The Deal Sheet
Sales Canadian-based Altus Group Income Fund acquired Brazos Tax Group, giving the firm an increased presence in the US through the extension of property tax services and a significant operations beachhead for future growth. Altus financed this acquisition through a combination of cash, bank financing, and equity. Steve Mills (who owned 49% of the firm) will remain with Brazos as prez in his third-floor office at Lexington Place. The 51% ownership partners were Ben Loughry, Donnie Sherwood, Mark Lamb, Ted Brooks, and Charlie Bissell. Ben tells us that it was an opportune time to sell because 2009 was the firm's highest volume year and Altus offers a platform in which Steve can expand significantly. The five execs are partners with Integra, where they will remain. They had bought into Brazos as individuals. *** Behringer Harvard acquired 7166 at Belmar, a mid-rise multifamily community providing 308 apartment homes at 7166 W. Custer Ave. in the recently developed Belmar district that serves as the new downtown area for Lakewood , Colo. Constructed in 2008, the gated community consists of two, four/five-story buildings and a private parking structure. This investment was made through a JV between Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I and PGGM Private Real Estate Fund, an investment vehicle for Dutch pension funds. Including this most recent investment, the portfolio of Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I includes investments in 24 multifamily communities in 11 states providing a total of 6,604 apartment homes. *** San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate Co. acquired The Mondrian at CityPlace, a transit oriented Class-A mixed-use property located in Uptown from ZOM Cityplace. The purchase price of the property was not disclosed. The property, built in 2005, contains 218 multi-family units in a 21-story high-rise flanked by two, four-story loft style buildings. The property also includes 19k SF of street-level retail space with Med-Health, Toscana Pizza, and The Cupcake Factory, among the mix of Mondrian retail tenants. It is located at 3000 Blackburn St. and McKinney Avenue. Foreclosure The Wall Street Journal reports that investors holding the $183M mortgage on the Four Seasons Resort and Club now own the property after prevailing in a foreclosure auction this week. US Bank, acting on behalf of investors that own the resort's securitized mortgage, last week won the auction with a bid of $122M, according to Foreclosure Listing Service. WSJ says the auction marks the second time that the 357-room Four Seasons Dallas has changed hands in the past three months. In April, Capri Capital, which held the $39M mezzanine loan on the resort, displaced previous owner BentleyForbes by foreclosing on the resort's equity. Next, the resort's mortgage holders, whose claim is senior to Capri's, wrested control from Capri by winning the auction. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, based in Toronto, will continue to manage the Dallas resort. | |
Leasing Gaedeke Group completed nine transactions with Gaedeke leasing VP Belinda Dabliz leading the charge. Among the deals include:
Other Gaedeke deals with Belinda repping the owner include:
*** RM Crowe's Clif Cone, Jamie Klein and Haley Zemanek repped the owner in signing 10 office leases totaling about 25k SF at 2350 Airport Frwy. in Bedford. New deals consisted of 15k SF and renewals. The leases increased the building's occupancy by 18% to 86%. *** DFW Surplus leased 15k SF at 1700 Parkside Ave. in Irving. Bob Kent negotiated the lease with Mercer Co.'s Ryan Boozer. *** Wel Cos. signed a 70k SF lease at 9010 N. Royal Lane in Irving. Lee & Associates' Greg Nelson repped Wel Cos. ProLogis' Mitch Pruitt repped the owner. People Structural and civil engineering firm Jaster-Quintanilla promoted Rene Avila to principal and Murali Kariyarveedu to associate. Rene joined JQ in 2006 and is the structural department manager for JQ's Fort Worth office. He is responsible for project management and business development. Murali joined the JQ Dallas office in 1999. He is a leader on the Dallas Water Resource team where he serves as senior project manager. *** Mullis Newby Hurst, writer of construction insurance and surety bonds in the Southwest, recently hired Mike Wiggins as an account exec. Mike was a top producer for Liberty Mutual in Central Texas and in South Texas before moving to North Dallas, is experienced in property and casualty insurance for construction-related risks. Mullis Newby Hurst is located in Addison. | |
New Business Leo A Daly was selected to design two community medicine clinics for Parkland Health & Hospital System: the new Grand Prairie Clinic and the Maple Family Center Replacement. Both clinics are part of the hospital's Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC) system. The scope of work for the new Grand Prairie Clinic includes full architectural services for a 35k SF freestanding health and wellness clinic to be built on the former site of the Grand Prairie Central Police Statio n. The other project is for architectural services for the replacement of the Maple Family Center in Dallas. The new freestanding 60k SF clinic facility will provide space for the current program as well as office space for physicians housed off the main campus. The facility will temporarily relocate to a leased space during the design and construction period. *** Stewardship Commercial Management is expanding its leasing portfolio in the Las Colinas area with the addition of The Meridian. The 100k, Class B office property is located at 1425 Greenway Dr. off highways 114 and 161 SCM. Senior leasing specialist Beaux Riley will be responsible for leasing the project. *** According to The Real Estate Center at Texas A& M University, Dallas-based Stratford Co. launched an $850M fund to invest in real estate. The company did not specify what type of real estate investments they will target, but has invested in the DFW, Austin,San Antonio and Houston areas. Stratford's website said its strategy involves acquiring land in developing metro areas with strong growth prospects. *** Learning Links Centers partnered with ESmith Legacy with an initial two-year goal of this collaboration to acquire more than $250M in large workforce housing properties (more than 100 units) throughout major US metropolitan markets. The partnership has opened escrow on its first building together in North Dallas - a 326 unit development in need of refurbishment and reletting - and will keep its initial focus on the DFW Metroplex. The partnership will also pursue opportunities in other major metropolitan cities throughout the US, including, but not limited, to Los Angeles, New York Tri-State,Washington/Baltimore metro area, Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Sacramento. In addition to two properties in Dallas, Learning Links Centers currently owns and operates five buildings in Los Angeles. |
