EXCLUSIVE: Landowner Drops Simon for $100M-Plus Presidio Vista

FORT WORTH-Legacy Capital Co. has opened talks with other developers to replace Simon Property Group, which has held the option for two years to 150 of 300 acres in a proposed, mixed-use development in North Fort Worth. Nonetheless, the landowner says he's revising, but not stalling construction on the $100-million-plus Presidio Vista.

Simon has declined comment about the divorce. Legacy Capital partner Peter Aberg tells GlobeSt.com that "there were critical dates that needed to be met and Simon couldn't meet them. They had two to three tenants that needed to get committed and couldn't get them committed." He stresses Presidio Vista will still come on line at the Interstate 35W and US Highway 287 junction, where nearly four million sf of retail is planned. Aberg and Legacy partner Steve Saxon are targeting midyear 2007 for Presidio Vista's first ribbon-cutting.

Legacy's retail developer must go up against the Hillwood-Trademark Property Co.'s Alliance Town Center's 500,000-sf first phase to a 1.5-million-sf development and a comparably sized, 330-acre proposed retail plan by Margaux Development Co. of Dallas and Ellesmere Corp. of Vancouver. It's been confirmed that Dallas-based Rave Motion Pictures was one of the anchor losses that did in Simon.

"We have three to four groups interested in part or all of the property," Aberg says, "and we're in discussions with them now. We've got lots of different opportunities that we're pursuing. It's by far the best piece of real estate in that area." The options, as he sees it, are to sell all or part of the land, joint venture on 100% of the build-out or selectively partner on components.

Aberg says talks are under way with developers of retail, residential, office and other commercial space like a hotel. He says the first development deal--with a retail developer--will be inked in "three or four weeks," keeping Legacy on target to start construction in July on the $6.8-million extension of North Tarrant Parkway. Legacy is shouldering the tab for the 10-month project, with future reimbursement from a tax increment financing pact with the City of Fort Worth.

The Legacy partners bought the acreage three years ago from Round Rock-based Dell Inc. The advantage over the neighboring sites is that it's the only retail land with direct access to US Highway 287 and the closest to "where the new growth is for residential development, including Sendera Ranch which is 10,000 lots," according to Aberg.

With the developer change, Aberg says the Legacy team is working on a new land plan. He says the revision will be completed in the coming weeks so it can debut in May at the International Council of Shopping Centers' annual marketplace in Las Vegas.

Aberg's not ready to go into detail about the new plan, but did say it will retain the 900,000-sf retail component. The residential plan most likely will be townhouses and apartments while the office build-out could include medical space, he says.

Only a couple retail brokers queried in recent days had heard about Simon's possible fall from grace although others did say that it wouldn't surprise them if the deal fell apart because there's been so little talk on the streets about Presidio Vista. Equally quiet has been the Margaux-Ellesmere plan, which is tied to a longstanding legal battle between expatriate Filipinos and the Marcos family.

"From what Ellesmere tells me, I'm pretty comfortable, based on information I've seen, that I don't believe that to be true," Margaux's president Don Silverman says about an allegation that the investment was one of several that the Marcos family used to park funds. "Irrespective of the lawsuit, the property can still be developed and will be at the appropriate time. We just don't think 2006 is the right year. I think long term, this is the best place to be in North Fort Worth."

For Hillwood, though, 2006 is proving to be productive for its $200-million Alliance Town Center. Walls are about to go up on a 100,000-sf J.C. Penney's freestanding store that will open in the fall. Terry Montesi, principal and CEO of Fort Worth-based Trademark, says a second anchor lease for another 100,000-sf department store has passed committee and could be signed before summer starts. The bulk of Alliance Town Center's 500,000-sf first phase will deliver in fall 2007, the targeted opening for a 150,000-sf to 200,000-sf Sam Moon Center, a discount, name- and off-brand retailer of handbags, fashion accessories, luggage and home decor that brings in customers by busloads to its Texas locations.