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HOUSTON-This week, Cambridge Development Group will begin work on a $30-million to $40-million redevelopment to add 289 apartments to Greenway Plaza. The project calls for conversion of a 10-story, 180,000-sf building and construction of a four-story structure and five-story parking garage.

The developer acquired the 3.3-acre site, with a vacant tower at 3616 Richmond Ave., from Holly Hall, a local nonprofit organization. "It's very hard to find high-quality, unique sites within the Loop," Ron Lightfoot, a principal with locally based Cambridge Development, tells GlobeSt.com. "We were very fortunate to find the property, and the timing happened to be right."

Metropole will be the only high-rise rental property in the immediate area, Lightfoot points out. "We think that is an advantage," he says, adding Metropole residents will be able to use the tunnel to reach the Greenway Plaza office campus, which is just across the street.

Cambridge Group secured construction and mezzanine financing from KeyBank Real Estate Capital and KeyBank Real Estate Capital Private Equity Group. The funds were arranged by John T. Fenoglio and Kelvin Wascom with Live Oak Capital Ltd.

"Cambridge went with Key because they had worked with them in the past," Wascom says. "We didn't even present the deal to any other lenders. And, they ended up with Key for the mezz piece because the two together was a good-looking package."

KeyBank, which has worked with Cambridge Development since 2001, was able to "marry construction and equity" after several rounds of negotiations, says Cathy Janke, a vice president in Key Bank's Dallas office. "The project is so well-located and there's nothing else like it in the heart of all the office development. It was a key opportunity to step in," she says.

Lightfoot says the first units will be available around the first of the year. The Metropole will have a mix of one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 764 sf to 1,563 sf. Sixty percent of the units will be one-bedroom floor plans. Cambridge Development is mum about the projected rents, but the market-rate in the area ranges from $1.40 per sf for garden-style units up to $1.90 per sf for high-rise units, according to Wascom.

Metropole was designed by Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects. C.F. Jordan LP of El Paso is the general contractor and locally based R.G. Miller Engineers Inc. is the civil engineer. The San Francisco-based EDAW Inc. is the landscape architect.

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GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Developer Kicks Off $30M-Plus Project

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