HOUSING SCAM SHUT DOWN
AUSTIN (Office of the Attorney General) – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has shut down a real estate scam spearheaded by Roberto Flores and his firm, Galindo Trust.
Flores sold homes to local consumers without disclosing that the properties were encumbered by pre-existing liens. Shriners Hospital, the original owner of the properties, sold and financed the homes to Flores, who made mortgage payments through Galindo Trust. Flores resold the properties, but subsequently stopped making payments to Shriners Hospital, putting the homes at risk of foreclosure.
Flores also misrepresented to consumers that property taxes and homeowners' insurance payments were being made on their behalf. Flores stopped paying insurance premiums and taxes, causing insurance policies to lapse and consumers to become delinquent on their property taxes.
The 126th Judicial Court has ordered Flores to pay more than $1.4 million in civil penalties for violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and provide restitution to consumers who were harmed by the unlawful scheme.
Shriners Hospital was unaware of the fraud and is working with the Office of the Attorney General and Volunteer Legal Services of Travis County to help consumers get proper titles to their properties.
BELLA VIDA SOLD
CARROLLTON (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler) – Harbor Group International LLC has purchased the Class-A+ Bella Vida at Coyote Ridge at 4253 Hunt Drive, northeast of the Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport.
Built in 1999, the 528-unit Bella Vida is a 35-acre multifamily community with one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts averaging 1,322 square feet. The complex is 94 percent leased.
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler represented the seller, West Coast–based Virtú Investments.
MEGACHURCH UPGRADE
DALLAS (glbarron.com) – GL Barron has broken ground on a 175,000-square-foot, 4,200-seat church.
The $31.5 million Inspiring Body of Christ church, which will sit on 50 acres between Cockrell Hill and Westmoreland, is expected to be completed in 18 months. The facility was designed by GL Barron’s sister company, GLB Design Group LP.
For more information on Texas megachurches, read “Good Heavens! Texas Churches Grow to Biblical Proportions” in the April 2007 issue of Tierra Grande.
UPGRADE, RENT HIKE PLANNED FOR EDENTREE
CARROLLTON (globest.com) – Carrollton Edentree LP has purchased the 360-unit Edentree Apartments from Hall Financial Group.
Built in 1983 by Trammell Crow Co., the Class-B complex at 1721 E. Frankford Rd. consists of 28 two-story buildings on almost 18 acres. The one- and two-bedroom units range from 600 to 1,052 square feet.
The California-based LP plans to update unit interiors before increasing rents, which now average $670 per month. Devonshire Management Co. of Dallas will manage the property.
Hendricks & Partners represented Carrollton Edentree, which did a defeasance on a $13.1 million loan with a 5.8 percent fixed interest rate.
JV'S DALLAS-AREA TRIO SOLD
DALLAS (globest.com) – EQYInvest Owner I Ltd. LLP has sold three assets — two retail and one office — totaling more than 174,000 square feet.
EQYInvest, a partnership between Florida-based Equity One Inc. and New York City–based Investcorp International Realty Inc., sold the more than 65,700-square-foot Sterling Plaza at 2904 Belt Line Rd. in Irving to 2904 Beltline LLC, a Los Angeles–based investment group.
The 15-tenant shopping center, built in 1968 on more than seven acres, is across the highway from Irving Mall. The 94 percent leased property is anchored by a 99 Cents store. Dynamics Capital, also of Los Angeles, represented the buyer. Global Fund Investments will handle leasing and management.
VL Associates of Missouri purchased the more than 44,500-square-foot Village by the Parks. The fully leased shopping center sits on more than four acres at 4115 S. Cooper St. in Arlington. The center’s anchor, Toys R Us, was not included in the sale. VL Associates will lease and manage the holding in-house.
EQYInvest sold the almost 64,000-square-foot Parkway at 812 W. Spring Creek Pkwy. in Plano on behalf of a limited partnership from Denver. The almost 98 percent leased office building was built in 1985 on nearly six acres. CB Richard Ellis represented Sandstone Properties Inc., the California-based buyer.
NEW MIXED-USE FOR BEE CAVE
BEE CAVE (globest.com) – A Dallas-based joint venture plans to break ground on its first Austin-area development — a $30 million lifestyle center — in the next few months.
Brytar Cos. and Worth Williams Properties purchased 17 acres from local seller Robert Baldwin, putting the partners closer to building the 150,000-square-foot Village at Central Park.
The project at RR 620 and Hwy. 71 will be predominantly retail but will include office and restaurant space. Bed, Bath & Beyond has already been signed. Construction is slated to wrap in mid-2008.
Ware Architecture of Dallas designed the shopping center, and Bury Partners Inc. of Austin is the civil engineer. Texas Capital Bank provided construction financing. Dallas-based Direct Development's Austin office will handle marketing and leasing.
LAND SALE MOVING FORWARD
LAREDO (Laredo Morning Times) – The city council has voted to continue with the final sale of 88 acres near Lake Casa Blanca. Plans for the land include a $120 million mall project that would require a wetland to be filled. The sale is scheduled to be finalized June 4.
The buyer and developer, Merchants Holding, has a long-term lease on the 88 acres that will allow the company to continue the development regardless of whether the sale is finalized. Merchants Holding spokesperson T.J. Connolly said the company intends to move forward with the mall project.
MAJOR HOMEBUILDER MOVING IN
HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) – John Laing Homes has purchased Houston-based Lindenwood Homes.
The California-based homebuilder, one of the largest privately held homebuilders in the nation, earned more than $1.6 billion on 2,269 residential closings last year.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO GROW
HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) – A $7.6 million upgrade will add 70,000 square feet to Houston Community College’s West Loop Campus in Bellaire.
The expansion, which broke ground today and will wrap in fall 2008, will include 39 new classrooms and laboratories, new faculty offices, extra student areas and a food court.
The project is part of Houston Community College's $300 million capital improvement plan.
NEW OWNERS FOR CYPRESS STATION
HOUSTON (costar.com) – Charles, Kathleen and Daniel Moine purchased the Cypress Station Shopping Center from Shadowbriar Houston Partners LP for more than $12 million.
The almost 120,000-square-foot Cypress Station is at I-45 and FM 1960. About 75 percent of its tenants, which include anchor Louis Shanks Furniture, have been in the center for ten years.
Hanley Brown Group handled both sides of the transaction.
STREAM INCREASES LEASING PORTFOLIO
HOUSTON (globest.com) – Stream Realty Partners LP will handle leasing on an additional 1.2 million square feet of local industrial and office space.
New to Stream Realty’s leasing portfolio is an 800,000-square-foot industrial portfolio owned by Dividend Capital Trust Inc. of Denver. The five-year-old property is 90 percent leased.
Stream Realty will also handle leasing on the 150,000-square-foot Colony Crossing Business Center and a 250,000-square-foot office portfolio consisting of Timberway One and Reserve at Greens Crossing II.
Owned by McShane Corp., Colony Crossing was developed in 2004 and is 40 percent leased.
The 24-year-old Timberway One at 15990 N. Barkers Landing Rd. and the six-year-old Reserve at Greens Crossing II at 11410 Greens Crossing Blvd. are 83 percent leased. Both Class-B buildings are owned by London-based Strategic Real Estate Advisors.
VALLEY GETTING $80 MILLION SHOPPES
EDINBURG (globest.com) – Construction will begin next month on the 1.1 million-square-foot Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley, a 130-acre, open-air center with an all-in development cost of $80 million.
The Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley will consist of a 455,000-square-foot lifestyle center and an adjacent 700,000-square-foot power center.
This is the second Texas project for Connecticut-based developer First Hartford Realty Corp., which purchased the land at Hwy. 281 and Trenton Road in 2005. The developer has signed JCPenney as the center’s lead anchor with 104,000 square feet.
First Hartford Realty is the general contractor, and KA Inc. of Cleveland is the project architect. The grand opening is slated for fall 2008.
ELDRIDGE RETAIL CENTER PLANNED
HOUSTON (McDade, Smith, Gould, Johnston, Mason + Company) – Property Commerce has purchased 48 acres on the west side of Eldridge, creating a 67-acre tract that the developer plans to use for a retail center.
The Market Square at Eldridge Parkway will be anchored by a 180,000-square-foot Super Target, with another 220,000 square feet available for additional retail. Property Commerce has previously purchased 19 adjacent acres that are also part of the development.
The listing price on the acreage appreciated in approximately one year from $6.75 per square foot to $22 per square foot for nine acres of the tract and to $10 per square foot for a 17-acre parcel. The remaining land was not originally for sale.
A. David Schwarz III SIOR represented the owner, Phillips Development & Realty LLP of North Carolina.
BLUFFVIEW REPLACING BACHMAN CREEK PLAZA
DALLAS (The Dallas Morning News) – A Denver-based developer has broken ground on a mixed-use development at the north end of Love Field.
Archstone-Smith's The Shops at Bluffview, at Lemmon Avenue and Northwest Highway, will include 181 loft-style apartments built on top of 205,000 square feet of retail space. The new buildings will adjoin the existing Embassy Suites Hotel and two office towers.
The property was known as The Plaza on Bachman Creek before Archstone-Smith bought the shopping center in 2004. About 25,000 square feet of the existing shopping center will be demolished to make way for the new construction.
MORE GOOD MOVES
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Two Texas cities were not mentioned in last Friday’s article “Move to Move, Texas Tops.”
Making the list of “Best Cities for Relocating Families” in metro areas with populations of 575,000 to 1.25 million were El Paso (number seven) and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (number nine).
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