Provident, via affiliates, acquired the portfolio from Dallas-based Archon Group. Its brokers, Scot Farber and Darrell Betts, senor vice presidents for Grubb & Ellis Co. in Dallas and Houston, respectively, could not be reached for comment prior to deadline. Provident executives also weren't available to comment on the acquisition of LBJ Business Park and Brookhaven Business Park, an assortment of early 1970s-era buildings with extra land that creates the largest in-fill redevelopment tract along Interstate 635. The parks are bounded by Josey Lane and Webb Chapel Road.
Comparable class B office space has been fetching in the neighborhood of $70 per sf, but the freeway frontage could easily have skewed the price. The buildings at 2915, 2925, 2949, 2995, 3001 and 3003 LBJ Freeway and land tracts at 2899 Maybrook Dr. are assessed at more than $12.15 million by Dallas County. The owner of record is CSFB 1998P1 2915 LBJ Frwy., in care of Miami Beach, FL-based Lennar Partners Inc.
According to Grubb & Ellis' marketing flyer, the site is primed for retail, restaurant, multifamily and mixed-use redevelopment. And it fits right into Provident's sweet spot as one of the region's largest developers in the mixed-use category with an emphasis on retail and perhaps the largest stakeholder of other redevelopment sites in North Dallas. In the immediate area, freeway-fronting retail is 96% leased, with the few remaining vacancies in older, less prominent buildings, based on marketing information.
In this morning's press release about the deal, Provident says it's now evaluating redevelopment options, including which buildings could be retooled for reuse. Leon Backes, president and founder of the Dallas-based development company, says the courtship's begun with major retail anchors for a mixed-use build-out that's ticketed for completion by mid-2009.
"This prime, high-visibility land is extremely attractive to us for its strong current and future development potential," Backes says in the release. "As retail and transit trends are making areas west of the North Dallas Tollway more urban and interesting, many leaders and citizens of Farmers Branch believe this site can be transformed into a dynamic and contemporary retail and business center which could serve as a striking 'gateway' to Farmers Branch and a gathering spot for its residents."
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