Parkway sells Texas facility

JACKSON — Parkway Properties Inc. has closed the fee simple sale of the 1717 St. James Place office property located in Houston, Texas. The gross sales price was $8.7 million; Parkway received net cash proceeds from the sale of approximately $8.4 million.

The office building, built in 1975, is a 110,000-square-foot property that was 87.9 percent occupied at June 1.

Parkway also announced significant new and renewal leasing agreements. The company signed a new lease agreement with a public company on 101,000 square feet at One Commerce Green in Houston, Texas, which will replace 100 percent of the DHL Airways space that expires in November 2009. In addition, the company announced the renewal lease of The Automation Group for 34,000 square feet at Town & Country in Houston, Texas, which was scheduled to expire in late 2009. Parkway’s occupancy at June 1 was 89.3 percent, as compared to 89.2 percent at April 1.

Parkway recently closed an $18.5-million non-recourse first mortgage at 7.58 percent per annum for seven years with John Hancock Life Insurance Company secured by two properties in Houston, Texas. Proceeds from the refinancing were used to reduce amounts outstanding under the company’s line of credit. At June 1, the balance outstanding on the company’s line of credit was $100 million. Additionally, Parkway had approximately $32 million in cash and cash equivalents.