Sundance Square has purchased the Petroleum Building and the accompanying 12-story garage in downtown Fort Worth from XTO Energy for an undisclosed price.
“The availability of the Petroleum Building presented a great opportunity to bring the landmark building into our portfolio,” said Johnny Campbell, CEO of Sundance Square. “The Petroleum Building will continue to be occupied by XTO Energy at least through mid-2018.
The 14-story building, built in 1927, sits on a full city block at West. Sixth Street between Houston and Throckmorton streets.
The building is approximately 117,000 square feet. It was restored in 2004 by XTO Energy and has been well maintained, according to a Sundance Square news release. Designed by architect and engineer Wyatt C. Hedrick for businessman Richard Dulaney, the building features Art Deco elements and has gone through several alterations over its 90-year history.
Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp., which owns XTO Energy, in June 2017 told employees at its Fort Worth operations that it would move 1,200 employees to the Houston area campus in 2018 and 400 more in 2020. The energy giant also announced its intention to sell six of the seven buildings it owns, including some meticulously restored vintage office buildings, such as the Petroleum Building.
The building has art deco elements and was remodeled in 1969 when some ornamentation was removed. When XTO bought the building in 2004, the company restored it to its original appearance.
An asking price was not announced but the building is valued at more than $7 million by the Tarrant Appraisal District.
With the addition of the Petroleum Building, Sundance Square now has more than 4 million square feet of office, retail and residential leasing in 44 buildings.
JLL Executive Vice President Ryan Matthews represented XTO Energy Inc. in the transaction and led the team’s marketing efforts.
“We’re very proud of the outcome,” said Matthews. “XTO hoped to secure a buyer who understood the level importance the Petroleum Building has for downtown Fort Worth. Sundance Square obviously fits this profile. We know that this historic asset is in great hands.”
With the closing the Petroleum Building and executive garage, JLL has completed the disposition of four of the seven XTO office properties totaling 281,204 square feet of office space in Fort Worth including:
• The Binyon-O’Keefe Building located at 210 East Seventh Street
• The former Swift & Co. Building in the Fort Worth Stockyards located at 600 East Exchange, was sold as an office site.
• The Montgomery Ward/Tindall Storage building located at 801 Grove St. was purchased by The Fort Worth Transportation Authority for its future headquarters.
The remaining assets are expected to go to market over the coming months, with Matthews leading marketing efforts.
A parking garage adjacent to the building is also included in the purchase. Connected by an enclosed skywalk, the garage has 534 parking spaces and additional retail space.
The Petroleum parking garage will eventually be incorporated into Sundance Square’s parking program that offers free parking to guests visiting Sundance Square after 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Crescent VP has multifamily focus
Crescent Real Estate LLC on Jan. 30 announced the hiring of Scott Rodgers as vice president for development as the firm plans to increase its involvement in multifamily real estate.
Rodgers will focus on sourcing and developing multifamily projects nationally in Crescent’s targeted markets.
Crescent used the GP Invitation Fund I (GPI Fund), launched in 2016, to acquire multifamily assets in Texas, Illinois and Florida. The company’s current portfolio consists of more than 6,575 units of multifamily properties located in large metropolitan areas, with one location in Live Oak near San Antonio, and a location in Houston suburb League City. Other properties are in Chicago suburb Evanston, Illinois, and Tampa, Florida.
Rodgers graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor of science degree in environmental design and the University of Texas at Austin McCombs Graduate School of Business with an MBA in real estate and finance.
Prior to joining Crescent, Rodgers was manager and partner at Ascension Apartment Development LLC and a partner in Richman Ascension Development Group LLC. He was responsible for sourcing and developing luxury multifamily opportunities for Ascension and Richman in Dallas, Austin and the Denver metropolitan area.
Rodgers also developed properties with CLB Partners, First Worthing Co. and JPI Development which ranged from institutional multifamily, condominium, townhome and mixed-use developments. Prior to his career in multifamily development, Rodgers had an architectural background and was employed by Cooper Carry & Associates in Washington, D.C., and Overland Partners in San Antonio.
In 2017, more apartments were added to inventory in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex than any other metro in the country, according to Drew Kile, senior director at Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a multifamily brokerage division of Marcus & Millichap.
Lewisville retail center sold
Venture Commercial Real Estate’s Investment Sales team has completed the sale of an 8,700 square-foot multi-tenant retail center located at 5040 State Highway 121 in Lewisville.
Tenants in the center, which sits adjacent to the 400-plus acre Grandscape development and along the dynamic SH-121 corridor, include T-Mobile, Chipotle, Burgerim, and Texas Direct Auto.
John Zikos, Jonathan Cooper and Don Miller of Venture’s Investment Sales team represented the seller, Dave Carter with NDC Holdings. The buyer, a local family trust, had no broker representation.
Burgers and more
North East Mall is adding a new eatery and some new retailers in the spring, Simon, owner of the mall in Hurst, announced Jan. 30.
Encino, California-based Burgerim will open a 608 square-foot eatery in the Dining Pavilion next to Master Wok and Candy World. Burgerim plans to open several locations across Texas soon, according to the chain’s website. There are currently three locations in Texas, in Lubbock, Houston and Cypress. All of the restaurants’ burgers are made to order by the diner. Burgerim offers three buns, six sauces, 11 patties and nine eccentric toppings to customers at more than 160 locations across the country.
“We’re thrilled to have so many exciting announcements to start the New Year with,” said Ron Soucie, Mall Manager. “We value our role in the community and are continually looking to not only enhance our visitor’s experience but also offer a wide-variety of retail and dining offerings at North East Mall.”
New and relocating retailers include:
• Keek’s Designer Handbags buys and sells 100 percent authentic, gently used designer handbags, accessories and jewelry. Relocating to the JCPenney wing between the Dining Pavilion and Shoe Palace, the newly renovated, 2,424 square-foot store features top luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs and Fendi.
• Founded in 2013, Miss A will offer shoppers cosmetics, jewelry and other accessories at an affordable price. The 4,199 square-foot store will feature cruelty-free makeup and beauty products from brands including Esfolio, Amuse and La Colors, all beginning as low as $1 and will be located in the JCPenney wing between Papaya and Charlotte Russe.
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