This Week's Dallas-Fort Worth Deals

The 501k SF RiverPark Business Center (15600 Trinity Blvd in Fort Worth) hit 100% occupancy by filling its final 15k SF to Austin-based My Fit Foods for a commercial kitchen and distribution center.

My Fit Foods signed a long-term, triple-net lease to service retail stores and online orders throughout North Texas and beyond its borders. Roughly 5k SF of the leased space will be dedicated for an office. Bradford’s Michael W. Spain (who repped the the landlord, SCG River Park Business Center, along with colleague Will Dillard) says My Fit Foods ramped up operations in an end-cap of a 145k SF building. The space was empty about six months. My Fit Foods has retail locations in Arizona, California, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas with 37 of its 54 stores in Texas.

SALES

Jackson-Shaw partnered with Amstar to buy more than 31 acres for a new 440k SF industrial development called Parc North in North Fort Worth. It should be ready in the third quarter. The Parc North site, at the southeast corner of I-35 and I-820, offers Class-A industrial space with access to major highways. Comerica Bank is providing construction financing. Mycon General Contractors and GSR Andrade Architects round out the development team.

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Classic Chevrolet bought about 11 acres in Grapevine off of SH 121 at Stone Myers Parkway for business expansion. Henry S. Miller’s Bill Bledsoe repped the buyer. Harbour Realty’s Bruce Harbour repped the sellers, a local partnership group.

NEW DEVELOPMENT

Courtland Development started construction on a 192k SF spec industrial building at its 500-acre Mountain Creek Business Park. The new 192k SF building, known as Mountain Creek 5, will be on the frontage of I-20 and Mountain Creek Parkway in Southwest Dallas just west of Spur 408. The building will target small tenants seeking distribution space ranging from 50k to 200k SF. Mountain Creek 5 is being developed in a partnership between Courtland and Trez Capital. Construction financing is provided by Southwest Bank. The building was designed by Alliance Architects and Pacheco Koch is the civil engineer. Ratcliff Constructors was selected as the GC. The project should be ready by late this year.

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Investors Mike Terry and Holt Lunsford announced plans for a 14-story, 125k SF office building at 2620 Maple Ave, adjacent to the Crescent at Maple Avenue and Mahon on a one-acre site that includes the Old Warsaw restaurant. The building, designed by Gensler, will be a classic glass tower inspired by the architecture of early skyscrapers. A private tenant lounge on the first floor will provide an intimate, multi-purpose gathering area with on-site bar service. In addition, tenants will enjoy exclusive access to an eighth floor entertaining space for hosting private events. The space will open to an outdoor balcony offering views of the downtown skyline and surrounding Uptown areas. Additional amenities include private underground parking and a high-end 7,500-square-foot restaurant. The group has hired JLL and Stablemade Retail Group to assist with the search for an established restaurant operator for the space. It will feature smaller floor plates ranging from 7,500 to 11k SF. The project will break ground in Q1 ’16. The partners will move their companies, M. Terry Enterprises and Holt Lunsford Holdings, into the building upon completion. The JV purchased the property from longtime owner Al Heidari. The three-building site includes two vacant buildings and the Old Warsaw restaurant, which will continue operating for the duration of its current lease through 2015. Holt Lunsford Commercial will handle the development, leasing and on-site property management. Newt Walker served as the broker for the land transaction. 

LEASES

Firehouse Subs fast casual restaurant chain retained The Woodmont Co to ID four strategic locations, which have now been secured with all four slated to open by this spring at City View Towne Center at 4801 Bryant Irvin Rd in Fort Worth (property owner: First Allied Corp); The Shops of Granbury at the southwest corner of Highway 377 and Overstreet Boulevard in Granbury (property owner: Irving Canton); Plaza at Cedar Hill at the intersection of Clark Road and Beltline in Cedar Hill (property owner: Corinth Properties); and Eldorado Plaza at the northwest corner of Highway 75 at Eldorado Parkway in McKinney (property owner: Parkway Eldorado Plaza). Woodmont’s Grant Gary and Joseph Williams repped the firm in all four deals. Grant says Firehouse Subs is looking for more DFW sites and is on track to add about eight new locations this year. Next up: sites in McKinney, Allen, Plano, Addison, North Dallas, and four new Dallas locations inside I-635.

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Graybar Electric Co leased 15k SF at 7879 Will Rogers Blvd in Fort Worth. NAI Robert Lynn’s Todd Hubbard repped the tenant. Bradford’s Nick Talley repped the landlord.

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LeSaint Chemical Logistics leased 44k SF at 13812 Dex Dr in Farmers Branch. NAI Robert Lynn’s John Lancaster repped the landlord. Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Collins repped the tenant.

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Panera Bread Bakery & Café leased a former Bennigan’s restaurant at 4000 S Cooper St in Arlington from 157/Melear JV. The Retail Connection’s Wyatt Russo and Terry Syler repped Panera. The Weitzman Group’s Steve Gray and Blake Bishop repped the landlord.

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H & M will lease about 21k SF at Uptown Village at Cedar Hill with a fall opening. 

KUDOS

The Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth named the winners of its two annual awards: Ben Loughry is recipient of The Susan A. Halsey Founder’s Award, and Tyler Arbogast won the Outstanding Young Leader Award. The Susan A. Halsey Founder’s Award, renamed this year in honor of the late Susan Halsey, honors a leader in the industry that exemplifies the mission of the RECGFW. The Outstanding Young Leader Award recognizes a RECGFW young leader who has made an impact within the organization and/or within the Greater Fort Worth commercial real estate community. RECGFW also announced new board members, effective June 1: Michael Bennett (Bennett Benner Partners) will be the new chairman of the board. Board members include Sandra McGlothlin, Empire Roofing; Larry Chilton, Frost Bank; Keri Redford, Integra Realty Resources; and Joel Heydenburk, Jackson Walker. 

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Burnett Plaza (owned by TIER REIT) in Fort Worth won the Sustainability Award at the Downtown Fort Worth Inc. Annual Meeting and Trailblazer Award ceremony. The building won the award based on market-leading efforts in water conservation, green cleaning, energy savings and sustainable waste practices.