Dallas Equity Funds $14M Medical Office Project

The two-year-old PRG Realty Partners of Dallas put up the equity for its first hometown project, penning a development agreement with America Medical Office Partners LP to build the 47,000-sf Preston Hollow Medical Center. Most of the equity, PRG principal Mark Robertson tells GlobeSt.com, is Dallas money, all high net-worth individuals who understand the importance of the "bull's eye intersection" at Turtle Creek Boulevard and Northwest Highway.

Robertson says America Medical Office Partners, led by Jeffrey Jones of Dallas and David Ford of Los Angeles, had the site under contract, the design started and due diligence moving when he learned about the plans and asked if an equity player was needed. Robertson says the sale of the Preston Hollow land, which brought $30 per sf, was closed with a one-year acquisition loan from Frost Bank in Dallas. The construction financing has yet to be determined.

Robertson says PRG is the general partner "with preferential returns to its investors." PRG's principals also include Drew Peterson, Matt Nine and Roger Burk. David Little of David Little Real Estate Co. brokered the land sale on behalf of Il Sorrento's owner, Mario Messina, who is retiring. It's not only PRG's first Dallas deed, but it's also its first foray into medical office projects and most likely not the last.

The Dallas-based America Medical has two medical office projects in Plano and one in Frisco plus developments in Rancho Mirage, CA and Wailea, Maui. The firm develops and invests in small to medium-size projects in urban and suburban markets.

America Medical is negotiating with prospects for about 60% of the condo space, which is envisioned as a high-end home for specialists and surgeons plus a surgery and imaging center. The project, slated for a late 2004 delivery, was designed by GSR-Andrade Architects of Dallas. The general contracting bid will go out in the near future.