Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Design District building bought
The building is across the highway from Victory Park and next to a new apartment community.
Bill Tinsley of Ellis & Tinsley negotiated the sale.
The 27,824-square-foot building at 1550 Edison St. is on just under an acre of land.
The Dallas Morning News
lauckgroup leases downtown space for HQ
The firm recently signed a lease for an 8,400-square-foot, first-floor office in Energy Plaza at 1601 Bryan St. The firm had been subleasing space on the 12th floor of Energy Plaza before moving to the first floor this week, said Anne Kniffen, principal-in-charge. Before moving to Energy Plaza, lauckgroup was at 2828 Routh St. in Uptown Dallas for seven years.
The new office is designed to house up to 25 employees.
lauckgroup has moved several times in its 25-year history. In 1984, it was located at 1900 N. Akard St. on the edge of downtown.
The completion of projects in the city's Arts District and the construction of the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park have created new excitement about being downtown, Kniffen said.
“It feels very good to be back in Dallas’ downtown core," Kniffen said. "This move really reflects our culture and personality."
lauckgroup’s new office is directly off of Energy Plaza’s central lobby and has views of Thanksgiving Square. The new space has been designed to serve as a test lab showcasing various product finishes, lighting and other elements used in office design, Kniffen said.
lauckgroup also has an office in Austin. The firm has recently completed interior spaces for Energy Future Holdings Corp., Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal law firm and Lincoln Property Co. in Dallas, as well as Hunton & Williams LLP in Austin and Dallas, and Caris Diagnostics Inc. in Irving.
Dallas Business Journal
Pre-owned home sales score double-digit gain
It was the first double-digit gain in more than two years and the best sign yet that the local housing market has turned the corner.
Real estate agents sold more than 6,300 single-family homes last month through the Multiple Listing Service, according to numbers released Monday by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.
The number of pending transactions is up almost 30 percent from a year ago, and median home sales prices were up 1 percent from a year earlier to $142,000.
At the end of October, just fewer than 34,000 homes listed for sale in the area, a decline of 16 percent from 2008. That works out to just under a six-month supply, which is considered a balanced market.
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Monday, November 02, 2009
Prescott Realty leases half of The Shelby
The Shelby is located near Southern Methodist University between Central Expressway and Greenville Ave. in Dallas.
The five-story mixed-use development has 55 apartments located above retail units. The concept was launched to deal with the local demand for mixed-use upscale apartment living.
First Baptist Dallas details $130M building plan

First Baptist Dallas announced plans Sunday for a $130 million capital campaign that would pay for what it claims will be the largest church construction project in U.S. history. Plans call for a state-of-the-art campus in the heart of downtown.
Sketches of the planned facility were revealed to members of First Baptist Dallas for the first time during Sunday services.
Dr. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, told church members that prior to the Sunday launch of the capital campaign the church already had secured $62 million in pledges from donors—nearly half of what is needed to complete the project.
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, a member of the congregation, started Sunday services with a prayer session. During a press conference after the service, Leppert told members of the media the church is an integral part of the city’s plan to rejuvenate downtown Dallas.
“This is an important investment in downtown Dallas,” Leppert said. “It will be part of what we are trying to accomplish in creating an urban setting.”
Plans call for a new 3,000-seat worship center complete with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, a fountain plaza with a highly visible cross at the center of a cascading fountain, a sixth-floor education building, two gymnasiums, an outdoor patio, green areas and a skywalk connecting the campus’ buildings.
Other facets of the project include a new parking garage with more than 500 additional spaces, a roof-top green area for outside concerts and events and a transparent glass-design that will illuminate the church’s various walkways and the historic First Baptist Church sanctuary. That worship area will remain standing and in full view of members walking inside the church as well as to downtown visitors who are driving past the campus.
Artist renderings and plans also indicate the original sanctuary’s steeple will be rebuilt to highlight the historical relevance of First Baptist, which was founded in 1868, to downtown Dallas.
The deacons of the church and the planning and development committee unanimously voted for the project, Jeffress said.
During Sunday’s services, Jeffress highlighted the benefits of building a significant structure in a down economy. Pricing in the current economy is attractive, he indicated, with the church estimating that for every $1 spent it will be getting $1.30 in construction value.
Jeffress said church leadership will present the final project to the congregation only if it meets capital goals by spring 2010. Anything short could result in some type of phasing in the project, Jeffress said. But with half the money already secured, Leppert and fellow First Baptist member Dr. Ron Anderson, who is CEO of Parkland Health & Hospital System, told the Dallas Business Journal in an interview they’re confident the church will be able to complete the project in one phase.
Anderson described the current down economy and the lower construction costs associated with it as a “window of opportunity” for the church, just as it is for Parkland Hospital, which is in the midst of rebuilding its campus in an effort scheduled to total more than a billion dollars.
“Phasing may end up costing more” for the First Baptist project, Anderson said. With this in mind, Anderson said the church thought carefully and decided it would be best to complete everything in one phase.
Citing research from an independent consultant, Jeffress said the largest church capital campaign in U.S. history had been valued at $80 million, making First Baptist's effort the largest.
The plan is coming at a time when downtown Dallas is rebuilding itself, with a new performing arts center now open for residents and visitors and plans in the works for the redevelopment of the Trinity River corridor.
But size and scope aren't First Baptist's only objectives.
“First Baptist’s building program is not an end in itself,” said Jeffress. “It is a means to an end — to better minister to and meet the needs of the community. First Baptist is firmly committed to spreading the message of God’s transforming love downtown.”
The Dallas-based architectural firm The Beck Group is designing the project and expects that, when completed, the First Baptist project will be certified to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's silver standard.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Lenders could take ownership stakes in some of Dallas' top buildings
Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley – which paid $6.5 billion to buy Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equities two years ago – is scrambling to meet $2 billion in debt requirements due next month.
One option being considered is to turn over a share of the properties – including several of Dallas' most prominent buildings – to lender Barclays Capital, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Morgan Stanley's purchase included stakes in Dallas' Crescent complex in Uptown and downtown's Fountain Place and Trammell Crow Center. Suburban office buildings were also in the deal.
Morgan Stanley doesn't own all of the properties.
In 2004, Crescent sold a 60 percent stake in the Crescent complex to a JPMorgan Chase & Co. subsidiary. JPMorgan Chase bought a 76 percent share of the Trammell Crow Center and Fountain Place.
Morgan Stanley representatives wouldn't talk about the Crescent debt issues Wednesday. "There's lot of speculation going on, and obviously there's no comment," said spokeswoman Alison Barnes.
Crescent representatives didn't respond to requests for information.
The original purchase from Crescent included more than 50 office buildings nationwide.
Morgan Stanley has already written down hundreds of millions of dollars in value on the Crescent properties.
Barclay's $2 billion loan on the real estate is due Nov. 2. The debt was originally due in August but was extended.
Commercial real estate values have plummeted since Morgan Stanley made the Crescent buy in August 2007. And lenders have all but closed the window on making additional loans for commercial properties.
Morgan Stanley reported Wednesday that it has taken a further $251 million write-down of the Crescent properties for the quarter that ended Sept. 30.
Another high-profile Dallas real estate deal wound up in the hands of lenders last summer.
In July, developer Hillwood handed over its ownership share of buildings in Victory Park to a German investment group that had provided funding for the developments.
"It is apparent that any purchase with high leverage conducted in the past four years is likely upside down on value relative to the in-place debt," said John Alvarado, managing director in Jones Lang LaSalle's Capital Markets Group. "This phenomenon is not unique to the Dallas market; it is happening everywhere.
"It is also not a reflection of weaker real estate fundamentals as much as a liquidity shortfall in the debt markets and a higher risk premium desired by capital sources today as compared to two years ago," Alvarado said.
"The Crescent properties do hold a unique position in the market – particularly the Crescent and Trammell Crow Center – and should retain more of their original values than almost any other properties in the market."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Woodall Rodgers Park Under Costruction
New Web site Launched – www.theparkdallas.org – For the Latest Updates
Those interested in The Park can sign up to receive a monthly e-newsletter, follow @TheParkDallas on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook or join the conversation on “Common Ground,” the Park’s new blog. Photo galleries, site plans and a virtual fly through are also available to encourage visitors to imagine how they will use The Park in 2012. Downloads of high res images, brochures and more are available upon password request. TxDOT mobility information, including lane closures, will soon be added to the site.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Dallas City Council approves subsidy packages for Deloitte, Continental Building
The Dallas City Council approved two major subsidy packages Wednesday aimed at drawing workers and residents to downtown.
A $17.5 million tax-increment subsidy was approved for Cleveland-based developer Forest City to restore the vacant and decaying Continental Building on Main Street.
And the council voted unanimously to provide a $2 million grant to accounting giant Deloitte in exchange for the firm's agreement to move 470 employees from Irving to an office at Chase Tower in downtown Dallas.
In 2005, Forest City received $68 million in city subsidy, mainly for redevelopment of the Mercantile Building, which has since become one of downtown's largest apartment complexes.
The deal became one of the richest tax subsidy packages in Dallas' history but proved to be too little to restore both the Mercantile and the Continental as intended.
So the council returned to the subsidy table for the Continental on Wednesday, with the hope its redevelopment will bring downtown more of what it desperately needs – residents.
The $17.5 million in tax increment money – paid out over many years – will be used to help repay federal loans Forest City also needs for the deal.
Tax increment is a portion of property tax money the city sets aside in a specific area as property values rise.
Most of the tax increment raised for the Mercantile and Continental deals comes not from downtown but from growth funded through private investment in Uptown.
Council member Ann Margolin was alone in voting against giving more subsidy money to Forest City.
She said that while she believed the deal was a good one, she wanted the city to study how it doles out tax-increment funds and whether they might better be used for other projects.
"We are on a course that is going to use up the [tax-increment] money pretty quickly," Margolin said.
Mayor Tom Leppert, along with the rest of the council, said the deal was important to keeping downtown's redevelopment momentum going.
Leppert said he expects that, eventually, the city will not have to provide subsidies for downtown redevelopment.
"Clearly, we're dealing with some challenges that weren't invested in long ago. We're trying to kick start that," Leppert said.
Deloitte's move
In the day's second subsidy deal, the grant to Deloitte, to be paid in four installments from 2011 through 2014, requires the company to maintain at least 1,111 employees in the Chase Tower office.
Margolin said she voted for the deal because it makes good business sense for the city.
"The economic model is very conservative and shows over 10 years the employees should bring about $8 million to the city," she said.
Many at City Hall hope the benefit becomes much greater over time.
Deloitte plans a $20 million renovation to its downtown offices, Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez said.
An investment like that suggests the firm may be thinking of making Dallas a major regional headquarters, if not something more.
Southern Dallas plans
The council deferred action on a zoning and development plan for neighborhoods around the University of North Texas campus in far southern Dallas.
The plan, devised around new urbanist principles of walkability and connections to rail lines, is intended to define how the area around UNT will grow in coming decades.
City Hall has high hopes that its plan will spur strong urban neighborhoods centered around stations on DART's planned Blue Line.
UNT's Dallas campus is expected to support 25,000 students and thousands of faculty and staff members.
The school should be a strong impetus for growth in one of the few areas of Dallas that still has large open stretches of developable land.
But council member Tennell Atkins, who represents the area, said he had concerns about elements of the development plan and asked that it be returned to council's economic development committee for a hearing on Dec. 9.
Specifically, Atkins is worried about a provision that prevents the covering of creeks and streams. He said that could affect construction of the planned DART lines.
He also said work needs to be done on requirements governing building height and setbacks from the street.
Nearly 250 Dallas-Fort Worth commercial properties facing foreclosure next month
A McKinney mixed-use development tops the long list of North Texas commercial properties scheduled for foreclosure next month.
The Times Square at Craig Ranch complex includes four levels of apartments and retail space and is located at 7951 Collin McKinney Parkway.
Bank of America, which loaned $44.48 million on the project in 2006, said in legal filings that it plans to sell the property at the November 3 foreclosure auction in Collin County, according to information collected by Foreclosure Listing Service.
The McKinney development is the most expensive of almost 250 commercial properties scheduled for foreclosure next month in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service.
A Telecom Corridor office building $27.75 million in debt at 2350 Lakeside Blvd. in Richardson is also set for foreclosure in November. Wachovia Bank provided the mortgage on the 24-year-old building in 2007, according to the filings.
And Compass Bank has filed to foreclose on a warehouse at 2200 Big Town Blvd. in Mesquite that has $25.7 million in debt.
The D-FW commercial property foreclosure postings for November add up to more than $482 million in debt.
So far this year, almost 2,000 commercial properties in Dallas, Collin, Tarrant and Denton counties have been posted for foreclosure, according to Foreclosure Listing Service.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hike & Bike Trail to Connect Baylor/E. Dallas to White Rock Lake
Construction Begins on Phase One of the Santa Fe Trail
Friends of The Santa Fe Trail
Dallas, Texas Oct 15, 2009 This month, the City of Dallas officially kicked off construction of Phase One of the Santa Fe Trail, a recreational pathway traversing through East Dallas' cultural and natural landmarks. The section of the Trail now under construction begins at the south end of White Rock Lake and continues toward Woodrow Wilson High School. A great deal of progress is evident from East Grand Ave to West Shore at Lindsley Park.
"It is a great milestone to see dirt moving on this section of the trail," said Chris Angarola, Chairman of the Friends of the Santa Fe Trail. "As Dallas becomes a more pedestrian oriented city, the availability of an extensive recreational and commuter trail system is vital. The Santa Fe Trail we hope will mature into a critical piece of this city-wide link, connecting East Dallas to Downtown in a sustainable, socially conscious and enjoyable manner."
The City of Dallas and the Texas Department of Transportation have dedicated close to five million dollars to-date to establish the Trail. An initial two mile section now connects Randall Park near Woodrow Wilson High School to Hill Street. Near S. Hill Avenue, the trail will connect to the DART right-of- way, connecting Fair Park and Baylor. Plans for the trail also include a pedestrian bridge over Garland Road, as well as a long-term vision of a connection to the Central Business District.
Summary of construction:
Phase One - Current construction of a paved trail from White Rock Lake to Woodrow Wilson High School near Glascow. Construction began in October 2009 with expected completion in January.
Phase Two - Phase two was completed in April 2009 with a paved pathway from Woodrow Wilson to Deep Ellum. Landscaping, public art and other amenities are being planned.
Phase Three - With authorization given last summer for extension, Phase Three will continue the Trail from Deep Ellum to Fair Park and Baylor, with a long-term vision of connecting to a trail system that extends to the Central Business District.
About Friends of Santa Fe Trail
About the Friends of the Santa Fe Trail: Our mission is to bring value to our community by bringing neighbors together, encouraging healthy lifestyles, improving the quality of life, increasing usable green space, and providing alternative commuting options through quality sustainable development that reflects the unique qualities of East Dallas. We want our neighbors to get fit, get connected, and get involved.
Website: http://www.friendsofsantafetrail.org
| Friends of Santa Fe Trail Chris Angarola Media Contact email: info@fosft.org phone: 214.909.9961 |