AUSTIN, TX—GlobeSt.com has learned EXCLUSIVELY that Dobie Associates LLC has sold Dobie Center to Fowler Property Acquisitions. The largest privately owned student dormitory at the University of Texas at Austin, Dobie Center has been owned by a Carlton Group affiliate since 2005. Carlton Strategic Ventures chairman Howard L. Michaels is the managing member of Dobie Associates LLC, along with co-general partner Avery Modlin of the Modlin Group.

The student housing property's ownership did not disclose the sales price. A source familiar with the transaction puts it at $73 million.

Michaels expressed mixed emotions in selling Dobie Center, a fixture on the city's skyline for more than 40 years. “But our investment cycle had run its course, and we are happy to see Fowler take Dobie Center to its next level of success,” he says.

Originally built in 1972, Dobie Center consists of a 27-story glass and steel tower along with a 90,000-square-foot retail mall and a six-story, 250,000-square-foot garage. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest building in Austin. It was modernized in the early 1990s, and Dobie Associates undertook a further series of renovations in 2014.

The property is across the street from the UT campus, and is opposite the new 458,000-square-foot McComb's Business School, currently under construction. Regus Business Centers is also opening a brand new 13,000-square-foot office suite facility within the center; it will cater to athletic and technology companies who do business with the university.

Brian Kelly of HFF was the broker on the transaction. Kelly worked with the Carlton principal transactions team, led by Irwin Boris, managing director of multifamily investments at Carlton.