BentleyForbes' $50M Bid Wins 236,428-SF, Class A Office Building

"Our documented closing record really helped our case," David W. Cobb, president and CEO for the Los Angeles-based BentleyForbes, tells GlobeSt.com about the winning play for Park Center, a fully leased suburban prize at 2400 N. Dallas Parkway. Capstar Commercial Real Estate Services, the property's overseer since it was developed five years ago, will continue to lease and manage the 26-tenant asset.

Cobb says only "three or four" leases are scheduled to roll each year in the five-story Park Center. In most cases, tenants are operating with five-year leases so the going-forward plan calls for negotiating seven- and 10-year terms "to diversify that schedule," he says. Park Center's roster includes Broadwing Communications LLC., Caterpillar Inc., IBM Corp., Wachovia Securities, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Ciena Communications Inc.

BentleyForbes bought Park Center, situated near the 1.4-million-sf Shops at Willow Bend, from North American Properties of Cincinnati, which had Eric Zimmerman in the Atlanta office of Eastdil Realty Co. marketing the 7.97-acre holding. According to the seller's website, Park Center was its only office property in the region.

Cobb says Capstar's familiarity with the asset was the driving force behind BentlyForbes' push to make it the seventh property in its Dallas/Fort Worth portfolio. "We were among the highest," he adds, "but the certainty of close was a good thing in our favor." The deal closed with new financing from New York City-based lender, JPMorgan Chase.

BentleyForbes has spent nearly $225 million on office properties since it marched into Dallas with the high-profile buy of Preston Center. Like the others bought before it, Park Center is an intended five-year hold.

The Park Center deal wraps up BentleyForbes' outstanding contracts for now. "We will try to buy a similar amount in Dallas next year," Cobb says.