You could call it luck or simply good fortune that Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Will Balthrope, a vice president in Dallas, was stopped at a traffic light about a month ago in the tony Highland Park neighborhood. Before the light changed, he noticed a small "for sale" sign posted at 5909 Berkshire Lane, a key corner that fronts the intersection of Dallas North Tollway and Northwest Highway. Balthrope was scouring Preston Center for a client looking to buy and one who had eyes for no place else. Now, he had a telephone number.

A quick phone call was all that it took when the seller, S&F Investment Co. LLC of Dallas, answered. The sign, Balthrope was told, had just gone up. "We reacted immediately and closed in three weeks," he tells GlobeSt.com.

Balthrope won't say who bought the key parcel, other than it's a Dallas office user. And, an office building will be going up, just what the seller intended when he bought the quarter-acre lot a few years back.

"It's a signature location," says Balthrope. "I was really lucky to find a piece of this caliber." And, it's the only vacant parcel for blocks in the high-density, 20-acre block of high-end retail and office product for which Preston Center is known. The corner lot has exceptional visibility and good access at a high-traffic intersection. The tract carries a 2001 assessed value of $529,970, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District.

Balthrope is more noted for the high number of multifamily deals that he cuts with his partner, Don Ostroff. The team's having a stellar year with a product that's piping hot. This deal, says Balthrope, "was out of the box for me. But even a blind hog can find an acorn occasionally.