CBRE announced the sale of Bella Vista Park, a 158-unit multifamily community located at 2700 N. Buckner Boulevard in Dallas. Justin Li purchased the property from Dallas-based AmeriCan Multifamily Alliance Group. Chris Deuillet and William Hubbard with CBRE Capital Markets’ Investment Properties represented the seller. The new owner has plans for extensive interior and exterior upgrades to the facility, providing them with opportunities for rent growth as the east Dallas area continues to grow. Located at the southeast corner of Ferguson and Buckner in east Dallas, Bella Vista Park has 139,355 square feet net rentable area. The property was 94 percent occupied at the time of sale. The area has seen a resurgence in both rent increases and pride of ownership as investors have put large amounts of capital into the neighborhood’s retail and multifamily developments. “Even during the pandemic, Dallas-Fort Worth and Texas as a whole have seen massive amounts of investment money coming here due to its positive job growth and ease of doing business,” said Deuillet. “Through CBRE’s international network, we were able to help a first-time buyer in Texas with their 1031 exchange, moving his funds from California to the Lone Star State.”

Empire Texas Equities, Ltd., a real estate investment and management firm, has transformed Sun Valley Industrial Park into a first-class business park over the last decade, and its latest transformation is two state-of-the-art, 13,036-square-foot flex spaces located at 4808 and 4809 Vesta Farley in southeast Fort Worth. Todd Hubbard, president of Fort Worth for NAI Robert Lynn, is the owner’s broker, representing lease negotiations. The new buildings are ready for industrial tenants, and six more buildings from the portfolio will be ready in 2021. The buildings range from 12,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. Each building comes with oversized 14-foot roll-up doors, fully secured HVAC and electric panels, large, fenced and concrete storage yards, a high-end security system and smart phone integration. “Thanks to modern interior and exterior aesthetics, we’re offering regional companies an opportunity to have a functional, first-class headquarters facility while also offering national companies a facility that is equivalent to any high-end industrial facility across the country,” said Sandra McGlothlin, owner of Empire Texas Equities, Empire Roofing and Empire Disposal. “While we own and operate many properties, our passion has always been investing in the area in our backyard, and it is great to elevate this location with the construction of these unique, ground-up construction facilities. We are proud to be a part of the continued transformation of southeast Fort Worth.” Sun Valley Industrial Park is highly desirable to tenants due to its high-end office finishes and easy highway access. Office amenities include solid core doors, brushed stainless steel hardware, modern style floors and separate office and warehouse bathrooms. The property is less than three minutes from Loop 820, Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway 287, and it’s 29 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. “It’s been rewarding to see this area and industrial park transform,” Hubbard said. “It has the functionality of the most sought-after Industrial space with oversized doors and outdoor storage, but it comes with the modern amenities of a Class A office space. That’s almost impossible to find.” Empire Texas Equities owns and manages more than 80 properties across the state of Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Georgia including industrial, office, flex and retail. Empire Texas Equities is a member of the Empire family of companies, which includes Fort Worth-based Empire Roofing, the largest commercial roofing company in the southern United States with 14 locations and Empire Disposal, which services the DFW metroplex.

“Cadent Medical Communications (Syneos) renewed 12,609SF at 1707 Market Place Blvd. in Irving, TX for 5 years. Erika Jean McNeil with Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. represented the tenant, and Michael Bowles represented the landlord, Hartman Income REIT.”

EBO Marketing Inc., developer of Sandy Lake Office Park, has sold the class A suburban project to a local accounting firm after walking back its original plan to part with just one of its two buildings. The multi-tenant office buildings, totaling 9,224 square feet, are situated on one acre at 1507 and 1529 E. Sandy Lake Road in Coppell, Texas. They were 75 percent leased at sale time. Richmond Collinsworth, first vice president of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services, and Jared Laake, vice president, represented the seller, who developed the office park in 2010 and has used part of the space as its headquarters from the onset. Phillip Maxwell of Glacier Commercial Realty LP represented the buyer. “As the developer, EBO Marketing has an intrinsic attachment to Sandy Lake Office Park. After deep deliberations, the seller concluded it made sense to the keep the project together,” Laake said. Sandy Lake Office Park will continue as an owner-user project. The buyer of record, JV Empire LLC, is setting up shop in 1,500 square feet at 1507 E. Sandy Lake Road, which previously was occupied by the seller. In turn, EBO Marketing is moving into 2,250 square feet in the adjacent building through a short-term sale-leaseback. JV Empire had been searching the Coppell market for a site to lease. “Finding less than 2,500 square feet and building signage on a prominent road doesn’t exist in this area,” Collinsworth said. “This is an analytical buyer who recognized the merit of acquiring a building and accruing equity versus paying a landlord.” The Bradford team’s marketing attracted six solid offers because of Sandy Lake Office Park’s high visibility, freeway proximity and construction quality. The project is readily accessible to Interstate 35 E and President George Bush Turnpike and minutes from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The prominent Dallas leaders who make up the board for the Thanks-Giving Square Foundation are in early talks of what a significant overhaul of the downtown oasis might look like. While still in initial discussions, the foundation’s president and CEO, Kyle Ogden, suggest it might be upward of $25 million to breathe new light into the private meditation garden. Interestingly, the greenspace anchored by a spiraling nondenominational chapel was conceived by a real who’s who of Dallas—such as The Hunts, The Meadows—following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The idea, Ogden told D CEO, was to build something that Dallas could be proud of in the wake of the abased slaying. “My belief is the community came together around something they could be proud of that expressed the virtues and values of Dallas beyond what was in the headlines,” Ogden said. Before the Square’s dedication in 1976, religious leaders behind the project called it “a beacon of hope for generations.” No expense was spared as Dallas city leaders bought a city block and hired the most famous architect at that time, Phillip Johnson. Johnson has designed monumental buildings worldwide—Texas and Dallas held a special place for him, though. He first conceived the de Menil House in Houston in 1950 and, in 1964, designed the Beck House, which is well-known for its facade of slender concave arches that wrap around the home. Later, he created the Memorial in 1970 and composed the Marshall Field’s facades in Houston and Dallas, Momentum Place—now Bank One—and the Cathedral of Hope. Click to read more at www.dmagazine.com.