Texas Bank Financial has acquired a 47,830-square foot, multi-tenant office building in southwest Fort Worth as the new headquarters location for its mortgage company.
Executive Place, a two-story building at 4521 S. Hulen St., is 100 percent leased. The new owner’s first order of business will be to undertake a series of upgrades aimed at heightening curb appeal, including accentuating the exterior. In the fourth quarter, Texas Bank Mortgage Co. will move its 45-employee headquarters team into roughly 18,000 square feet on the second floor from leased office space about two miles to the south.
“We see this purchase as a good opportunity to provide for our future growth,” says J. Mark Riebe, chairman of Texas Bank Financial. “The mortgage industry has done well in the past three to four years and we feel the mortgage market is going to continue to be strong. We believe the timing of this new headquarters building is going to be ideal.”
Gary Walker, managing principal of Arlington-based Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance DFW, represented the buyer. He had initially sourced the deal for Hangover Opportunity Fund LLC, which has a co-investment program tailored to tenants interested in ownership opportunities. The fund is managed by SkyWalker Property Partners and Walker’s the managing member.
Due diligence was underway when Texas Bank Financial, a SkyWalker business associate, offered to solo on the acquisition instead of partnering. “We agreed to step aside,” Walker says, “and acted as the quarterback for the transaction.”
The 3.5-acre property is situated at a hard corner of Interstate 20 and Hulen Street, directly across the freeway from the 942,000-square foot Hulen Mall, owned by Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. The enclosed mall, renovated in 2011, is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination anchored by Macy’s Dillard’s and Sears.
“We wanted to stay in the Hulen business district and this is a convenient location for customers shopping for mortgage loans,” Riebe says. “This office building will give us ample room to expand as we need it.”
Ted St. Clair of Colliers International represented the seller, Hulen EP Partners LP. Last summer, the property’s largest tenant, Huckabee & Associates Inc., moved to a downtown Fort Worth office, vacating 28,339 sf or 59 percent of the Hulen Street building and creating a value-add proposition that caught Walker’s attention as a potential investment for the Hangover fund.
“We really liked this property from an investment perspective,” Walker said. “We’re happy it worked out for everyone, including CBCA being awarded leasing and management.”
CBCA DFW’s Fort Worth team – Theron Bryant, managing principal, and Casey Tounget, associate – will lease and manage the office property. Bret Messer is the new property manager. Work will begin immediately on landscaping improvements, including tree trimming. Later this year, construction will get underway on the building’s exterior and interior common areas. Fort Worth-based Schwarz-Hanson Architects has been awarded the design contract.
Established in July 2000, Texas Bank Financial will continue to be based in Weatherford. Texas Mortgage Co., launched in summer 2010, has grown to eight offices, stretching from the northern edge of central Texas to the Oklahoma line. The mortgage company has offices in Dallas, Frisco, Gainesville, Springtown, Waco and Willow Park plus its home base in Fort Worth.