Crow Holdings Fields Win for 171,028-SF Preston Forest Village

DALLAS-Dunhill Partners Inc. has turned over the deed after a two-year hold to the class A Preston Forest Village, but held onto day-to-day functions for the 171,028-sf claim in North Dallas. Crow Holdings has scored the win with an offer that easily surpassed the $40-million-plus assessment.

The popular shopping block at 11661 Preston Rd. came to market without an ask. “It was widely marketed. We had tons of interest,” Adam Howells, a Dallas director for Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, tells GlobeSt.com, “but the process was pre-empted by the buyer.” The buyer of record is PFV Realty III LP of Dallas, but word is rapidly spreading on the street that Crow Holdings is the new owner.

Howells says the takeover was a mix of debt assumption and a requirement that Dunhill first buy the one developed pad site within the 10.5-acre development to make the deal whole. Once the Preston Village Animal Clinic went into the package, the long-time business associates completed the hand-off. “The intention is to defease the debt and put on new debt,” says Howells, who brokered the sale along with HFF managing director Jim Batjer.

The 97%-leased center is anchored by a Whole Foods alongside names like Ulta Cosmetics, MiCocina Restaurant, Genghis Grill, Hollywood Video and Ritz Camera. According to Howells, the lease rollover is minimal for the near term.

The 20-year-old center sits on a 10.5-acre foothold at four corners of retail in one of the city’s most prized pockets, Preston Hollow. The intersection, in all, holds more than 100 high-end shops. “It’s just a tremendous class A asset in the heart of Dallas,” Howells says.Howells says Dunhill didn’t set out to retain leasing and management, but the deal was struck at the new owner’s behest. Street-level retail space is quoted at $30 per sf, triple net, while second-floor shops are getting $18 per sf on a triple net basis.

Dunhill has boosted occupancy at least 5% in the past two years, according to Howells. “They felt like the market conditions were right to sell,” he adds.