Retail expert joins JLL Value & Risk Advisory platform in Dallas

JLL’s Value and Risk Advisory platform has hired Director Jay Sterling in Dallas to join as team leads in the retail valuation practice. Sterling will report to Senior Managing Director Brett Suszek, who oversees the retail sector for the Value and Risk Advisory business in the U.S.

Sterling joins JLL from Atrium Real Estate Services, where he spent nine years as the director of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex appraisal team. During this time, he was involved in a variety of projects, including special purpose properties, vacant land and eminent domain transactions. In addition, he has worked with a variety of clients, including forging strong relationships with legal firms, government agencies and industry stakeholders. Sterling holds a bachelor’s degree from Southwestern University.

Financing secured for Dallas life sciences/lab redevelopment project

JLL Capital Markets has arranged financing for the redevelopment of Bridge Labs at Pegasus Park, a 135,000-square-foot life sciences/lab facility in Dallas, Texas.

JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, Montgomery Street Partners, J. Small Investments and an affiliate of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, to secure a five-year construction loan through InterBank. Additionally, JLL placed C-PACE financing with Nuveen Green Capital to complete the capital requirements for the redevelopment.

Formerly a call center, Bridge Labs is a two-story building that will be converted and expanded into a lab/R&D facility by Q3 2024, including pre-built lab spec suites and centralized lab services/amenities. This represents the first life sciences development or conversion transaction in the Dallas market and will address the urgent need for lab space in Dallas Fort Worth. Bridge Labs at Pegasus Park is already 30% pre-leased.

The property is located within Pegasus Park, Dallas’ first true biotech and life sciences campus positioned between Dallas’ Design District and the Southwestern Medical District. The campus is highly amenitized, offering tenants access to a brewery with arestaurant, and taproom, full service on-site conference center and catering, grab-and-go options, a fitness center, outdoor firepits and an indoor/outdoor lounge. The park is home to several existing academic anchors, including UT Southwestern and SMU, as well as BioLab’s first non-coastal location. Additionally, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced the launch of ARPANET-H, a national health innovation network anchored by three regional hubs. As part of the $2.5 billion initiative, the Customer Experience hub will be physically located at Pegasus Park and focus on patient access and diversity for the agency’s projects. While the other two hubs will be located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C., selection of Texas firmly cements the region as an emerging life sciences market.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by Senior Managing Director Jim Curtin and Senior Director Andrew Gray. Jason Piering, formerly with JLL and now with Hamilton Partners team was also part of the financing team.

Office experts added to JLL’s Value and Risk Advisory platform

JLL’s Value and Risk Advisory platform has hired Nick Askew as a director in Dallas, Texas, and Tom Jeffries as an executive director in Denver, Colorado. The duo will focus on office and mixed-use value and risk advisory assignments in their respective markets as part of the group’s U.S. office sector team led by Senior Managing Director Adam Dembowitz.

Askew joins JLL from BBG, Inc. where he worked in a similar capacity performing valuations across a wide range of commercial real estate both locally in Dallas and nationally. He is an active member of The Real Estate Council Young Guns and Appraisal Institute. Askew graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Jeffries has more than 18 years of experience in commercial real estate spanning a variety of underwriting, mortgage banking, consulting and valuation services. He spent over six years managing the Rocky Mountain region for Duff & Phelps Real Estate Advisory group servicing major institutional clients. Jeffries is a designated member of the Appraisal Institute, an accredited senior appraiser for the American Society of Appraisers and is active in the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF). He holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Class A multi-housing asset in Dallas trades

JLL Capital Markets has closed the sale and arranged the acquisition financing for AMLI Design District, a 314-unit, Class A, mixed-use, high-rise multi-housing asset located in Dallas.

JLL represented the seller, AMLI Residential, and procured an international real estate investor as buyer, HASTA Capital. JLL worked on behalf of the new owner to secure acquisition financing through Freddie Mac Multifamily. The loan will be serviced by JLL Real Estate Capital, LLC., a Freddie Mac Optigo℠ lender.

The JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team was led by Senior Managing Director Roberto Casas. The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team was led by Senior Managing Directors Melissa Quinn and Lee Weaver, Vice President Rob Rothaug and Analyst Cristian Sieman, with an assist from the local Dallas Debt Advisory team, including Director Lauren Dow and Associate Chris Grievous.

Originally built in 2013, AMLI Design District consists of 312,806 square feet of residential space, 26,830 square feet of ground-floor retail and an expansive covered parking garage with 664 spaces. The property features studio, one- and two-bedroom units with gourmet kitchens, stainless-steel appliances, spa-style bathrooms, walk-in closets, full-size washers and dryers, quartz countertops, floor-to-ceiling windows and hardwood-style vinyl floors. Community amenities include an infinity-edge pool, a pool deck with private cabanas, premium outdoor grilling stations, a coffee bar and skyline lounge, complimentary bike rentals and personal bike storage, a pet spa, indoor and outdoor pet parks, a state-of-the-art fitness center, an executive conference room and more.

Situated at 1400 Hi Line Dr., the property sits within the Dallas’s popular Design District, which is a part of the greater Intown submarket and is best known for high-end retail shops, luxury showrooms and eclectic dining experiences. AMLI Design District is conveniently located directly off of I-35E, allowing visibility to approximately 250,000 vehicles per day and providing residents an eight-minute drive to the employment hub of downtown Dallas. Additional proximate demand drivers include Victory Park, Uptown, the Dallas Medical District and Downtown Dallas, Harwood district, the Northend redevelopment, Klyde Warren Park and Deep Ellum. The property also is just a 20-minute drive to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

JLL delivers multi-housing investors a full range of solutions through one diverse, integrated platform. The division employs approximately 400 professionals who provide comprehensive investment sales and disposition services with access to thousands of domestic and foreign investors. JLL is also one of the nation’s largest affordable and conventional multi-housing and seniors housing lenders with comprehensive loan underwriting, asset management and loan servicing capabilities. Agency/GSE lending and loan servicing are performed by JLL Real Estate Capital, LLC, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. Loans made or arranged in California are pursuant to a California Financing Law license.

M Financial Group signs lease at The QUAD development in Uptown Dallas

A major financial services firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon, has agreed to open its first Dallas office in Stream Realty Partners’ The QUAD, located at 2699 Howell Street.

M Financial Group, a financial services distribution company that services a network of 130-plus independent Member Firms located across the nation, recently signed a lease for approximately 52,000 square feet in the 12-story office building under construction in the heart of Uptown Dallas.

M Financial has been headquartered in Portland since its incorporation in 1978. The expansion to Dallas represents the company’s first foothold outside of the Portland area.

Stream Senior Vice President Ryan Evanich and Vice President Marissa Parkin represented Stream, the owner of The QUAD, in the transaction. Cushman & Wakefield’s Dean Collins, Mark Collins and Doug Deurwaarder represented M Financial.

Stream, a national commercial real estate firm offering an integrated platform of services, is developing the 345,425-square-foot office building and surrounding 18,500-square-foot retail area heralded as the dawning of “A Different Dallas.” The QUAD is expected to open in March 2024.

Executive Managing Director & Partner of Development Ramsey March, Director of Development Brad Dornak, Senior Director of Design & Construction Jerry Mays and Director of Design & Construction Blake Bell led Stream’s development efforts for The QUAD project.

M Financial is the third office tenant to sign a lease in The QUAD. Earlier this year, Revantage, a Blackstone Real Estate portfolio company, agreed to take 32,000 square feet. Chicago Title, the largest title insurer and provider of real-estate related products, was the first office tenant to commit to the project, agreeing to occupy 21,000 square feet. Additionally, Two Hands, a community-focused eatery based in Australian café culture, was the first retail tenant to come on board. The eatery is scheduled to open in the Q1 2024. Stream will announce the remainder of the restaurant lineup later this fall.

The QUAD will set a new standard in Dallas with an integrated “smart” building end-user interface. Pathogen-reducing technologies such as hospital-grade air filtration and outside air circulation on office floors are 50% higher than industry standards. Tenants such as M Financial will appreciate the tower’s full-service fitness studio, top-floor outdoor terrace with expansive views, a club lounge and conference center, an acre of outdoor space, a bike valet, and dedicated underground parking. The building is also steps away from popular Uptown restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, and multifamily complexes.

KBS & Transwestern sign 38,000 square feet with two regional firms at Class A office in Dallas

KBS, one of the largest owners and operators of premier commercial real estate buildings in the nation, and Transwestern Real Estate Services (TRS), announced that they have signed 38,501 square feet in lease agreements with two regional firms at Providence Towers, a 524,143-square-foot, LEED Gold-certified Class A office building in Dallas, Texas.

The transactions include a lease expansion with Tower Street Insurance, a Texas-based independent insurance agency—the company is expanding from 5,000 square feet to 24,399 square feet—and a new 14,102-square-foot lease with Fieldwork, a market research services company that is relocating to Providence Towers from another Dallas office building.

The leasing activity demonstrates the ongoing viability of premier office properties in key U.S. markets.

Providence Towers is located at a prestigious business address along the Tollway and has been the chosen place of business for some of the country’s most prominent companies. The 12-story property has been extensively upgraded under KBS ownership, including a complete redesign of the grand east and west tower lobbies, creating luxury entrances.

KBS is currently completing a multi-million-dollar renovation of the property that includes various indoor amenity upgrades. In 2021, the firm completed a completely reimagined tenant lounge and café and is currently underway on renovations for an upgraded fitness center, expanded conferencing facility and elevated common areas. The renovated tenant lounge includes hospitality-inspired amenities such as lounge with a fireplace, collaborative working space, pool tables, shuffleboard and a private dining room. Additional Class A amenities at the property include a wine bar and putting green.

Transwestern’s Kim Brooks, Justin Miller, Scott Walker and Laney Delin represented KBS in the lease negotiations.

Tower Street Insurance’s new lease agreement at the property essentially quintuples its space at Providence Towers.

KBS owns and operates several other Class A office properties in the Dallas market, including 3811 Turtle CreekHighland Park PlaceLegacy Town CenterPreston CommonsTollway North Office Park, and Sterling Plaza.

Providence Towers is located at 5001 Spring Valley Road in Dallas, Texas.