Closing the deals just days apart, SkyWalker Property Partners has acquired one property in partnership with Keller Williams Realty and sold another for the Hangover Opportunity Fund as it works to keep business moving despite present-day challenges confronting the commercial real estate sector.
SkyWalker Property and Keller Williams have purchased the Waxahachie Daily Light building at 200 W. Marvin Ave. in Waxahachie from GateHouse Media Texas Holdings II Inc. Newspaper management has inked a 90-day sale-leaseback to allow time for renovation of its new office and relocation. The 12,018-square foot commercial building ultimately will be the realty firm’s base of operations in Ellis County.
Also, SkyWalker has sold a 20,090-square foot office building at 3001 N. Skyway Circle in Irving to Dexperts Inc. The locally based cybersecurity firm’s headquarters and operations teams will relocate to the project in the coming months from a leased site less than three miles away.
“We’re actively managing our portfolio during the pandemic. We’re continuously looking for the next deal and investment opportunity,” said Clint Holland, acquisitions director for Arlington-based SkyWalker Property Partners.
The Waxahachie property is the second one that Keller Williams has acquired through SkyWalker Property’s tenant-partnership program. In 2016, they purchased the Chase Bank building at 1435 S. Bowen Rd. in Arlington, which has since been sold.
“Keller Williams did quite well on the investment with that building,” Holland said. “When this opportunity to own came up, they were more than willing to be a partner with us again.”
Keller Williams had outgrown a leased site in Waxahachie, triggering a search for new space with ownership in mind. As part of the tenant-partnership arrangement, the firm’s management opened up the investment to agents, several of whom invested in the deal. The pact with SkyWalker also includes renovating the newsroom and pressroom areas into 100% office space.
“For us, it was a relationship-driven deal. If it hadn’t been for Keller Williams, we wouldn’t havebought the Waxahachie Daily Light building,” Holland said.
Second Hand News LLC is the buyer of record. The deed will become part of the portfolio of the Cash Flow Fever Fund, another SkyWalker-managed investment vehicle. Renee Efimoff, senior vice president of SCM Real Estate Services, negotiated for the buyer. Representing the seller was Greg Cleghorn of BellCornerstone.
In SkyWalker’s other transaction, the just-sold office building is situated at the edge of the Las Colinas submarket, a longtime favorite of corporations, large and small, for headquarters and regional offices. Hangover Opportunity Fund has owned the two-story building since 2012, buying it empty and undertaking a renovation and repositioning.
The 77.4%-leased asset hit the market earlier this year as a prime candidate for an owner-user. There are three tenants occupying 15,555 square feet, but their leases will mature in the coming months.
“In five days, we had two full-price offers from users,” Holland said. “An owner-user is always a mutually beneficial sale.”
Michelle Hudson and Tom Hudson of Hudson Peters Commercial represented the seller, Life Is A Skyway LLC. Lisa Linford of Texas Key Real Estate Group negotiated on behalf of the buyer, Dexperts.