NewQuest Properties and Longhorn Steakhouse have signed a 1.21-acre ground lease for the last pad site fronting Interstate 10 in Chambers Town Center in Texas’ port city of Baytown.
“Longhorn Steakhouse has been looking at this site for a long time because sales are so exceptional for restaurants in our project,” says Bob Conwell, senior vice president of Houston-based NewQuest Properties. He and Austen Baldridge, also an SVP, partner on the retail center’s leasing.
Chambers Town Center will house the first steakhouse in the trade area, home to 204,000 residents with an average annual household income exceeding $101,000. The NewQuest development spans 51 acres bordered by I-10, TX 146 and Needlepoint Road,which carry more than 123,000 vehicles per day.
Longhorn Steakhouse will start construction immediately, with an anticipated completion of nine to 12 months. Traci Holman of Baker Katz represented the national chain in the long-term signing.
“Longhorn Steakhouse will add a new dining dimension to Chambers Town Center,” Conwell says. “It will be the first American casual sit-down restaurant in the line-up.”
Chambers Town Center, which is nearing build-out, totals 437,648 sf of retail, restaurant and medical office space anchored by a Walmart Supercenter and 10-acreen Showbiz Cinemas. Availability has been whittled to a 1.25-acre pad site, which is ticketed for a ground lease, and 9.8 acres being marketed for sale as a prime site for hospitality or multifamily use.
“There’s been very limited turnover in the project since its development. When something comes up, it fills immediately,” says Conwell, who’s been leasing the project at least eight years.
Baytown, as the market knows, is fueled by the petrochemical industry, a 24/7 industry with well-paid blue-collar workers who use TX 146 en route to work and home. Chambers Town Center’s trade area now boasts nearly 71,000 homes, up 22% from 2020-23.
According to Placer.ai, Chambers Town Center is the most-visited retail development in a 15-mile radius. Its average monthly visits exceeded 300,000 in the past year.
“Restaurants do phenomenally well in this center with sales 10% higher than Baytown’s main thoroughfare,” Conwell says. “The strength of the location is an undisputed fact.”
SOUTH TEXAS LEASES
Longhorn Steakhouse has ground-leased a 1.21-acre retail pad site in Chambers Town Center, located at the intersection of Interstate 10 and TX 146, Baytown, from NewQuest Properties. Bob Conwell and Austen Baldridge of NewQuest Properties represented the landlord. Traci Holman of Baker Katz represented the tenant.
Amco Auto Insurance has leased 1,400 sf of retail space in Sam Houston Town Center, located at the intersection of Interstate 45 and FM 1097, Willis, from NewQuest Properties. Lara Lee LaMendola of NewQuest Properties represented the landlord. Rafael Melara of ROM Commercial Properties represented the tenant.
NewQuest Properties, founded in 2001, is a privately owned, full-service commercial real estate firm specializing in development, land brokerage, leasing, tenant representation, investment sales and property management services. Headquartered in Houston, NewQuest owns a portfolio encompassing more than 100 retail and mixed-use projects exceeding $2.3 billion in value and provides leasing services for more than 12 million square feet of commercial space in Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Georgia and throughout the U.S.
