Houston, TX (October 31, 2014) – Chicago based Marquette Companies in partnership with Hunt Companies, Inc. and affiliates of Los Angeles based Ares Management announced the ground breaking of Catalyst Houston, a 28-story luxury rental building located at 1423 Texas Avenue in the central business district of Houston. The building is scheduled for completion during the summer of 2016.
Designed by Houston-based architect Ziegler Cooper, Catalyst will include 361 luxury apartment homes with one, two and three-bedroom units which will feature beautiful views of downtown and Minute Maid Park. Residences will include luxury amenities and finishes such as hardwood flooring, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, 10 to 13 foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and a private balcony or terrace.
“We’re very pleased to be one of the first major residential developments to break ground in downtown Houston. We believe it is one of the best submarkets in the U.S. right now. The opportunity here is immense,” said Darren Sloniger, President of The Marquette Companies. “We have successfully designed a beautiful, sophisticated tower that will enhance the Houston skyline and that people will be proud to call home.”
Catalyst Houston is part of Marquette’s “Catalyst Collection” which are luxury apartment communities that provide unique opportunities to live in urban environments. The building will feature high-end amenities such as a Wi-Fi lounge, outdoor dog run with a pet wash, a club room, meeting room, fitness center, sky club offering panoramic views of the city, and a resort-style outdoor swimming pool with an infinity edge. The building will offer a variety of units at different price points including two floors of penthouses with exclusive access to a private club and private garage. The street level of Catalyst will feature a 6,000-square-foot restaurant to be announced at a later date.
The development is a joint venture between The Marquette Companies, Hunt and affiliates of Ares Management. Pepper Lawson will serve as general contractor and US Bank is providing construction financing.
Pre-leasing is expected to begin in spring 2016.
About The Marquette Companies
The Marquette Companies is a Naperville, Ill.-based private real estate company that has been a leading property manager and developer of luxury apartment communities since 1983. Marquette has completed more than $1.3B in acquisitions and development since 2010. Marquette has significant expertise in acquiring value-add opportunities that are underperforming and undervalued real estate assets across the country to reposition or redevelop them. Nationally, The Marquette Companies owns and/or manages more than 11,000 units. For more information on The Marquette Companies, visit www.marquettecompanies.com.
About Hunt
Hunt Companies, Inc. is a national developer, investor and manager of real assets providing a broad range of services to public and private sector clients. Founded in 1947 and headquartered in El Paso, Texas, Hunt has more than 1,200 employees across the United States. Together, Hunt and its affiliates have $26.3 billion in assets under management, including 271,770 multifamily units and 5.2 million square feet of office, retail and industrial properties. Hunt has also developed 89,000 housing units, over 1 million square feet of commercial space and thousands of acres of land. Hunt has offices throughout the United States, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbia (SC), Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and international offices in Abu Dhabi, London and Mexico City. To learn more about Hunt, please visit www.huntcompanies.com.
About Ares Management, L.P.
Ares is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $79 billion assets under management ("AUM") and approximately 700 employees in over 15 offices in the United States, Europe, Australia, Middle East and Asia. Ares manages four distinct but complementary and integrated investment groups that invest in the tradable credit, direct lending, private equity and real estate markets and have the ability to invest in all levels of a company's capital structure-from senior debt to common equity. Ares' Real Estate Group is a leading global real estate investment management platform with approximately $9 billion in AUM and approximately 80 investment professionals. The Real Estate Group's activities include opportunistic and value add equity and debt investments in commercial real estate ("CRE") assets in North America and Europe, as well as self-originated middle-market commercial real estate loans and other CRE investments in North America. The Real Estate Group manages CRE equity investments through various private equity funds and its debt investments primarily through the management of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE) and various private funds and vehicles. To learn more about Ares, please visit www.aresmanagement.com.
