GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Greenway Mining Off-Market Infill Buy

Jeff Brand with Dallas-based Greenway Investment tells GlobeSt.com that the repositioning plan for a 39,000-sf former Danal's grocery store at 4800 Columbia Ave. will bring national retailers to the intersection of Fitzhugh Street and Columbia Avenue, a turn-of-the-century commercial district nestled in a collection of historic neighborhoods with nearly 29,000 residents and no grocery store within a one-mile radius. Greenway's plan calls for a top-to-bottom makeover, inside and out, for a full image change with a seven-digit cost.

The 40-year-old structure, built as a Safeway grocery, has been renamed to Columbia Place. A national dollar store chain, aggressively expanding in Texas, is close to inking a long-term lease for 24,500 sf. A national clothing store retailer and top-draw pizza chain also are negotiating for space as ground-lease talks edge into the final stretch that, if sealed, would trigger construction on a bank branch, Brand says. Small shop space is being quoted at $15.50 per sf.

The off-market deal took root when Brand learned the longtime owner, Muirfield Enterprises Ltd. of Mansfield, was locking out the bankrupt Fleming Co., which bought its Danal's chain but not the inner-city real estate. Dallas Mayor Pro Tem John Loza worked closely with Brand to lock in the off-market deal to breathe new life into the commercial district. At one time, the super mercado's business was valued at more than $1.1 million by the city's tax district.

Brand says Columbia Place's infill location was the dealmaker, with housing running the gamut from affordable apartments to $400,000 single-family homes and no grocery store in sight. Brand's not confiding what Greenway paid, but the shuttered store is on the Dallas County tax rolls with a $568,710 assessment.

Since 1977, Greenway has invested more than $400 million into the region's commercial real estate. It's developed and bought about two million sf of retail space, two million sf of office product, 500,000 sf of industrial properties, 2,500 multifamily units and 700 acres of developable land for short- and long-term holds.