HOUSTON – NewQuest has selected Piada Italian Street Food to fill the last of its built space in Grand Morton Town Center – a highly prized end cap that’s clearly visible from the Grand Parkway in Fort Bend County.
The selection process has been about one year in the making, with Piada pocketing the win for a 2,800-sf end cap with a pickup window. The restaurant is slated to open by year’s end in the NewQuest development at the junction of Grand Parkway/TX 99 and Morton Ranch Road.
“Grand Morton Town Center‘s quick-service restaurants perform well and above average. Piada is aware of the strong sales volume in its category at that intersection,” says Josh Friedlander, senior vice president of Houston-based NewQuest. He and Rebecca Le, also an SVP, lease the project.
Friedlander says the pickup window made the freeway-fronting space even more appealing for Piada. It’s the fast-casual chain’s second location in Katy and fifth in Greater Houston.
“This was the last of the built space that we had on that corner,” Friedlander says. “Because of the location and design, the end cap carried a premium rate.”
NewQuest has planted more than 725,000 sf of retail, restaurant and medical uses on its 91 acres at the Katy intersection. Kelsey-Seybold currently is under construction on a 200,000-sf medical office building and clinic, which is slated to open in 2025.
“Grand Morton Town Center is an extraordinarily successful development,” Friedlander says. “It’s now essentially complete.”
Placer.ai pegs the annual customer visits at 4.4 million for Grand Morton Town Center. A Kroger Signature store and Walmart are the anchors on the southeastern and northeastern corners, respectively.
The NewQuest team has one pad site available for ground lease on the southeastern side of the intersection. There is 1,750 sf of second-generation space on the northeastern corner.
“It’s rare to have second-generation space come up at this center. Grand Morton Town Center’s tenants tend to renew without hesitation,” Friedlander says.
Summer Gibson and John Frazier of Baker Katz represented Piada, which is expanding throughout Houston. The chain has nearly 50 restaurants open in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.
“Piada performs exceptionally well in the Houston market,” Friedlander says. “It’s a quality QSR operator with a healthy menu of freshly made pasta bowls and chopped salads.”
SOUTH TEXAS SALE
Turbo Restaurant Management Inc. has sold a 2,176-sf commercial building on one acre at 15755 Wallisville Rd. to Einstein Bros. Bagels. Andrew Alvis and Diandra Breen of NewQuest represented the seller. Clay Graham and Christy Nayes of Fox & Graham LLC represented the buyer.
