Why Investors Love Dallas CRE

Angelic Real Estate prez Gabriel Silverstein (feeding a white tiger named Isis at a Nemacolin resort in Pennsylvania) just closed on his second Dallas acquisition (96k SF Decker Hills in Las Colinas) in a little more than a year and is actively shopping for more deals. He recently JV'd with Red River, Chestnut Development Partners, and DW Energy in an off-market transaction to purchase the two-building complex. Gabriel says the building was purchased at 63% occupancy, but had an ace in the hole— oil and gas company DW Energy was looking for a HQ building it could also have an ownership stake in. Timing worked well for Decker Hills (pictured below) because an existing tenant is moving out in 2015, freeing up space for DW, Gabriel tells us. That'll bring the building to 85% occupied when it moves in next summer. 

Gabriel liked several aspects of this deal: its off-market status made it reasonably priced; and its location on the Las Colinas Golf Course with protected and scenic views, which is a nice amenity for a Class-B building. Debt financing and the equity investment partnership with Chestnut was arranged by Angelic’s Gabriel and colleague Louis D’Lando. Red River, also based in New York, led the acquisition and will be the asset manager. Jackson-Cooksey’s John Beach repped DW Energy. Angelic JV'd with Red River last year on the acquisition of the 239k SF 12404 Park Central in the Park Central enclave south of LBJ (it’s around 92% occupied now). 

Gabriel uses one of his hobbies on the job: He's a pilot for the company plane. That's him at the Leadville, Colo., airport with the firm's Mooney airplane behind him. Leadville has the highest altitude airport in North America—recently remeasured at 9,934 feet above mean sea level (even though the sign says 9,927).