Lincoln's Legacy Office Buildings Fuel $65M-Plus Trade

David Pettle, Lincoln's executive vice president, says the widely marketed listing of One and Two Legacy Town Center at 6900 and 7160 Dallas Parkway in Plano attracted a buyers' roster in the "double digits," with a best and final call driving a face-off among five to seven investment groups. The mix of would-be buyers ran the gamut from institutional to TIC and 1031 Exchange syndicates.

Pettle says the 360,823-sf pair was brought to market because the timing was right to sell. "We felt there was so much capital chasing deals that have yield in them that it was a strategy play," he says. The office buildings' location and minimal exposure in the lease roll for several years drove high interest, pushing the price "north of $180 per sf," he adds. What open space that did exist was leased while the property was under contract. "They essentially bought 100% leased buildings," he tells GlobeSt.com, adding the deeds changed hands in a free-and-clear trade.

"There was a lot of interest and a lot of interest from different places in the country," Pettle says. "It's good when people are interested in Dallas. This transaction is a message that Dallas is viable." Andrea Peskind and Brad Thornburg with Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. ran the sale.

The Washington, DC-based CarrAmerica, which leases and manages more than 700,000 sf in Legacy, holds a 20% interest in the JV, a corporate spokeswoman says. "We've partnered with JPMorgan before so it was a relatively quick transaction," she explains. CarrAmerica invested about $13.3 million in the project, expecting to yield a first-year GAAP return of 8.8%, according to today's press release. CarrAmerica will lease and manage the buildings: a six-story structure with 153,766 sf and eight-story sister with 207,057 sf.

Lincoln presently is riding a buying and selling wave of office, retail and multifamily products, picking up gain from a market ready, willing and able to spend. A Denver office property also is under contract, Pettle confides. Likewise, the Dallas-based Lincoln bought a property in the metroplex in the past month. As for reinvestment of the latest gain, he says "we will do what makes sense."