37%-Leased Office Trio Gets New Owner, New Plan

Buyer Signature Asset Management of Dallas turned around and hired Transwestern Commercial Services, which brokered the sale, to return the Plaza at River Bend, a one-time Federal Express address, to revenue-generating status. The 123,887-sf complex at 1210-1230 River Bend Dr. consists of buildings in the 40,000-sf range, with the middle structure completely empty. The balance of the complex houses eight tenants, ranging from 1,000 sf to 25,000 sf, with the lone renewal, 3,000 sf, getting sealed during the contract period.

The Minneapolis-based Thrivent, which acquired the 8.1-acre holding in 2002 as a deed in lieu of, was asking $4 million for the property. The final price came "close to the ask," Stephen Simon, director of TCS' investment services group, tells GlobeSt.com about a 45-day marketing that pulled five offers for a 24-year-old office campus near the freeway.

Transwestern's Matt Hurlbut, senior vice president, is leading the charge to fill the building. He's pulled $1 from the quoted full-service rent for a going-in rate of $12 per sf, added 1% to the broker's usual 4.5% commission for any deal of any size or term and is planning a mailing campaign as well as lobby and common area upgrades. The former Federal Express building with 20,000-sf floor plates, he says, will be held in reserve for one or two full-floor tenants. Key to the campaign is a going-in rate that's well below the submarket average of $15.43 per sf for class B office space.

"Stemmons is a difficult market. Most tenants are looking for cheaper rates," Hurlbut says of a discount for an asset and already below the average. "The goal is to lease it up as much as we can." Though Transwestern got the leasing challenge, Kennedy Wilson International Inc.'s Dallas office will continue to manage the holding for Signature Asset Management, led by Ryan Phillips.

"It is a good value-add opportunity for this area," says Simon, who brokered the sale for Thrivent along with TCS' Jeff Smith, senior director of investment services. Bill Major with Real Estate Professional Inc. in Dallas represented the buyer.