GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: 458,791-SF, Class A Block Headlines Short Lists

"We very well could have Canal Plaza filled by the end of the year," Ben Sumner, principal with Stream Realty Partners LP in Irving, tells GlobeSt.com. The campaign on the street that's attracted high interest is "the lights are always on"--a marketing motto picked up from the buildings' built-in layers of hospital-grade redundancy thanks to its former owner, Fidelity Investors LP, which reportedly was doing 10 million trades per week from the location.

A Fidelity affiliate a week ago joined the rest of the group at its Westlake campus although its presence certainly didn't hinder tours by corporations looking to negotiate their way into one of the top corporate addresses in the region, the Las Colinas Urban Center. Actually, an empty building of class A space on the waterfront is just what Dallas-based Bandera Ventures Ltd. had in mind when they bought it in January. From the onset, Canal Plaza at 400 E. Las Colinas Blvd. was labeled as a single-user property and Waterway Tower at 433 E. Las reserved for multi-tenant. Both buildings are on the market for $19.99 per sf.

"It may take a little time to fill these blocks," Sumner says, "but these blocks will become more valuable over time." Each building has one gutted floor to show off the $7 million to $10 million of high-tech infrastructure designed to always keep the lights burning.

Since the acquisition, the team has secured clearance to build a parking structure, if needed, on a 3.6-acre tract that was part of the purchase. "Parking usually limits density," Sumner explains, "and we're not limited by that factor."

Sumner says at least 10 corporations have toured 10-story Canal Plaza and upward of 20 have traipsed through Waterway Tower and they aren't "tire kickers." The office seekers are looking for 10,000 sf to 350,000 sf. One corporation has been eyeing Canal Plaza and part of Waterway, which has seven contiguous floors up for grabs according to Sumner.

Simply Healthy, a pharmaceutical company, has just settled into 3,700 sf on the 11th floor at the 13-story Waterway Tower, where eight tenants occupy 20.8% of the building's upper bank, says Stream associate Preston Young. Another "three or four" proposals are out for consideration, ranging from 5,000 sf to 10,000 sf, he adds.

In a GlobeSt.com article in January, Bandera principal Pryor Blackwell said the strategy would be one of patience at a market-rate rent rather fill the buildings at cut-rate prices. Aiding the play is the fact that the class A block is one of the four largest from a size perspective in a five-mile radius.