Balfour Buys Builder; The Deal Sheet

Balfour Beatty Construction bought Howard S. Wright, one of the oldest contractors on the West Coast, to expand its commercial construction capabilities (and it's alliteration) across the US.

While Balfour Beatty operates on a national basis, construction services are offered through its full-service regional HQs in Atlanta, San Diego, Dallas, and DC, supported by 17 local divisions. HSW will operate as a fifth full-service region continuing its local operations and leadership out of its Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Phoenix offices. Over the past four years, HSW has averaged annual revenues in excess of $730M and is currently forecasting $610M in 2011 revenues. Balfour Beatty?s 2010 revenues were in excess of $2.8B. (Pictured is Southwest Airlines corporate HQ in Dallas, done by Balfour Beatty.) HSW will retain its brand, but will immediately be known as Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company. HSW?s senior leadership team will remain intact including Brad Nydahl as CEO, Dale Pellow as president, Mitchell Hornecker as EVP, and Jim Constance as CFO.

NEW BUSINESS

FirstService Capital Partners hired Colliers International to manage and lease its $41M portfolio with 492k SF of office, flex, industrial, warehouse and retail spaces. The portfolio includes seven buildings, which are situated throughout the Metroplex. Colliers managing director of asset services Scott McGarity and EVP of project leasing Kevin Brookmole will lead the efforts with Kari Pearce, Phil Rosenfeld, Matt Thompson, and Mike Crain. The properties are currently about 65% leased.

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Fausset Neely selected Grubb & Ellis SVP Russ Johnson and senior associate Sean  Dalton as the leasing agents for the 80k SF Keller Springs Tech Center at 3220 Keller Springs Rd in Carrollton.

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ExxonMobil  selected t. howard + associates to design the childcare facility at its new office campus in Houston. The building will contain multiple low-rise office buildings, a lab, conference and training centers, and a variety of

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Valeo Real Estate Co changed its name to Velocis Partners as part of the firm's expansion of services, which includes two new divisions: real estate services and an advisory division. The real estate services division will provide tenant rep, leasing, property management, and acquisition/disposition services and will be led by new partner Nick Koeijmans. Velocis also relocated to 2305 Cedar Springs Rd.

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Acting on the leasing success of the first two phases of Castle Hills Village Shops and Plaza Phases I and II (which are 90% leased), Bright Realty plans to break ground on Phase III within the same site. Phase I of the Village Shops opened in 2004, and Phase II opened in 2008. Groundbreaking on Phase III is planned for the coming year with pre-leasing starting on about 20k SF of retail and dining. The second floor office space will have about 25k SF and is already pre-leased.

LEASES

3Wire Group leased 22k SF of warehouse space in Pinnacle Business Center at 1444 N. Cockrell Hill Rd in Dallas from Anford Pinnacle. Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services VP Brian Pafford and market director Jason Miller represented the landlord.Sarah Carter of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant.

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Schlotzsky?s leased 35k SF of retail space at 4970 O'Connor Blvd in Las Colinas. United Commercial Realty's Carter Butler represented the tenant. The Retail Connection?s Byron Howard represented the landlord, Icarion Hotels.

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Transwestern Dallas represented Intelligent Mexican Marketing in a new 28k SF lease at 1850 W Airfield Dr at DFW Airport. Transwestern's Jim Hazard and Brad Struck represented the tenant.Bryan Graham with CBRE represented the landlord.

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Gencorp Technologies leased 16k SF of office space at 15303 N Dallas Pkwy in Addison from SPUS V5 Colonade. CB Richard Ellis?J.J. Leonard, Jay Bailey, Susannah Bame represented the landlord. Jon Altschuler and Rebecca Rambie of Altschuler and Co

repped the tenant.

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The Medicus Firm leased 15k SF of office space at 3010 LBJ Freeway in Dallas from One Graystone Centre. Burson Holman and Blake Shipley of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord.

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KBS Realty Advisors renewed two long-term leases for nearly 14k SF with Lucas Group and Custom Staffing at its 12-story Providence Towers in Far North Dallas. Lucas Group renewed its 10k SF lease on the sixth floor at Providence Towers and Custom Staffing renewed about 4,000 SF on the first floor. Lucas Group was repped by Stephen Johnston of Stream Realty Partners. Justin Miller, Kim Brooks, and Scott Walker from Transwestern represented KBS.

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Lighthouse  College renewed and expanded its almost 13k SF lease at 9400 N Central in Dallas. Sanders Thompson with Transwestern represented the tenant.

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Charming Charlie leased almost 13k SF at Vista Ridge Plaza at FM 3040 and MacArthur Blvd in Lewisville. The Retail Connection?s Josh Beliak and David Sacher repped the tenant. TRC?s David Levinson and Jordan Cluff repped the landlord, Kimco Realty.

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Duckwall-Alco Stores leased 24k SF of retail space at 2500 S Carrier Pkwy in Grand Prairie from CCG Carrier Partners. David Copeland, Jeff Kittleson, and Michael Meaden of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant.

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Spartech Polycom renewed its lease for a 21k SF warehouse at 1141 108th St in Arlington with DCT Industrial. Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services VP Jim Ferris and SVP Michael Spain represented the landlord in the direct deal.

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Custom Assembly leased 23k SF of flex industrial space at Tristar Distribution Center at 9101 Tristar Dr in Irving. Blake Kendrick of Stream Realty Partners represented the tenant. Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services? Michael Spain and Brian Pafford represented the landlord, Acquiport DFWIP.

SALES

Lakewood  Shopping Center, a 67k SF retail district at 1904 Abrams Rd in Dallas, sold to Lincoln Property Co for an undisclosed amount. Colliers International VP of project leasing Kevin Brookmole and VP Kari Pearce represented the seller, Corrigan Investments. Dan Beaird  represented Lincoln Property Co. Kevin says the asset was not for sale when the ownership was approached by Lincoln, but the offer presented was compelling and the ownership decided to sell.

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Recently vacated by Michael Stores, the 35k SF Grand Prairie Tech Center in the Upper Great Southwest Industrial District was sold by Bank of America to a private investor from Fort Worth. Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services SVP Michael Spain and VP Jim Ferris repped the bank. The buyer is G. Walter Floyd, also a Transwestern broker in Dallas, who's planning to market the property for single or multi-tenant use.

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Lee & Associates completed a 26k SF industrial building sale at 2405 Crown Rd in Dallas. Nathan Denton  represented the seller, McGray Group II. Michael Chiocca represented the buyer, Solarius Ventures.

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Lee & Associates completed a 68k SF industrial building sale at 3011 S Skyway Circle in Irving. Brett Lewis  and  George Tanghongs  represented the seller, GNL Properties. Conrad Madsen represented the buyer, Homemax Imports.

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Henry S. Miller Brokerage's Carter Kendall, associate in the DFW land division, sold 1.1 acres at Hebron Parkway and Huffines Boulevard in Carrollton. It was owned by Coppermark Bank. Carter marketed the property and negotiated the sale terms with a local medical group represented by Rebecca Cucovatz of Legacy Premier Group. The medical group purchased the land for future development with plans to build a medical office complex for a 2012 opening.

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HFF closed the sale of Corporate Ridge, a four-building, 478k SF industrial portfolio located just north of DFW International Airport at 1200 Lakeside Pkwy within Lakeside Business Park, close to SH 121 and 114. Colony Realty Partners purchased Corporate Ridge for an undisclosed amount from Champion, repped by HFF. The HFF team of senior managing director Randy Baird, managing director Jud Clements and associate director Robby Rieke repped the seller

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One acre was recently sold by a JV of Realty Capital Corp and Chief Development in the Gateway Plaza North commercial development at the corner of SH 121 and Denton Tap Road in Coppell. The site was sold to Wilken Family Eye Care, which plans to build an office building to relocate its current eye care practice. This project is 50% built out and has more pad sites or sale. 

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Homemax Imports acquired a 68k SF industrial building at 3011 S Skyway Circle in Irving. Conrad Madsen with Lee & Associates repped the buyer in the deal. Brett Lewis and George Tanghongs, also with Lee & Associates, represented the seller, GNL Properties.

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JLCC Investors, an investment entity formed by Jose and Cristina Cuevas, purchased the 15k SF retail/industrial building on 1.7 acres at 3380 Belt Line Rd in Farmers Branch. Cushman & Wakefield of Texas senior director Jean Russo repped the buyer in purchasing the property from M&M Investors. Chad Albert of NAI Robert Lynn Co represented the seller. Situated between Marsh Lane and Webbs Chapel Road, 3380 Belt Line Rd was previously leased by Dobson Floors. Jose Cuevas, also the franchisee of 1-800-flowers/Dallas, will lease the improved facility. Completion of the renovations and upgrades are  expected by August, with move-in by the florist scheduled for September.

KUDOS

The University of North Texas Dallas academic building 2 project earned LEED  NC Gold. No interior room is without a window and many of those windows are floor to ceiling. A vegetated roof with regional plantings and seating provides students, faculty, staff, and visitors alike with a tranquil location to take in the outdoors. The project was designed by Overland Partners and built by The Beck Group and Warrior Group.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Avison Young recently formed a Dallas office with Brock Wilson hired as managing director. Meanwhile, brokers Scott Fikes and Alex Bryant join Avison Young?s existing Houston office. All three were formerly with Grubb & Ellis in Texas.

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The Dallas Regional Chamber recently selected Satterfield & Pontikes Construction PM Nic Flannery to its 2012 class of the Leadership Dallas Program. Each year, roughly 55 people are selected to participate in the 10-month Leadership Dallas program.