$70M Deal Closes; $3M High Rise Redo at Hand

Zaya Younan, chairman and CEO, wouldn't confirm the final price for the 900,000-sf high rise and isn't tipping his hand as to what's next in line to bag. But, he did tell GlobeSt.com that the next deal will close in two months to fulfill a long-held goal to become the largest owner of class A office space in Dallas. The 717 N. Harwood St. purchase pushes the Dallas portfolio to eight buildings totaling 3.5 million sf.

If the street's right, Younan is lined up to buy one million sf in Dallas and 1.2 million sf in Chicago. The rumor is he's taking down an office building portfolio owned by Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Co., being marketed by Andrew Levy with Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP in Dallas and Blake Johnson with Eastdil Secured in New York City.

Younan, keeping to his MO, is grooming the 87%-leased KPMG Centre, bought from Stamford, CT-based GE Asset Management, for upgrades inside and out. "We plan to bring the building up to the highest standard of class AA in Downtown Dallas," he says. "Our goal is to achieve the first 100%-leased building in the Dallas CBD. He adds that the marketing pitch centers on delivering "solutions not just space" for the tenants, a plan underwritten by a six- to 12-month renovation program for the elevators, lobby, exterior and HVAC system.

Trammell Crow Co. has retained the leasing assignment, but the management reins were turned over to Younan's in-house team in Dallas, led by Larry Blankenship, vice president of asset management for the Texas portfolio. The building's space is quoted at $17 per sf plus electric.

Younan says there's no significant lease roll for a couple years. "The few rolls that we have we're going to work very aggressively to keep them," he stresses. And the lead, KPMG, is tied for the long term to 240,000 sf. John Alvarado, senior vice president for locally based TCC, marketed the 34-story, 26-year-old high rise for the GE pension fund adviser.