The 100%-leased, 300,887-sf Collins Crossing at 1500 N. Greenville Ave. in Richardson traded quietly in recent weeks to give the Massachusetts buyer its third class A asset in Dallas-Fort Worth. Jeffrey Carter, Franklin Street's director of acquisitions, won't confirm the price, but did confirm the sale. The deal also reportedly included an abutting 3.5-acre undeveloped tract.

Franklin Street, like other deep-pocketed investors, is scouting for buys in the Greater Dallas area, but the group, which is fueled by high net-worth private REITs, has nothing else headed under contract in the near term, Carter tells GlobeSt.com.

Inside sources say the joint venture seller was Swift Property Co. of Dallas as the equity partner and Trammell Crow Co. as the building's developer and minority owner. Franklin Street previously used the same low-key strategy to acquire the 294,000-sf Addison Circle at 15601 Dallas Parkway in Addison, a one-time partnership holding of entrepreneurial investor Thomas E. Swift III and Dallas-based Champion Partners. Franklin Street's third asset in town is the 116,000-sf Willow Bend Office Building at 2740 Dallas Parkway in Plano.

Carter says the latest acquisition is an affirmation of the investment group's confidence in Richardson's resiliency and rebound ability. "We really believe in the infrastructure in Richardson," he says. "We are the proud owners (of Collins Crossing) and we really are committed to Richardson." That commitment translates into a plan for a long-term hold, he adds.

The three-year-old building is the headquarters location for Inet Technologies Inc. and a one-time regional office for Macromedia Inc., both high-tech companies that have four floors on the sublease market. The San Francisco-based Macromedia has 28,500 sf up for grabs; Inet has 85,500 sf on the market.

Trammell Crow manages the building, but Staubach Co.'s Kelley Kackley is marketing the sublease. At present, the available sublease space holds no real concern for the new owner since the rent checks are still rolling into the account, insiders say. In its latest SEC filing, Macromedia has labeled the Richardson site as "excess," just as it did with three other offices in the US and one in the UK.

CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s top sales team in Dallas, Gary Carr and Russell Ingrum, brokered the deal, which is locked down by a tight confidentiality clause. Real estate sources, though, are standing behind the whispered payout for the two-building complex sitting on six acres. Given the property's $32.9-million assessment for 2002 by the Dallas Central Appraisal District, it's a safe bet that the street talk is right on the mark.