Crescent buys Dallas office tower in joint acquisition

International Plaza

Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate LLC and Long Wharf Real Estate Partners LLC of Boston have acquired International Plaza III in Dallas.

The firms purchased the 354,182-square-foot office tower on Aug. 1, with Crescent managing the 13-story property at 14241 Dallas North Tollway near the Galleria.

Crescent is a real estate operating company and investment adviser managing $1.4 billion in assets. Long Wharf is a private equity real estate manager.

Crescent and Long Wharf secured Cawley Partners to lease the tower. Cawley Partners was the tower’s original developer in early 2000 and has more than 30 years experience in developing and leasing properties.

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The tower deal was the latest in several limited market acquisitions for Crescent. It purchased the Hotel Crescent Court in late June in an “off-market” deal. Crescent Chairman John Goff credited his firm’s relationships in the commercial real estate industry for providing unique opportunities in the current market.

“Once again, we were able to take advantage of our relationships in the commercial real estate market to find and acquire a very high quality asset significantly below what it would cost to build today,” said Goff, commenting in a news release.

“We are excited to expand our investment portfolio in Dallas, a market we know well. Dallas continues to be a strong overall commercial real estate market with a number of compelling submarkets. We like IP III’s location in one of Dallas’ most dynamic submarkets,” Goff said.

A Long Wharf official concurred.

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“We are extremely pleased to add a second Dallas investment to our shared portfolio with Crescent,” said Philip Murphy, managing director, describing Crescent as “a best-in-class partner with exceptional market knowledge and resources.”

Major tower tenants include Excentus, which runs the Fuel Rewards network; Wells Fargo Foothills; and BKD LLP. The tower, one of three buildings at International Plaza, includes a fitness center, conference center, full-service café, park and koi pond. It was last renovated in 2012.

Crescent and Long Wharf plan additional improvements and updates to the office building.

Crescent used the recently established GP Invitation Fund I to acquire the tower and has used the fund to close four investments. Crescent said it is negotiating several deals and continues targeting investments in all real estate property types, primarily focused on properties in U.S. markets.