Ninfa’s newest expansion in Houston joins the list of Whitestone’s Successful Entrepreneurial Tenants Enhancing Value at BLVD Place
HOUSTON, Aug. 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) (“Whitestone” or the “Company”) today announced the signing of Ninfa’s Restaurant to a lease at BLVD Place.
“We are pleased to announce that our BLVD Place story is becoming even more exciting,” said James C. Mastandrea, Whitestone’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The successful addition of Ninfa’s will be another great traffic driver to the property. The signing is another step in our process to transform BLVD Place into a true community-centered property. Coupled with the recent announcement of a rooftop cinema opening in October, BLVD Place with its five restaurants to choose from, has become the ‘Must-Go’ destination in Uptown Houston.” Mr. Mastandrea concluded, “Whitestone continues to execute its proven, value-add, e-commerce resistant strategy to generate stable and predictable cash flow for all of our shareholders.”
Ninfa’s new location will be on the northwest corner of the property at street-level, facing the widely popular San Felipe St. The restaurant will occupy 6,326 square feet with outdoor space and valet parking, and is projected to open in the Spring of 2019.
With the addition of Ninfa’s, Whitestone continues to add value by driving traffic to its tenants while maintaining near 100% occupancy since purchasing the property in May of 2017. Since Whitestone’s acquisition, BLVD Place and the surrounding area have experienced significant upgrades that will enhance future investor returns. Whitestone added a rooftop cinema opening in October 2018; and Whitestone still has the availability to develop an additional 150,000+ leasable square feet on the adjacent land parcel which was included in the original purchase of BLVD.
A number of exciting developments have, and are still taking place in and around BLVD. The Post Oak Boulevard Project, which the city of Houston broke ground in 2015 to improve transit service and pedestrian walkability, is expected to be completed by early 2019. Whole Foods, located at BLVD Place, was purchased by Amazon in June 2017, further validating Whitestone’s Community Center concept. Adjacent to BLVD, luxury apartment developer Hanover Company is developing a second building, Hanover Blvd Place, adding approximately 600 apartments that will be an additional driver of future demand. BLVD Place is well positioned to absorb this future demand, as it is equipped with and supported by a six-story, indoor parking facility.
About Ninfa’s Ninfa’s is a thriving local favorite with a menu that offers chef-inspired Tex-Mex cuisine and is widely credited with popularizing the fajita among Houstonians. The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation was created by “Mama” Ninfa Laurenzo in 1973 after the death of her husband, John. She started by grilling skirt steak and serving it in tortillas from her family’s struggling tortilla factory. The resulting dish – “Tacos al Carbon” (which later became known as “Fajitas”) was the basis for Mama Ninfa’s legend in Houston and in the history of Tex-Mex cuisine. Mama Ninfa passed away in 2001, and in 2005, Legacy Restaurants purchased The Original Ninfa’s. In the ensuing years, Legacy and Executive Chef Alex Padilla have restored, updated, and improved The Original Ninfa’s. After more than 40 years in business, The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation is more popular than ever and still is serving “The Best Mexican Food in Texas Since Texas was in Mexico!™”
About BLVD Place BLVD Place is a mixed-use development in the Uptown area of Houston, Texas. Owned and managed by Whitestone REIT, BLVD Place is an urban destination located in the 15 th largest CBD in the country, encompassing the Galleria area. Strategically positioned at the intersection of San Felipe and prestigious Post Oak Boulevard, BLVD Place is ideally located to capitalize on Uptown’s daytime working population and the affluent neighborhoods of Tanglewood, River Oaks, and others. The dynamic area has tenants including Whole Foods Market, Frost Bank, True Food Kitchen, North Italia, Regus Workspaces, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Pinkberry, The Eye Gallery, Laura Rathe Fine Art, Sozo Sushi, The Boardroom, Façade, Rise Soufflé & Wine Bar, Sakowitz Furs, Paloma, Luxington Boutique, Bellami Hair, and Verizon Wireless.
About Whitestone REIT Whitestone is a community-centered retail REIT that acquires, owns, manages, develops and redevelops high quality "e-commerce resistant" neighborhood, community and lifestyle retail centers principally located in the largest, fastest-growing and most affluent markets in the Sunbelt. Whitestone's optimal mix of national, regional and local tenants provide daily necessities, needed services and entertainment to the communities in which they are located. Whitestone's properties are primarily located in business-friendly Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, which are among the fastest growing U.S. population centers with highly educated workforces, high household incomes and strong job growth. Visit www.whitestonereit.com for additional information.
Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The Company intends for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as applicable. Such information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, as well as known and unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of our performance in future periods. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the Company's use of forward-looking terminology, such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “goals” or similar words or phrases that are predictions of future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters.
The following are some of the factors that could cause the Company's actual results and its expectations to differ materially from those described in the Company's forward-looking statements: the Company's ability to meet its long-term goals, its assumptions regarding its earnings guidance, including its ability to execute effectively its acquisition and disposition strategy, to continue to execute its development pipeline on schedule and at the expected costs, and its ability to grow its NOI as expected, which could be impacted by a number of factors, including, among other things, its ability to continue to renew leases or re-let space on attractive terms and to otherwise address its leasing rollover; its ability to successfully identify, finance and consummate suitable acquisitions, and the impact of such acquisitions, including financing developments, capitalization rates and internal rate of return; the Company’s ability to reduce or otherwise effectively manage its general and administrative expenses; the Company’s ability to fund from cash flows or otherwise distributions to its shareholders at current rates or at all; current adverse market and economic conditions; lease terminations or lease defaults; the impact of competition on the Company's efforts to renew existing leases; changes in the economies and other conditions of the specific markets in which the Company operates; economic, legislative and regulatory changes, including the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; the success of the Company's real estate strategies and investment objectives; the Company's ability to continue to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; and other factors detailed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) from time to time.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the Company does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact Whitestone REIT: Kevin Reed Director of Investor Relations (713) 435-2219 kreed@whitestonereit.com
