore it to its original use as a regional distribution facility,” said Scott Henry, BH Properties Managing Director of Acquisitions for Los Angeles-based BH Properties.
Manager and CEO, Harlingen EDC
“The City of Harlingen and Harlingen EDC are very excited that BH Properties has acquired this facility and look forward to seeing this blighted property converted to a more productive asset for the future tenants and the city,” added Raudel Garza, Manager and Chief Executive Officer at Harlingen Economic Development Corporation. “We are grateful for their commitment to Harlingen.”
The property is located at 4405 Glasscock Avenue off of Loop 499 with good access to I-69E/US 77 and Expressway 83. It is within a 45-minute drive of all major destinations within the Rio Grande Valley and available to serve the maquiladora industry on the Mexico side of the border.
BH Properties will immediately begin a multi-million-dollar capital improvement program to address deferred maintenance, install a new roof, restore power and building systems.
Conrad McEachern and Carlos Telles with CBRE marketed the property on behalf of the seller.
BH Properties has hired Telles to begin marketing of the property for lease. The property also has nearly seven acres of excess land offering future development opportunity, according to Henry.
This is the second significant Rio Grande Valley acquisition in the past three months for BH Properties. In October, the firm closed on a vacant 103,000-square foot former Dillard’s building at the Valle Vista Mall in Harlingen.
