2 Investment Firms Launch Plan For Design District Mixed-Use Development
A comprehensive mixed-use development offering modern retail, office and restaurant space is heading into the heart of Dallas' Design District.
Investment firms Quadrant Investment Properties and FCP announced a joint plan this week to transform The International at Turtle Creek building and an adjacent 2.5-acre parcel into a premier mixed-use destination inside the design-centered community.
Quadrant Investment and FCP plan to combine land located off Riveredge Drive with the 156K SF International at Turtle Creek facility to create a 9.4-acre site that will eventually host various food and beverage concepts, creative boutique office, green space and showrooms for design and artistic professionals.
The main part of the development is located at 150 Turtle Creek Blvd. near Riveredge Drive. Using financing procured by JLL's Jim Curtin and Andy Scott, Quadrant and FCP acquired the International building and an adjoining site to jump-start the mixed-use project. Leasing for the International will be handled by CBRE's Trey Smith, Lauren Napper and Ward Eastman going forward.
"There is no other market in the metroplex that provides this type of canvas with incredible accessibility and built-in [cachet]," Quadrant Investment Properties founder Chad Cook said in a statement announcing the two firms' acquisition of the International building and nearby land.
"For the last eighteen months, we have been working with FCP to identify larger-scale opportunities in the area. We are excited about what the future holds for this project.”
The mixed-use development will bring retail and office into the district, which currently houses 657K SF of retail, with a retail vacancy rate of 10.1%, according to CoStar data. Retail market rents in the area remained stable during the coronavirus outbreak with rents coming in at $22.67 per SF, which is only one cent off from retail rents recorded the same time last year.
Office space in the district now totals 400K SF, with about 65K SF under construction and rents averaging $29.76 per SF, CoStar said.
Two office buildings have already traded hands in the district this year, according to CoStar: 921 North Riverfront and 1426 Riverfront. While the Design District has been a landing pad for creative office throughout the past decade, the district's vacancy rate sits at 51% today after the coronavirus outbreak, compared to roughly 9.6% in the third quarter of 2018.
"There is just over 200K SF of vacant space in the area," CoStar Group Director of Market Analytics Paul Hendershot told Bisnow via email.
