This Week's Dallas-Fort Worth Deal Sheet
The iconic Renaissance Tower skyscraper in Downtown Dallas inked a large lease with corporate travel platform TripActions.
The California-based company signed an 88K SF lease, the latest in a string of deals as Californian corporations flock to set up HQs or major regional hubs in DFW.
Located at 1201 Elm St. in Dallas, Renaissance Tower spent the past three decades as one of Downtown's most renowned skyscrapers.
“TripActions’ business is booming,” Whitebox Real Estate President Grant Pruitt said in a press statement. “This is their second office relocation with a need to expand within a year and we are honored to continue to help them fulfill their real estate needs as they are more than tripling their footprint.”
CoStar data shows in the past nine years, 40.2M SF of DFW space underwent renovations, with the majority of that activity — approximately 9.4M SF, or 28% of the inventory — occurring in Downtown Dallas where Renaissance Tower is located.
WhiteBox Real Estate's Evan Hammer, David Harris and Jade Scott and T3 Advisors' Bo McNally and David Bergeron handled negotiations for TripActions, and CBRE's Dennis Barnes, Clay Gilbert and Ben Davis represented the landlord.
Execs
Dominus Commercial opened a Fort Worth office and investment sales group. Former Colliers International Fort Worth brokerage professionals Chad Snyder, Richard Minker, Aaron Cullen, Jim Nowell and Dani Hall have come on board to launch the team. The team has years of expertise in self-storage, investment sales, tenant representation and medical office services. Casey Borges and Caleb Mawire round out the growing team.
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Haynes and Boone promoted 14 lawyers to partner, making it the largest partnership class in firm history. Among them is Dallas-based lawyer Brad Holdbrook from the firm's Real Estate Practice Group. Holdbrook represents REITs, developers, private equity investors, investment funds, individuals and financial firms and has handled many commercial real estate transactions from dispositions and acquisitions to leasing and development for multiple asset types including industrial, retail, multifamily, office, medical and mixed-use.
Sales and Acquisitions
Affiliates of Rialto Capital Management and Wafra Inc. offloaded 15 infill industrial portfolio assets totaling 1.6M SF in Dallas-Fort Worth to Sealy & Co.
CBRE's Jonathan Bryan, Randy Baird, Ryan Thornton and Eliza Bachhuber represented the seller.
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The Meritex Co. bought the 84K SF Jetstar 114 Business Center, a three-building industrial portfolio next to DFW International Airport. The buildings are 100% occupied.
Meritex said it plans to grow in excess of 2M SF in Dallas, with this industrial purchase marking its first DFW-area acquisition. Meritex owns and manages 11M SF of infill industrial product across nine markets.
The DFW property will be managed by Holt Lunsford Commercial.
Colliers International represented both the buyer and the seller during negotiations.
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Miami-based Atlantic | Pacific Cos. grew its Dallas-Fort Worth apartment portfolio to nine properties with the purchase of 2803 Riverside Apartments in Grand Prairie.
A|P acquired the complex through its Blue Atlantic Partners Fund III private equity fund. The luxury apartment complex sits between Dallas and Fort Worth with access to State Highway 360 and the President George Bush Turnpike.
With the purchase of this 436-unit garden-style complex, A|P now has 3,500 multifamily units in DFW.
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Green Cedar Tree Corp. just purchased 103K SF on West Main Street and Houston Streets in Grand Prairie from seller Prosperity Bank. Mercer Co.'s Corby Hodgkiss and Jeff Mercer represented the buyer.
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The LBJ Crossing 2 retail center at 11302 LBJ Freeway in Dallas has been sold. Sperry Commercial's Calvin Wong and Daniel Eng represented the seller, while the buyer hired Kayde Souvanny.
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Lamco Enterprises sold a 12K SF property at 3230 Towerwood Drive in Farmers Branch to No. 1 Made Appliance Outlet. Mercer Co.'s David Wilganowski represented the buyer.
Leases
Investment banking firm Commerce Street Holdings signed a new long-term lease for 23K SF on floor 27 of the 60-story Fountain Place building in Downtown Dallas.
The tenant hired Newmark Knight Frank's Jim Cooksey, Paxton Cooksey, Garrison Efird and Louis Pascuzzi to represent it during lease renewals.
I.M. Pei designed the iconic Fountain Place tower, located at 1445 Ross Ave. The building recently underwent a $70M renovation, which resulted in the addition of a 10-story garage, four new restaurants, lobby improvements and major tenant enhancements.
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Top Motors leased 29K SF at 2229 Santa Anna Ave. in Dallas from landlord CJM2 Properties.
Mercer Co.'s David Wilganowski and Tucker Cason represented the landlord.
Financing
The RedBird Mall redevelopment project in South Dallas received a dose of capital this month with Metropolitan Capital Advisors arranging two separate loans to support the initiative.
MCA helped secure a $7M acquisition loan from Graham Mortgage for the purchase of the old Sears Department Store at the mall. The store will be leased out to UT Southwestern, so it can be used as a community medical center. The Redbird Medical Center at the site is expected to open in 2021.
MCA also obtained a $12M interim construction loan from Origin Bank, which will fund renovations of the old Dillard's department store. The refurbished store will eventually be occupied by Parkland Hospital, Work Ready U and Work Force Solutions.
MCA's Scott Lynn and Andrew Hanzl arranged the financing on behalf of developers Peter Brodsky, Terrance Maiden and Jon Cochran with the RedBird Development Group.
Construction and Design
McCarthy Buildings Cos. received the TEXO 2019 Distinguished Building Award in the general contractor category for projects over $75M.
The Texas Construction Industry Association, which issues the annual award, honored McCarthy for its build-out of the Southwest Airlines Wings Project, which included construction of a 425K SF office building, a parking garage and a Leadership Education and Aircrew Development Center.
The project took two years to complete.
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Architecture design firm Three is overseeing a $35M repositioning of the Presbyterian Village North senior living community in Dallas. It plans to add 112 independent living units along with a 30K SF common building at the campus' center.
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The Hilton Dallas Rockwall Lakefront finalized a $2.3M renovation project, giving the five-story waterfront resort a new look. The resort opened in 2007 and was acquired by Driftwood Acquisitions and Development in 2017. The new design incorporates features and colors that play on the resort's proximity to the lake and distinct location in Rockwall's Harbor District bordering Interstate 30.
