Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Owners rename 12-story tower Energy Plaza

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Tuesday, August 31, 1999

Owners rename 12-story tower Energy Plaza
TSE Equities partners say change reflects emphasis on energy-related services
By Andrea Jares
Caller-Times

   The 12-story south tower of the former Corpus Christi National Bank on Shoreline Boulevard has undergone more than $2 million in refurbishing and a name change.
   Owned by TSE Equities since November 1997, the building is now called Energy Plaza. The name change reflects an emphasis on energy-related services that will be available in the building, including a seismographic resource center.
   TSE owners George Placke and Paul Black are investors in real estate, oil and gas. Their tenants are not just from the energy industry. Other tenants include Carlisle Insurance; Cross Kieschnick & Co. CPAs; Syntex Management, a software design company; and the Corpus Christi IceRays hockey team, of which Placke is a part-owner.
   The interior of the 124,500-square-foot building has been updated considerably, Placke said. Not much had been done to the building for years before he and Black acquired it, he said.
   "For a while it was kind of like going into a time warp and going to the '60s in some of these suites," he said.
   The building was 49 percent occupied when TSE took over and is 70 percent occupied now, he said.
   The energy-related services will include a geological library, stored electronically so users won't have to dig through reams of paper "in the never-ending search for hydrocarbons," Placke said. Potential tenants and users would be independent geophysicists and small exploration companies that don't have this equipment, he said.
   The north tower of the complex is the Bank of America building. The bank's name was still Corpus Christi National Bank when it sold the south tower, Black said.
   Mathis getting apartments
   Construction is expected to begin in January on Mariposa Gardens, a 66-unit apartment in Mathis. Austin-based DMA Community Partners will develop the $4.5 million complex on a 4.6-acre tract in the 400 block of State Highway 359 South. The apartments are expected to be finished in October.
   The development uses housing tax credits from the state to build new apartments for residents who make 60 percent or less of the area median gross income.
   The complex will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The one-bedroom apartments will be 683 square feet and will rent for $355 a month. Most of the two-bedroom apartments will be 968 square feet with rent starting at $440 per month. The three-bedroom apartments will be 1,199 square feet and rent beginning at $495 per month.
   Mariposa Gardens, which takes its name from the Spanish word for butterfly, will have a playground, laundry room, storage areas and a community room. Selecting a contractor
   The Builders Association of the Corpus Christi Area has information available at its offices about how to select a contractor from those who have been flooding into the area to look for post-Hurricane Bret work. The association also has a list of member contractors available.
   Dickson Clements, executive director, warns homeowners not to be pressured into signing a contract before doing proper research. The brochure is available at the office at 5325 Yorktown. More information is available at the Better Business Bureau offices at 4301 Ocean Drive.



Business editor Tom Whitehurst contributed to this column. Business reporter Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at jaresa@caller.com. On Real Estate is published every other Tuesday in the business section.

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