Goodbye, condo mania ........the titles write themselves these days, this from MSN Real Estate

Goodbye, condo mania
Buyers are getting better deals as the froth fizzles and sellers offer concessions. And the glut is likely to get worse.By Pat Mertz Esswein, Kiplinger's
Condo prices near you
What's ahead for housing?
Apartment rents are on the rise
Buy your college kid a condo?
Condo owners, who had been cruising along propelled by double-digit price gains, are encountering cooler currents and the prospect of perilous waters ahead.
The supply of existing condos for sale increased by almost two-thirds during the year that ended in April. At the same time, sales fell slightly, according to the National Association of Realtors. Investors -- about one-third of all condo owners, according to mortgage-data tracker LoanPerformance -- have been fleeing like proverbial rats.
Sale prices of existing condos have fallen a bit, too. At $222,000, the nationwide median price of a condo is once again less than that of a single-family home ($222,700). Condos had been appreciating more quickly than single-family homes because they are concentrated in high-cost metro areas, where prices were rising rapidly. As home prices cool in overheated urban markets, the drop in condo prices is likely to be more precipitous. (Check out condo prices where you live.)
Even more ominous: Over the next two years, "a tsunami of new units will swamp the market," reports the National Association of Home Builders (NAR). Conversions of rental apartments to condos are adding to the glut.
Don't panicAlthough the median price of a condo rose nearly 14% last year, double-digit increases appear to be a thing of the past. The NAR expects prices to rise 3% to 4% in 2006 (compared with 6% for single-family homes). And the outlook varies by region. Condo owners in the Midwest, concentrated in the Twin Cities and Chicago, probably have the least to worry about. The South and West have taken the biggest hits. Sales there have fallen 14% in the past year, and prices are lower, too.
In the Northeast, it's a mixed bag. Sales have slowed a little but prices are 4% higher. In Boston and other markets, real estate agents say the market for lower-priced condos (under about $400,000) is still relatively tight and demand is strong. But at the high end, the bidding wars are over and there's more give-and-take between buyers and sellers.
Andrew Terrat found the market cooling when he listed his luxury condo in Boston's South End for sale last October. For several years, Terrat, an interior decorator, had been riding the wave of price appreciation by buying and renovating condos and then trading up. He bought his current apartment in 2004 for more than $900,000 and listed it for $1.4 million in October.
Buyers showed little interest, so Terrat took it off the market and used the time to transform a home office into a guest bedroom. In February, he put it back on the market; instead of reducing the price, he threw in his Bang & Olufsen audio system. By May, he'd found a buyer.
In Miami, the market is less favorable for sellers, but a better deal for buyers. The city had three times as much inventory on the market this spring as last, and there's more in the pipeline. "Most developers thought that speculators weren't going to stop buying," says housing analyst Jack McCabe, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.
At the NAR, senior economist Lawrence Yun expects demand from baby boomers to strengthen as more of them approach retirement age over the next five to 10 years. McCabe counters that one more bad hurricane could change boomers' migratory patterns, causing them to avoid Florida and wing their way to places such as Tennessee, Texas and western North Carolina.
Sellers: Send up a flareIf you're selling a condo, above all, price it right. Real estate agents in condo-crazed cities such as Boston, Miami and Phoenix agree that much of the slowdown is at the high end of the market and that more affordable units are selling well. Whatever the price point, it's not smart to be selling the most expensive apartment on the block, says Boston agent Ken Tutunjian. And with so many opportunities for buyers, you need to make your unit stand out over the competition, says Phoenix agent Brad Brauer. Clean your condo, remove clutter and stage it perfectly.
Be prepared to negotiate. Miami agent Troy Fowler says that a year ago, sellers took a "don't bother me unless you're prepared to pay full price" attitude. Now, many condo ads say sellers are "motivated" and encourage buyers to "make an offer." Incentives can also bring in buyers -- such as a year's worth of condo fees or a flat-screen TV. In Miami, Fowler has seen listings offering a $5,000 or $10,000 bonus to the agent who brings in the buyer.
Finally, get the deal done. "Don't hold out for a slightly better offer," says Ron Witten of Dallas, a housing-market consultant.
Buyers: Take the long viewIn most markets, this is as good a time as any to buy. But in the riskiest ones, especially in the Southwest and Florida, it might be wise to wait a year to see how things shake out. Don't worry too much about higher mortgage rates. The risk of falling prices, says Witten, is greater than the risk of higher rates. (Kiplinger's expects rates to be slightly higher by year-end.) And forget about a quick flip. If you buy, plan to own the property for at least three to five years.
Which units will hold their value over the long run? Look for condos with a great view and easy access to parking, public transportation, necessities and amenities. High-priced gas may enhance the appeal of properties located close to downtown or to employment centers. To attract empty nesters, look for spacious, open-floor-plan condos in buildings with an elevator and, in cold climates, garage parking. In some luxury markets, buildings with a doorman or concierge are becoming highly desirable.
Take your time. Visit properties more than once. Drive a hard bargain and protect yourself with appropriate contingencies.

Haven't heard much about the proposed Park and the 2500 McKinney Avenue Project from SNK lately........hmmm

 

Legal 'perfect storm' could cast pall on Dallas' condo boom

Lawsuit enmeshes Vendome
Experts: Legal 'perfect storm' could cast pall on Dallas' condo boom
Dallas Business Journal - July 28, 2006
by Conrad Wilson and Christine Perez
Staff Writers
The Vendome on Turtle Creek, one of the first luxury high-rise condominium projects to hit the Dallas scene a few years ago, commanded prices as high as $4.5 million per unit.
Now, in a lawsuit filed against the developer, general contractor and real estate agent, the project's Homeowners Association is seeking millions of dollars in damages for alleged construction defects and other issues.
Complaints range from the aesthetic, such as lobby décor that's not quite up to snuff, to the potentially dangerous, such as water leaks in the elevator pits. In the spring of 2004, court documents say, an elevator inspection revealed rusted and corroded elevator ropes -- but not before one of the elevators fell two floors and injured a woman who'd just returned from her husband's funeral.
The Vendome case has dragged on since it was first filed in 2004. It was scheduled to go to trial in late August, but last week was moved into arbitration.
Industry experts say the $90 million Vendome is hardly alone. Virtually every residential condo project built in Dallas over the last couple of years is involved or has been involved in litigation, they say. HOA lawsuits, described as "epidemic" in high-growth areas such as California and Las Vegas, are rapidly becoming a major concern in Dallas' emerging condo market, too.
Plaintiff attorneys who have found success in California and Arizona are moving into Texas, offering free inspections to HOAs, sources say. "It's really becoming a mill, its own industry," one developer representative said.
"There are 24 projects under construction in Dallas," said Joe Bryant with Dallas-based McLaughlin Brunson Insurance, which provides risk-management services and insurance to architects, engineers and environmental consultants. "A perfect storm is brewing."
The 4-year-old, 21-story Vendome, modeled after the Hotel de Vendome near the Louvre in Paris, sits at the corner of Lemmon Avenue and Turtle Creek Boulevard in one of the most exclusive areas of Uptown.
Inside, the Vendome's units are appointed with hardwood floors, marble bathrooms, granite countertops and custom cabinetry. Outside, fountains gurgled the other day while a small army of gardeners worked to coax the ivy to grow, despite the sweltering summer heat.
The garden is among the homeowners association's complaints. Residents say the landscaping is failing to thrive, due to the use of wrong soils and inefficient drainage systems. They put the cost of developing the formal European gardens they were promised at $750,000.
Other complaints involve the building's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, drainage issues, soundproofing and waterproofing defects and a poorly designed fountain that often sprays residents at the porte-cochere entrance.
Both sides agree there are no concerns about the building's structural integrity.
In early 2004, New York-based Vendome Partners L.P. -- a joint venture between New York's Metropolitan Development Group, which developed the Dallas Vendome, and Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. -- made some of the requested repairs and gave the HOA $153,000 for others. According to the HOA, the cost to make additional fixes and improvements will run more than $4 million.
Besides the construction issues, the HOA also is charging Vendome Partners and Dallas Realtor Judy Pittman with deceptive trade practices, saying they were promised a state-of-the-art security system, wrought-iron railing on the roof, a climate-controlled wine cellar and other amenities that were never delivered. Counterclaim filed
The HOA is asking for $4 million from Vendome and Oklahoma-based Manhattan Construction Co. and $2 million from Pittman, plus other damages, court costs and attorneys fees.
Numerous condo owners were contacted for this story; all declined to be interviewed. In a 2004 letter to residents, the HOA asked owners to "exercise the utmost discretion in any conversations they may have regarding the delicate situation," to help "preserve the value of individual properties and the reputation of the building."
Manhattan, which calls the HOA lawsuit frivolous, is no slouch when it comes to condo construction. Besides the Vendome, the company built the $28 million second phase of The Plaza at Turtle Creek and is at work on the Ritz Carlton Hotel & Residences, a 21-story, $200 million development in Uptown. It also was recently selected as general contractor for the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington.
Manhattan filed a counterclaim earlier this year, asking for a clarification with regard to warranties, as its contract was with the Vendome developer, not the HOA.
The HOA took ownership of the Vendome's common areas in October 2003. Representatives say they brought the lawsuit only after being unable to directly resolve issues with Vendome Partners.
In mid-2004, the HOA hired Deborah Gagliardi to do an independent evaluation of the project. A principal at the locally based Gagliardi Group, she is a registered architect and mechanical professional engineer licensed in the state of Texas.
According to documents filed with the Dallas County District Court, Gagliardi found 47 issues that needed to be resolved.
Vendome Partners' attorney, Cynthia Dooley with Dallas-based Brousseau & Associates, said her client has different positions on the various complaints. She declined to provide more specifics, due to the pending litigation. The HOA's attorney also declined to be interviewed, as did Pittman.
In an affidavit, one HOA board member described a contentious meeting with Vendome Partners' John Conroy. The member said Conroy "vigorously disagreed" with the group's observations and said he would not be "writing any big checks" to resolve the issue. The meeting ended with Conroy vowing to "get on a plane to New York and never return to Texas."
Carolyn Shamis, one of the top residential Realtors in Dallas, said that's indicative of the problem. "What happens is, as the buildings don't sell out, the developer gets tired of it and things get shoved under the rug and don't get fixed," she said. "They try to stall and get the HOA to pay for things. They're carrying notes and don't want to spend any more money, so they just stop." A lot of expectations
Arbitration regarding the Vendome situation is slated for March 2007. The outcome will be binding only between the HOA and Vendome Partners. Attorneys say that if the HOA gets a judgment against the developer, the developer will go after the construction company, which in turn will go after subcontractors. Fourteen subcontractors already have been brought into the matter; one of them, Americast L.L.C., has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
From a risk-management perspective, condominiums differ from apartments or commercial projects because, once the condos are sold, the developer is out of the picture, turning over ownership of all common areas to a homeowner's association, which becomes responsible for maintenance and repairs. Because condos typically are sold before they're built, buyers often make decisions based on renderings and a vision. With multiple owners, there are a lot of expectations. In Texas, if just two or more unit owners are unhappy, HOAs have the right to pursue litigation.
Don Neff, president of Irvine, Calif.-based La Jolla Pacific, a third-party quality assurance services firm, said the Vendome exemplifies the typical HOA lawsuit. His company just opened a Dallas office. "We've been living with this for the last 10 years in California," he said. There, he said, insurance companies left the state, as they were suffering $3 to $4 in settlement losses for every $1 they collected. As a result, the condo-construction market went flat. Carriers have recently returned, this time with new insurance policies that require builders to "bleed with them," Neff said.
Under the old model, "the plaintiff's attorneys stand on the sidelines and watch the defendants duke it out," he said. "Whoever is left standing, the HOA collects from."
The new model, called a wrap insurance policy, simplifies things by bringing the insurance company, the developer and all subcontractors under one policy; all are represented by the same attorneys and all are financially responsible for any litigation that may occur.
Wrap-policy premiums are much higher. Ten to 15 years ago, a $1 million policy might have cost $20,000 or $30,000. The same coverage today will cost $650,000 to $800,000, Neff said.
Mike Puls, with Dallas-based multifamily and condo consultancy Foley & Puls Inc., said HOA lawsuits already have had a dramatic effect on insurance costs for developers. "And without a good insurance policy, they won't get financing from banks," he said.
HOA lawsuits will continue to proliferate, he said, because it's difficult to satisfy large groups of people.
"When you get a number of buyers in the same building, some will get bored and go looking for flaws," he said. "Or if a new building goes up, they'll ask, 'Why isn't ours as good as that one?' "
Staff writers Chad Eric Watt and Cynthia D. Webb contributed to this report.
cwilson@bizjournals.com 214-706-7118 and cperez@bizjournals.com 214-706-7120

Slow market kills Uptown condos

Slow market kills Uptown condos
Maple Terrace planners cite disappointing sales in halting project
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 25, 2006
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Developers have canceled plans for a high-profile Uptown condo deal.

FILE 2000/Staff photoHigh Street Residential plans to continue renting the Maple Terrace building as apartments.
Trammell Crow Co. has halted efforts to construct condominiums in Dallas' historic Maple Terrace building and develop an adjoining high-rise because sales did not meet expectations.
The $87 million project was to have included 68 homes in the landmark Maple Avenue building, plus 170 more units in a new 16-story tower. The first condos were to have been ready next year.
With units starting at just over $200,000, the Maple Terrace was more moderately priced than other Uptown high-rise projects.
But last week developer High Street Residential, a division of Trammell Crow, began notifying buyers in the Maple Terrace that the condo development is dead.
The owners plan to continue renting the building as apartments, said Art Lomenick, managing director of High Street Residential.
"The condominium and apartment markets are very different from what they were a year ago, and the partners have made a strategic decision to operate the property as a luxury apartment community," he said in a statement.
The Maple Terrace is the latest and largest Dallas-area condominium project to be canceled.
Earlier this year developer Fairfield Residential pulled the plug on an Addison condo project after pre-sales failed to meet expectations.
Two other condominium conversions – one on Turtle Creek and another in North Dallas – were canceled last year.
Developer Mockingbird Properties has gone back to the drawing board for its Galleria North condominium tower in Far North Dallas. The developer is now studying hotel plans.
Construction is under way on a handful of luxury condo towers in central Dallas.
More buildings are in presales but have not been started.
With rising construction costs and higher mortgage rates, real estate analysts say they will be surprised if all the condo projects planned get built.
"It's typical of what is happening in a lot of markets and has happened earlier in other markets than Dallas," said Ron Witten of Witten Advisors. "The underlying demand for condos is strong and will stay strong for some time, but we have a little bit of oversupply nationally."
But the number of investors in the condo market has declined dramatically, said Mike Puls with Foley & Puls.
"That was the market spending the most amount of money per square foot," he said. "Even if you have a good location and a good developer, if you target the wrong market they won't show up."
The 81-year-old Maple Terrace has long been a Dallas landmark.
But several redevelopment plans – including one to convert the building to a luxury hotel – have not gone forward.
Designed by British architect Alfred Blossom, the Maple Terrace has about 80 units that over the years attracted visiting celebrities and local luminaries.
E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

JUAN GUAJARDO/DMN

 

Condo Update

Condo market has ups, downs
Some projects still hot, but market may have hit its peak
09:05 AM CDT on Friday, July 28, 2006
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas' high-rise condo boom appears to be peaking.
With construction costs soaring and investors pulling out of the housing market, several residential tower deals have been killed and others are in doubt.

"Construction costs have risen a lot faster than sales prices of condominiums," said Jonas Woods, president of Victory developer Hillwood Capital. "That's why you are seeing some of these projects get canceled."
Developers of the 16-story Maple Terrace condominium project last week shut down sales, which hadn't hit targets.
"In the last 45 days it really started to get some momentum, but sales at the kickoff were a bit disappointing," said Art Lomenick, managing director of developer High Street Residential.
"A lot of folks are stepping back and looking at their options because of what is going on in the market."
What's going on is that investors – many of them from out of state – are abandoning the housing market.
Economists and builders credit the investor pullback with causing most of the nationwide downturn in home sales this year.
The declines have been worse in markets such as California, Florida and Las Vegas, where dozens of condominium deals have been canceled because of slumping demand.
Investors have accounted – by some estimates – for more than a third of local condo presales.
On the way
In the Dallas area, there are already plenty of high-rise condo projects under construction, and a couple more will start soon.
Seven towers now being built in Uptown and downtown will have almost 1,000 units.
A half-dozen buildings in presales will add 600 more condos.
Two of those buildings are set to start next month.
The 28-story House by Philippe Starck is located in the Victory complex and will have 150 condos – most of which have been sold, the developers say.
"Our loan closing is imminent, and that's the only thing we are waiting for," Mr. Woods said.
Prescott Realty Group also plans to break ground next month on its 21-story Stoneleigh Hotel and Residences project on Maple Avenue.
"We are finishing construction documents and will break ground at the end of August," said Prescott president Jud Pankey.
Not so sure
But other developers are rethinking their deals.
Mockingbird Properties has stopped marketing its 20-story Galleria North condominium tower in Far North Dallas and is negotiating with a hotel operator, said developer Mitchell Vexler.
"We were approached by a hotel group from Europe that has been trying to do a deal here," Mr. Vexler said.
"We had pretty good traffic with our condo sales, but we weren't lighting the world on fire.
"The market is starting to cool a little bit."
If the hotel company decides to build on the Noel Road site, the project would have about 78 condos – far fewer than the 126 units originally planned.
Another Far North Dallas condo tower, the 80-unit Amalfi project on Montfort Road, is at a turning point, said builder Mickey Munir.
The developers are negotiating with a new financial partner that would start the building without more presales.
"Selling something coming out of the ground is easier than selling something that might be coming out of the ground," Mr. Munir said.
"If this works out, we will start it."

Luxury winning out
Buildings that offer luxury hotels – like the W, which opens its residential units in August – have fared better, said real estate analyst Mike Puls.
"The world-class high-rise projects work just fine," Mr. Puls said.
The Ritz-Carlton project under construction on McKinney Avenue recently announced plans for a second 70-unit tower.
And construction is already under way in Victory on 90 condominiums in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel tower.
But Mr. Puls agrees that the investors have for the most vanished and the remaining buyers are savvy to the market.
"You can't bamboozle them," he said. "You have to have the product at the price structure they want."
E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

DALLAS HIGH-RISE CONDO PROJECTS UPDATE
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

W Dallas Victory Hotel & Residences
33 stories, 144 units, opens in August

Residences at Hotel Palomar
10 stories, 72 units, opens fall 2006

Residences at the Ritz-Carlton
21 stories, 70 units, opens fall 2007

One Arts Plaza
24 stories, 71 units, opens 2007

The Metropolitan
26 stories, 283 units, opens 2007

Azure
31 stories, 202 units, opens 2008

Mandarin Oriental at Victory
43 stories, 90 units, opens 2009

IN PRESALES

Stoneleigh Hotel and Residences
21 stories, 97 units, opens spring 2008

The House by Philippe Starck
28 stories, 150 units, opens 2008

Tower Residences at the Ritz-Carlton
23 stories, 96 units, opens 2008

Cresta Bella
22 stories, 55 residences, opens mid-2008

Amalfi
11 stories, 80 units

Museum Tower
20 stories, 125 units, opens 2008.

ON HOLD

Galleria North
20 stories, 126 units, project in redesign

CANCELED

Maple Terrace condominiums
16 stories, 238 units

SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

Housing slows..more apartments in uptown and another big office sale

Steve Brown:Builders cautious about future sales
But Texas, Southwest are showing strength, Horton and Centex say
11:06 PM CDT on Thursday, July 27, 2006
Misery loves company – the old saying goes.

And news in the last week about setbacks for local homebuilders found a wide audience.
First in line to spread word of woes was D.R. Horton Inc., which slashed its earnings estimates, then said it was dropping $57 million to get out of land purchase deals.
Horton officials blamed a rapidly cooling single-family home market – particularly on the West Coast – for its financial setback.
Then this week, Centex Corp. chimed in with its own 31 percent drop in earnings and a $36 million write-off for canceled land deals.
The Centex and Horton disclosures only confirmed what housing economists have been warning for months: Some of the country's overheated housing markets have turned cold.
If there was any good news from these big builders' reports it was that their home sales in the Southwest and Texas are still increasing.
Horton's Texas sales were up 20 percent in the most recent quarter, while Centex saw a 6 percent increase in its Southwest region sales, which includes Texas.
"There are significant differences in markets today," said Centex CEO Tim Eller.
"The Carolinas, Texas and the Pacific Northwest are showing strength."
In California, where sales are spiraling, Mr. Eller blames investors who have bolted from the market.
But even in stronger markets like Texas, builders would be smart to cut back on spec construction and not to count on continued strong sales.
Horton CEO Don Tomnitz had the most insightful comment on the situation.
"Every time we've gone into a downturn in the homebuilding industry, they've always been longer and deeper than we've imagined," Mr. Tomnitz warned analysts last week in a conference call.
Indeed, history shows that's always the case with real estate downturns.
And while North Texas may not be suffering from a real estate price bubble, a sharp drop in home sales can pull the rug out from under the best market.

Fitzhugh apartments
One of the country's biggest apartment builders is working on an in-town Dallas deal.
Trammell Crow Residential has contracted to purchase a development site on Fitzhugh Avenue just east of North Central Expressway.
The location is a block from FirstWorthing's new Cityville rental community.
Crow Residential has already put in a zoning request for the apartment community it plans to build there.

Premier Place
A CB Richard Ellis investment fund has completed its purchase of the 20-story Premier Place office building on North Central Expressway in Dallas.
Located next door to the Mockingbird Station shopping center, Premier Place was sold by Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, an affiliate of Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Co.
The 400,000-square-foot glass office tower was built in 1986.
Andrew Levy and Todd Savage with Holiday Fenoglio Fowler negotiated the sale with Gary Carr with CB Richard Ellis.

Very Superstitious.....writing on the wall

Steve Brown:A lot of high-rises have something missing
Many skip the 13th floor so they don't scare off superstitious buyers
01:14 PM CDT on Friday, July 21, 2006
Downtown Dallas' Metropolitan condominium tower will have a swimming pool, a fitness center and a private movie theater.
About all that's missing from the 283-unit condo project under construction at 1200 Main St. is the 13th floor.
The developers planned it that way.
Worried that superstitious buyers might come down with a case of triskaidekaphobia, owner Rockwood Realty Associates decided to leave out the 13th floor in the $50 million condo conversion.
"We have sometimes found buyer resistance to living on a floor marked 13 and therefore made a decision to eliminate using that number," said Rockwood's Keith Walker.
Builders have been avoiding the number 13 for decades.
And more than 80 percent of the world's skyscrapers don't have a 13th floor, according to reports attributed to the Otis Elevator Co.
Dallas high-rise developers have a mixed view of the dreaded number.
The planned House by Philippe Starck condo tower in the Victory area will have a 13th floor with seven units.
So will the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton.
But developers of the planned Museum Tower in Dallas' Arts District will pass on the niggling number.
"I don't think I would support having a 13th floor," said developer John Sughrue.
If all this worry about a floor number sounds silly, consider that fear of the number 13 has been around since ancient times. The Vikings considered it an unlucky number, and Christians point out that Judas was the 13th dinner guest at the Last Supper.
Of course, there are plenty of other unlucky digits.
In Asian cultures, the number 4 is feared and is left out of many building addresses and floors.
In Italy, it's 17 that's a turnoff – some foolishness about Roman numerals spelling death. Whatever.
I guess you can't blame developers for playing it safe with dodgy numbers.
With all the hurdles that projects face these days, the last thing a builder needs to worry about is superstition.
And who's to say the Vikings weren't right?
3,300-acre purchase
Arizona-based developer Aperion Cos. has contracted for another big land purchase in North Texas.
The company – which already has land near Rockwall, north of Fort Worth and near Terrell – is buying another large tract south of Denton.
Aperion is purchasing the 3,300-acre Hunters Ranch property on Interstate 35W from developer Hillwood.
"We are just in the escrow period and are working with the city of Denton and have filed for our zoning," said Aperion chief executive David Maniatis.
Aperion has already purchased 2,660 acres northwest of the Texas Motor Speedway from Hillwood for its planned Tradition development.
Hello, Dallas
A California investor has purchased a Farmers Branch office building.
Hager Pacific Properties bought the 1801 Valley View Lane building from Levitt Properties Trust. The acquisition was part of a $48 million portfolio that includes buildings in Chicago and Salt Lake City.
The 209,000-square-foot Farmers Branch building was built in 1986 and is occupied by Cingular Wireless. The two-story building is on 14 acres.
The purchase marks Hager Pacific's first investment in the Dallas area. Hager Pacific owns properties mostly in California and the Midwest.
El Paso a haven
Nervous Nellies, take note.
The safest place in the country when it comes to avoiding natural disasters is – no joke – El Paso.
Actually, El Paso ties with Milwaukee, Cleveland and three cities in Arizona as the best place to dodge an earthquake, hurricane or such in a survey by Internet company Sustainlane.com and Risk Management Solutions.
That's right, no hurricane threat in EP. Well, duh, it's only about 800 miles to the ocean.
Other things not to worry about in El Paso are "major flooding, catastrophic hail, tornado super-outbreaks," according to the report that dropped in my mailbox this week.
The highest-risk places to live are Miami, New Orleans and the San Francisco Bay area – no surprise.
So why are real estate values in Miami and San Francisco a zillion times higher than in Big D? Never mind, I just remembered what those places look like.
Dallas and Fort Worth rank 22nd among the top 50 U.S. cities.
Los Angeles and Houston are both rated as more likely to have natural disaster than North Texas.
No surprise, given their proximity to earthquake faults and hurricane winds.
I guess D-FW's ranking got dinged by our killer hail and twisters.
Moving to Mesquite
Two companies are establishing distribution operations in Mesquite.
Bissell Home Care and Prime Distribution Services are leasing a total of more than a half-million square feet of industrial space from developer ProLogis near State Highway 80 and Loop 12. "Both of them are new to the area," said Rob Huthnance, ProLogis first vice president.
Bissell is renting 260,000 square feet, and Prime Distribution is taking about the same amount of space. The leases will fill ProLogis' building at 5351 Samuel Blvd.
E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

Get Dear Ol Dad something different this year

 

Cool new stuff at the bakery

 

Click here

Inside the store

 

MMMMmmmmmmm

 

Petit Fours

The Black & White Cake

 

Strawberry Shortcake

 

New bakery gives petit four a makeover

New bakery gives petit four a makeover
06:59 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 10, 2006

By TINA DANZE / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
A new bakery has given the staid petit four a modern makeover. Petit Fours Cakes Gourmet sells large, drop-dead gorgeous versions that make traditional petits fours seem dowdy.

NATALIE CAUDILL/DMN Petit Fours Cakes Gourmet has the house specialty, of course, and more.
What's more, these cakes taste as good as they look, with extraordinary flavors such as Pink Passionfruit, Chocolate Toffee Obsession and Peanut Butter & Ganache. There are classic flavors, too: red velvet, Italian cream and German chocolate. They're created by pastry chef Bill Hunter, formerly of The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Crescent and the Fairmont.
The petits fours are generously sized as four-bite desserts. Instead of coating them in traditional fondant, chef Hunter opts for buttercream, ganache or cream cheese frosting. And he doesn't cut corners: All cakes have five thin layers. But it's the fanciful decorations that wow you at first glance: intricate piping, fruit-leather figures and geometric chocolate accents.
The bakery also sells stunning larger cakes in 17 flavors and several sizes. Prices range from $5 for petits fours to $70 for a decadent party cake. That may sound steep, but co-owners Carolyn Key and Mary Jane Moreau see these desserts as a smart alternative to sending flowers. They offer delivery, gift-boxed sampler packs and online ordering.
Want a taste before sending a gift box? Sit in the bakery's parlor or at a table and enjoy petits fours with a latte, chocolate chai tea, white hot chocolate or an Italian soda.
Petit Fours Cakes Gourmet: 3000 Blackburn (facing McKinney Avenue at The Mondrian); 214-559-2253; www.pfcakes.com.
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Sunday.

My wife opened a new bakery on McKinney Ave. just North of Blackburn

Check out http://www.pfcakes.com

Photos by JIM MAHONEY/DMN

Photos by JIM MAHONEY/DMNThe penthouse bedroom patio offers a spectacular view from the Dallas high-rise, which once was the home of actress Greer Garson. Residents are seeking national historic status for the building with the help of Preservation Dallas. 

Dallas architect Howard Meyer's 22-story building at 3525 Turtle Creek Blvd. was built in 1957.

 

Grande Dame of Turtle Creek

Grande Dame of Turtle Creek
First luxury high-rise on Dallas' own 'Gold Coast' nears its 50th birthday
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, May 21, 2006
By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News
There was a time, during one of the most colorful eras in Dallas history, when the building at 3525 Turtle Creek Blvd. was so famous, it didn't matter that it had no other name.

"This was the most prestigious address in town: 3525. That's all you had to say, and people knew where you were from," said Col. James Pinckney Caston, a longtime resident of the building, which is nearing its 50th anniversary.
People may have known other things about the building, as well: that actress Greer Garson lived there, as did oilmen, wealthy widows, several opera stars and two U.S. senators.

During the early 1960s, heartthrob Fabian stayed there while in town for a play. Actor Tyrone Power and his new bride were honored with a party there. And the Duchess of Argyll dined in the penthouse, capping a tour of Dallas that included a visit to a mobile home show.
Depending on how closely people followed news of Dallas society, they might have known that 3525's private club was once raided by the city vice squad, that a socialite's body was found floating in the building's swimming pool and that the 18th-floor apartment of Minnie Marcus – widow of the founder of the city's most renowned department store – was burglarized, with thieves taking $75,000 in jewelry and breaking into her liquor cabinet.
When construction of 3525 was announced in 1957, it was the first luxury high-rise along Turtle Creek, a strip that has since become Dallas' version of Chicago's Gold Coast.
Residents are working to put the building on the National Register of Historic Places. A documentary film also is planned.
Preservation Dallas, which is helping residents apply for historic status, has called the design by Dallas architect Howard Meyer "the most fully realized and successful modernist apartment building in Texas, perhaps in America."

'Best site in Dallas'
But Mr. Meyer, who died in 1988, once said in an interview that when builders Edward Dicker and Jerome Frank hired him, they gave him a simple marching order: "We're giving you the best site in Dallas. Don't spare the horses."
The 22-story building was constructed of tinted, reinforced concrete and Mexican brick near the site of what had long ago been the clubhouse of the Dallas Country Club.
Its pinwheel design gave each unit three views and nonconjoining walls that assured greater privacy. The heavy concrete construction allowed internal walls to be moved and rearranged at the whim of a resident's designer.
The building's most noticeable feature – the latticelike concrete brise soleil – was designed to filter the harsh Texas sun.
There were powder rooms on each floor for the maids, a large staff contractually forbidden to accept tips, a daily courtesy carwash, a swimming pool (with private cabanas) and a dining room.

Price of luxury
All that luxury came with a price. Units, which were then apartments, started at $350 a month when the building officially opened in 1958. Three-bedroom apartments rented for $700, and the penthouses went for $1,500 a month.
The building was converted to condominiums in the late 1970s. Today, a unit on the 15th floor is being offered for $460,000, according to Nancy Martinez of Virginia Cook Realtors, and other units have been priced at up to $850,000.
The building is coming back into demand despite being literally overshadowed by newer, taller and glitzier residential high-rises, Ms. Martinez said. Its 1950s architecture, particularly the distinctive sunscreens, can cut both ways with clients.
"You show it, and they either get it or they don't," she said.

Old money, oil money
Mr. Dicker's explanation in 1957 that the luxury high-rise was needed "because the rich man has been neglected in the past 30 years" triggered nationwide snickering. But when 3525 opened the next year, it was an immediate success.
The building was a favorite of both old money and oil money.
Sarah Cockrell Dargan, granddaughter of Dallas pioneers Alexander and Sarah Cockrell, rented an apartment there, as did Addie Samuell, widow of philanthropist W.W. Samuell. Jack Pew, the Sun Oil executive, lived on the 16th floor. Oil magnate Clint Murchison Sr. maintained an apartment on the fifth.
In less-security-conscious days, the elite residential building had a restaurant and beauty shop (the Salon de Coiffure) open to the public.
The private Club 3525 had a separate entrance off the porte-cochere, through which 56 of its patrons were loaded into paddy wagons in May 1960 after a vice squad raid to curtail after-hours drinking.
In an unrelated incident that same month, Mrs. Ballard Y. Burgher, wife of a prominent real estate investor, was found dead in 3525's signature round swimming pool, her shoes left at poolside. News accounts said authorities found no evidence of suicide or foul play.
More often, notices in the public broadsheets reflected awe or amusement toward the building's elite clients. The Dallas Morning News' Paul Crume frequently featured 3525 in his Big D column during the late 1950s and early '60s.
Mr. Crume's readers were invited to click their tongues at the story of a young 3525 resident who worked as a lifeguard and whose family chauffeur delivered lunch each day to him poolside. Then there was Mr. Crume's item about a tenant's dog that could purportedly enter an elevator and push the button for the lobby, to be met by a staff member who would take him for a walk.
In the early days, people would walk up from Turtle Creek Boulevard (then only two lanes wide) and try to talk their way onto the private floors, said F.C. Brown, a staff supervisor who has worked at 3525 since 1962, when he washed cars.
It was the job of the staff to ensure privacy. Some residents were easier to shield than others.

Fabian's fans
Hollywood stars who were appearing in local theaters often stayed in the building's apartments, Mr. Brown said. That included Fabian.
"A lot of the ladies would come by and want to meet him," Mr. Brown recalled. "They'd try to slip a guy two or three dollars to let them wait outside the door for an autograph."
Life, he remembered, was less formal then. Joe Lambert, a landscaper and arts patron, and Angus Wynne Sr., a prominent lawyer, always had time to talk football with the doormen.
Some of the oldest residents complain that times have changed, though none would do so for the record.
"It's just not the old families anymore," one resident said.
A veteran resident who welcomes the change is Col. Caston, who served in both the Army and Air Force.

Influx of younger people
"Younger people are moving in now," he said. "I think it's all for the better."
He has lived at 3525 for about 20 years, he said, and describes it as "a very private building. Nobody goes to each other's apartment unless invited."
But residents become neighbors.
Col. Caston said he got to know actress Greer Garson well. She and her husband, oilman Buddy Fogelson, once came to the colonel's apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.
In turn, Col. Caston was a frequent guest in Ms. Garson's penthouse, as – on occasion – were actors Joan Collins and Van Johnson and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Pianist Van Cliburn would play at her birthday parties.
Col. Caston said he couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
"Once you've lived in the Grande Dame of Turtle Creek, really nothing is ever the same," he said. "There are people you couldn't dynamite out of this building. Like me."
E-mail dflick@dallasnews.com

Woodlawn Update and Cedar Springs Tom Thumb Info

Steve Brown:
06:54 AM CDT on Friday, May 19, 2006
Homes near Parkland
In-town housing developer Perry Homes has purchased a creek-side property near Parkland Memorial Hospital with plans to construct townhouses.
The 5.5-acre site on Production Drive is between Harry Hines Boulevard and Maple Avenue and is largely undeveloped.
"We came up with the idea of putting a bridge across the creek to access the property," said real estate broker Mike Turner of J. Elmer Turner Realtors. Mr. Turner brokered the sale to Perry Homes with Les Teitz.
About 68 townhomes will be constructed on the site, Mr. Turner said.
"The property lays out well and will make a residential enclave," he said.
The development site is about two blocks from Motor Street, where FirstWorthing Corp. and Greenway Investment are building a 16-acre apartment and retail complex.

Noodling for ideas
A real estate firm is hunting for a new use for a vacant Oak Lawn supermarket.
United Commercial Realty is exploring leasing and development options for the empty Tom Thumb store on Cedar Springs Road at Douglas Avenue.
The 33,000-square-foot vacant building was constructed in 1966 and later enlarged. It sits on about two acres a few blocks from the Dallas North Tollway.
The property is controlled by Crossland Enterprises, which has hired United Commercial Realty to find a new use.
"The first thing we are going to attempt is to lease the building," said UCR's Teri Dorazil. "But the new owners have also developed plans with residential construction above ground-floor retail, like a mini West Village."

Woodlawn progress
Alliance Communities – a Phoenix-based developer with several apartment projects in the Dallas area – is moving ahead with plans to buy the historic Woodlawn Hospital property on Maple Avenue in Oak Lawn.
A few weeks ago, Alliance's $16.5 million offer to buy the 8.3-acre historic hospital complex was accepted by the Parkland Health & Hospital System. Alliance got the contract to buy Woodlawn after two bids were held.
Alliance's Nick Chapman said the developer is moving ahead on redeveloping the landmark.
"Optimally, we could get started in the fourth quarter, but more than likely it will be first quarter 2007," Mr. Chapman said "We are exploring four or five different development scenarios – some are mixed-use and some are exclusively multifamily."

From Frontburner: Dang it, I liked Tower Records

DEAN & DELUCA TO OPEN IN OAKLAWN
In the old, well from what I hear soon to be old, Tower Records spot on Lemmon Ave. Eatzi’s to be an outie? We’ll see. Back to you, Free Bird. I mean Rod.
Nancy Nichols · 03:04 PM

Madi Museum

 

Madi Museum may fall to Condo Craziness

May 17, 2006
Goodbye, Art. Hello, Commerce.

Filed under: News You Can Actually Use, Actually
Take a good look at the MADI Museum. It may not be around much longer.
If you were to visit the Web site of Kilgore & Kilgore, PLLC–the 58-year-old law film specializing in, among other things, cases dealing with intellectual property and personal-injury class actions–you will see seven serious-looking attorneys posed in front of a building bursting with color. That building, located at 3109 Carlisle Street in Uptown, is home to Kilgore’s offices, the Kilgore Law Center and the MADI Museum, the latter designed and created by artist Volf Roitman, who transformed the entirety of the two-story, 16,564-square-foot 1970s building into one of the few pieces of public artwork on display in Dallas. And he did so with the owner of the building and the law firm, Bill Masterson, who, with his wife Dorothy, brought in Roitman to turn a bland building into something blindingly bright and otherworldly–a burst of sunlight on an otherwise dimly lit lot.
The MADI Museum, with its facade consisting of 65 laser-cut panels painted by the artist, opened three years ago with great fanfare and gushing praise; writing in The Dallas Morning News, architecture critic David Dillon celebrated the building for adding to “the fledgling funkiness of McKinney Avenue,” while Peter Frank of the LA Weekly insisted that “not since the Museum of non-Objective Art in New York morphed into the Guggenheim Museum more than half a century ago has there been anything like this in North America.”
The MADI Museum’s Web site is full of such accolades, as well as a glowing recounting of how Roitman and the Mastersons fell in love some 12 years ago over a 60-plus-year-old Argentinian-born art movement no one can really describe. We tried a few years back, and got no further than this attempt: “Some speculate it means ‘movement, abstraction, dimension and invention,’ but no one is positive what the letters stand for.”
And now, Volf Roitman isn’t sure whether the building and the artwork he created in and around it will stand for much longer. Just three years after the MADI Museum opened, there’s a good chance it could be leveled to make way for condos–because the very people who commissioned Roitman to overhaul the building are trying to sell it, potentially to developers who would reduce the whole thing to a pile of bricks and bolts. At least, that’s what Trammell Crow Co. representatives are suggesting in their listing for the property at 3109 Carlisle. Says right there on the Web site: “vacant land” for sale, some 44,000 square feet of it, with a proposed use for “multifamily” development. There is no mention of Roitman’s work on the exterior of the building–which would not survive the building’s sale, because even moving it would be impossible. As Roitman says in legal documents sitting in the Dallas federal courthouse: “The panels are so thin, were they to be removed, there would no way to keep them intact.” Which is why Roitman, using a Richardson-based attorney, has filed for a temporary injunction in U.S. District Court, Northern Division, seeking to prevent the sale of the building and the destruction of his artwork.

His attorney, Jonathan Winocour of Winocour & Scarbrough, filed the application on April 19. Winocour claims that if the Kilgore Law Center Investment Group, LP, sells the building and allows its demolition–and the destruction of Roitman’s work–then the owners will be violating a federal statute. And, indeed, the government in 1990 did pass a law that protects artists’ work from harm. Called the Visual Artists Rights Act, it says, in part, that the author of a work of visual art has the right:
“(A) to prevent any intentional distortion, mutilation, or other modification of that work which would be prejudicial to his or her honor or reputation, and any intentional distortion, mutilation, or modification of that work is a violation of that right, and
(B) to prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature, and any intentional or grossly negligent destruction of that work is a violation of that right.”
Roitman says in his affidavit, filed with the court April 19, that “if the building is destroyed, the artworks [involved in] this controversy will not survive, snce the artworks are organically integrated with the building and cannot be removed without their destruction.”
“We’re not tring to retsrict their right to sell their property, although that may be the effect,” says Winocour. “Our intent is to protect the artwork on the façade. If someone wants to buy the building and preserve the façade, we’re not going to object, but it’s been advertised as vacant land, and no one is contemplating the preservation of the building.” Except, of course, Roitman and his attorneys.
On May 2, Kilgore Law Center Investment Group filed its own documents with the court. They claim Roitman’s desire to save his artwork has “greatly reduced” the property’s value, by some $75,000, and that it would be rendered valueless should the court grant the injunction “since the market value of the land without the building and Plaintiff’s alleged ‘artwork’ is substantially” more than the value of the land with the building and art. Kilgore’s response, which is signed by none other than Bill Masterson, insists that Roitman only wants the art to stand “solely to protect his own ‘honor,’ ‘reputation’ and ego,” and says that Roitman got plenty out of his affiliation with the building and law firm “in terms of publicity, prestige, honor and reputation from” Kilgore. Masterson’s also claiming there’s no legit claim under the VARA, since Roitman’s was a work for hire–meaning Masterson bought it and can do what he pleases with the installation. (Masterson was unavailable for comment.)
This battle will likely rage on for months, well into next year: A jury trial has tentatively been set for February, and till then Roitman will try to get the court to grant an injunction to stay the building’s demolition at least till legal proceedings are finished. It could get pretty messy; it usually is when a federal statute such as the Visual Artists Rights Act, is involved.
“The point is, the artwork is unique and kind of special, a wonderful expresson of public art,” Winocour says. “Dallas has very little, unlike New York or Los Angeles, because there’s not a lot of public investment in this city. We have billionaire philanthropists like Ray Nasher, but there’s little public art, and it would be nice to present it in a city that likes to see itself as a world-class city. If it wants to be London or Paris it needs to encourage this. And it’s great that at one time Mr. Masterson did…but if you challenge the constituionality of a statute designed to protect the artist and work and cast yourself as a patron of the arts, I think you’re talking our of both sides of your mouth.” –Robert Wilonsky

Color Arts District Rendering...looks pretty cool.

 

Great Location

 

This one could be very cool, looking over the Nasher should never get old.

Condos in the midst of culture
Dallas Arts District to gain $100 million residential tower
10:17 AM CST on Tuesday, January 31, 2006
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas' newest residential high-rise will be a standout in an exclusive neighborhood.
Located smack between the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the 20-story Museum Tower has what developers hope is a one-of-a-kind address.
"We think we have an extraordinary site," said John Sughrue, whose Brook Partners is teaming up with investor Turtle Creek Holdings to build the $100 million tower. "It is in the true heart of the Arts District."
Indeed, it would be hard to find a more central location than the block between Pearl and Olive streets. The residential building will overlook the Nasher sculpture garden and tower over the nearby symphony hall and Dallas Museum of Art.
"Our aspiration was to design a residence that will offer a sophisticated urban lifestyle," Mr. Sughrue, who has developed other projects downtown, said Monday.
The sleek stone and glass building was designed by architect Rick del Monte with the Beck Group – who collaborated on the Nasher Sculpture Center and the new Hunt Consolidated tower a few blocks away on Woodall Rodgers Freeway. Booziotis & Co. Architects has been hired to work on the interior spaces.
Mr. Sughrue said the plan is to build a condo tower that "will complement our Arts District neighbors – more timeless than flamboyant."
The building is designed to contain between 100 and 125 condos, depending how large the buyers want. The units will range in size from around 900 square feet to 7,500 square feet and will be "priced competitively" with other luxury buildings in the market, the developers said. Most of those projects sell for between $450 and $600 per square foot, depending upon how elaborate the building is.
Along with the central building, the Museum Tower will include underground parking, a half-dozen low-rise townhouses directly across from the Nasher garden, a swimming pool and gardens for the residents. The north side of the building also faces one of the parks planned for across the freeway.
"We think this Woodall Rodgers Park will be a fabulous amenity to this building," said Robbie Briggs of Briggs Freeman Real Estate Brokerage, which is marketing the project. "We are appealing to people who are truly interested in good architecture and the Arts District."
Museum Tower is scheduled to start construction later this year and will take about 18 to 24 months to complete.
Because of its location, the building will be one of the most visible additions to the 20-block cultural district on the north side of downtown.
The Arts District is also seeing construction of the $275 million Dallas Center for Performing Arts and the $100 million One Arts Plaza building, which will house 7-Eleven's corporate offices, condos and retail space.
The timing for the Museum Tower couldn't be better, said Bill Lively, president of the Dallas Center for Performing Arts Foundation.
"This complement brings life into the district," Mr. Lively said. "In every case where these things work effectively, there is a residential component."
Planned in the 1980s, the Arts District was always designed for a variety of construction. But during the early years, the private-sector focus was on office space.
Eight years ago when Brook Partners bought the Museum Tower site, the plan was to do an office tower.
"When the Arts District was laid out, they sought a residential component," said Daniel Boeckman with Turtle Creek Holdings. "It's all coming together right now."
E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

Uptown's biggest landlord check's out Las Colinas

Taking a bit of Uptown to Irving
03:18 PM CST on Tuesday, January 10, 2006
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Gables Residential, the busiest apartment builder in central Dallas, is going to take a little bit of Uptown to Irving.
Gables has purchased about 13 acres in the center of Las Colinas where it plans to build a high-density mixed-use project. The lakeside development will include hundreds of apartments, a shopping center and also is planned for a future condo tower and hotel.
The development site is in the Las Colinas Urban Center on O'Connor Boulevard east of State Highway 114. It is directly across the street from Las Colinas' landmark bronze mustangs sculpture.
"It's across from Williams Square and on the water," Gables senior vice president Doug Chesnut said Monday. "It's a great piece of real estate."
Gables purchased the property from the Las Colinas Land L.P. in a deal negotiated by Cousins Properties. The sale was one of the last made by Cousins before Houston developer Hines took ownership of the remaining vacant land in Las Colinas at the end of 2005.
Because of the size of the development, it will take almost a year to plan and engineer.
"We will do it in multiple phases," Mr. Chesnut said. "We can make this the heart of the Urban Center."
Early concepts call for almost 800 apartments with more than 200,000 square feet of retail space on the lower floors.
With more than 1,000 apartment units under construction in Las Colinas, the addition of an Uptown-style retail center should boost rental demand in the neighborhood, said Dallas apartment analyst Mike Puls.
"Walking to nearby retail is a great advantage for apartments," Mr. Puls said. "This should help all of them."
And Gables has experience with mixed-use development. The builder was joined in the construction of the next phase of Dallas' Cityplace project. The two Gables projects are located across the street from the West Village and include apartments above ground-level stores.
E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

Cha-Ching!

 

Cha-Ching!

 

Cashing out in Uptown

GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Seller Yields $91M From Two Uptown SalesFriday,
January 6, 2006 By Connie Gore

DALLAS-CB Richard Ellis Strategic Partners LLC has ended its reign over two class A office buildings in Uptown, selling its last holdings in the submarket for $90.5 million in a year-end close-out. Sources say the Los Angeles-based investment group has pocketed $24.5 million for McKinney Place and $66.2 million for 3500 Maple.
KBS Realty Advisors of Newport Beach, CA won the nod for the 145,610-sf McKinney Place at 3131 McKinney Ave. while Triple Net Properties LLC of Santa Ana, CA scored the win for the 374,165-sf, 18-story high rise at 3500 Maple Ave. In both cases, the CB Richard Ellis Inc. team of Russell Ingrum and Gary Carr and CBRE Strategic Partners' principal Michael Burrichter masterminded the back-to-back sales. The dealmakers weren't available for comment prior to publication time. Both buildings, situated less than a mile apart, went on the sales block in the fall.
McKinney Place's leasing and management reins were turned over to Transwestern Commercial Services' senior vice president Kim Brooks and vice president Matt Didyk. Local firm Capstar Commercial Real Estate Services, which had been overseeing McKinney Place, held fast to the 3500 Maple Ave. assignment.
A KBS spokesman says the location and dynamics of the Uptown/Turtle Creek submarket were the driving forces behind its decision to buy the 89%-leased McKinney Place--its third acquisition in less than three months in Texas. The day before KBS bought McKinney Place, it closed a $20-million deal for the fully leased Travis Oaks, a 123,434-sf, multi-tenant office building at 5113 Southwest Parkway in Austin. The seller was the Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Co., which had TCS Austin executives Hale Umstattd and Ty Puckett brokering the deal. And in October, KBS paid $41.5 million for the seven-building, 297,593-sf Lincoln at Legacy in Plano, north of Dallas. The buying spree has pushed KBS' Texas portfolio, now valued at $692 million, to 7.3 million sf.
The KBS spokesman says the plan is to hold McKinney Place, an eight-story office building atop a six-story parking garage, as a long-term investment and "maintain its strong occupancy." At this time, no renovations are planned for the 22-year-old structure.
As for 3500 Maple, it was renovated just three years ago when CBRE Strategic Partners bought it. The 20-year-old landmark, complemented by a six-story parking garage, is 94% leased, with no rollovers for "two to three years," Johnny Johnson, a Capstar partner, tells GlobeSt.com. "It is well stabilized. With the investment sales market being what it is today, it was the optimum time to sell." Top tenants are Heritage Capital Corp., Katz Communications Inc., Hanson Aggregates West Inc. and the Rose Walker law firm.
Johnson says McKinney Place "is the exact same story." It too has no lease rollovers for at least two years. Its roster is a mix of mostly law and accounting firms.
Triple Net had in-house exec Chris Rooney overseeing its negotiations; KBS had an acquisitions team from Chicago leading its bargaining. Triple Net's financing, provided by Wachovia Bank, was arranged by Wally Reid, Matt Kafka and Adam Jackson of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP. Details weren't available about KBS' financing arrangements.

3500 Maple used to be called Reverchon Plaza

 

3500 Maple sells....Everything in Uptown is for sale.

Press Release
Source: Triple Net Properties, LLC
Triple Net Properties Acquires 3500 MapleThursday January 5, 6:23 pm ET
SANTA ANA, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis Rogers, President of Triple Net Properties, LLC, announced today the acquisition of 3500 Maple, on behalf of NNN 2003 Value Fund, LLC, a public company managed by Triple Net Properties, LLC. The acquisition closed on December 27, 2005.
3500 Maple is a 377,000 square foot, 18 story, landmark office property that is prominently visible within the Dallas skyline. The property is positioned within the heart of the Dallas Uptown District, a desirable 24-hour urban setting known for leading the Metroplex in high rental rates and occupancy levels. The property offers tenants brilliant asset quality, incomparable amenity package, immediate access to three major highways (US-75, I-35, Dallas North Tollway), commanding visibility and impressive tenant roster. 3500 Maple is approximately 93% leased to 35 tenants and major tenants include: Heritage Capital Corporation, Hanson Aggregates West, Inc. and Susquehanna Radio Corporation.
The property was purchased from CB Richard Ellis Investors, LLC, which was represented by Gary Carr and Russell Ingrum of CB Richard Ellis. Chris Rooney of Triple Net Properties represented the buyer. Financing was provided by Wachovia Bank and was arranged by Wally Reid, Matt Kafka, and Adam Jackson of Holliday, Fenoglio, Fowler, L.P.
About Triple Net Properties
Triple Net Properties, LLC offers a diverse line of investment products as well as a full-range of services including asset and property management, brokerage, leasing, analysis and consultation. Our investors, tenants and industry partners have come to trust Triple Net's company-wide standard of outstanding service and integrity.
From our home office in Southern California and numerous regional offices, Triple Net Properties manages a growing portfolio of over 27 million square feet of commercial properties including 2.1 million square feet of multi- family properties with a combined market value of over $3.7 billion as of December 31, 2005. In addition, Triple Net Properties Realty, Inc. is one of only 500 firms nationwide that have been awarded the Accredited Management Organization (AMO) designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). Triple Net's size and flexibility also allow us to seize opportunities that our larger, institutional competitors miss. What's more, our creative, innovative approach to real estate finds value in all sizes and types of properties, allowing us to provide products and services to meet every investment need.
For more information about Triple Net Properties, please call 1.877.888.7348 or visit our website at http://www.1031nnn.com/.

Danielle DiMartino:Condo market is due for a checkup

Danielle DiMartino:Condo market is due for a checkup
08:44 AM CST on Friday, December 30, 2005

Hey, Dallas, did I mention better early than late?
The fine print of Thursday's existing-home sales report contained some very interesting tidbits. I refer to the data on condominiums, those tall towers of speculation that so personify this housing bubble.
(One caveat: The National Association of Realtors has kept data on condos for only two years, so there's not much history here.)
After peaking at a 963,000 annualized rate in June, U.S. condo sales are off by 11 percent; they hit 857,000 in November. Speculators' tempered enthusiasm has driven price gains down to 10 percent from 18 percent in June.
Most notably, condo inventories have doubled in a year and a half. In June 2004, inventories were at 218,000 units and running at an ultra-skinny 3.1 months' supply. As of November, the number of condos on the market is at 423,000, or 5.9 months.
Given that the one-month move in inventories was a whopper – supply was just 5.4 months in October – I'd say it's safe to conclud