New Owner for Dallas Office Complex

April 5, 2011
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Bluffview Towers, a two-building office complex in Dallas, is now part of Commercial Developments International Inc.’s portfolio. The real estate firm acquired the 196,300-square-foot property from Capstar Real Estate Advisors and an institutional partner.

Carrying the addresses of 3860 and 3890 Northwest Hwy., Bluffview occupies a 4.3-acre site in the city’s Preston Center submarket, sitting across from a 248-room Embassy Suites Hotel and just one mile away from Love Field Airport. The seven-story East Tower encompasses 126,100 square feet while the four-story West Tower features 70,200 square feet.

The complex is 96 percent leased to a list of notable tenants including the U.S. General Services Administration, which claims an aggregate 45,200 square feet of space to house offices for the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Other companies gracing the tenant roster are Inland American and Atrium Cos., each occupying approximately 23,400 square feet, in addition to Sewell and HEB Grocery.

The occupancy level at Bluffview is hardly reflective of the Preston submarket, which has an average overall vacancy rate of 13.7 percent, and it hardly mirrors metropolitan Dallas, where the average overall vacancy rate is a somewhat staggering 24.4 percent. However, the city is headed for improvement, if last year’s numbers are any indication. In 2010, pent up demand produced a 37.6 percent year-over-year increase in leasing activity, according to a report by commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. And other factors indicate that the turnaround will continue. With anticipated job growth and a lack of new office supply–only 345,000 square feet of space delivered in 2010–vacancy rates are expected to decline.

With the impending improvements in the Dallas office market, Cushman forecasts an increase in sales activity this year. Transaction volume rose in 2010, breaking free from the city’s historic lows in 2009. Sales prices went on the upswing as well. With regard to the Bluffview deal, all parties involved in the transaction are remaining mum on the price tag.