Multifamily Developers Zero In on Galleria Area

"The asking prices are what are being paid in the area," says Tom Clarke, a senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Dallas office, who recently sold acreage to locally based Boulevard Builders to develop 110 townhouses. The seller of record, Galleria 6 22 Partners Ltd., sold 1.28 acres at 13900 Noel Rd. and 4.7 acres at 5300 Southern Blvd.

Clarke tells GlobeSt.com that the tracts were on the market for 18 months, but interest steeped in the past six with "three to five offers" eventually going on the table. In most cases, land prices now hover $35 per sf.

Kyle Lovelady, principal in Boulevard Builders, expects to break ground in the coming months on the first phase, the 50-unit Citta Park, According to the developer's website, it will deliver in fall 2006. A sister development, Citta Gardens, will add 60 more units.

In late July, local developers Cypress Equities Inc. and Carlyle Group bought 6.56 acres at the corner of Noel and Alpha roads for a retail-and-resident project. The land sits across the six-lane highway from Mockingbird Properties' Galleria North project.

And practically around the corner, Clarke is holding a letter of intent on a 3.58-acre tract at the intersection of Noel Road and Peterson Lane, once slated to hold a hotel. The land was marketed at $40 per sf.

Clarke and Grubb & Ellis associate Lindsay Allen also have the 96-unit Villas of Copper Ridge, positioned on 3.89 acres at 5330 Peterson Lane, on the market. The 1980s-era complex, though it's 95% leased, is sitting on land that's clearly now become far more valuable than the existing product.