CIM Group Provides $73M Loan for Dallas-Area Office Refi

5301 Legacy Drive. Image via Google Street View

CIM Group continues to support the commercial real estate industry across a variety of sectors with a financing package for Taconic Capital Advisors and Champion Partners. The company recently provided the borrowers with a $73 million loan for the refinancing and funding of future leasing of Legacy Commons, an approximately 287,000-square-foot office campus and accompanying 5.3-acre, undeveloped land site in Plano, Texas.

“The high quality of the property, strong sponsorship in Taconic Capital and Champion Partners and strong market fundamentals in the Legacy submarket of Dallas were all factors that made this an attractive opportunity for CIM,” a CIM Group representative told Commercial Property Executive.

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Located in the 2,600-acre Legacy master-planned community, Legacy Commons occupies a nearly 20-acre site at 5301 Legacy Drive. The three-story complex first opened its doors in 1998 as the headquarters of Dr. Pepper, now Keurig Dr. Pepper, and remained home base for the beverage company until 2019, when Taconic and Champion acquired the asset with the assistance of a $52 million loan from Square Mile Capital Management in advance of Keurig Dr. Pepper’s relocation to a newly developed headquarters at The Star.

With Keurig Dr. Pepper having recently vacated the campus, Taconic and Champion have embarked on a $10 million capital improvement program with the goal of transforming the property into a destination that accommodates the needs and desires of the contemporary office user. As part of the repositioning effort, the partners will enhance the complex with new tenant amenities, including an outdoor courtyard and amphitheater, a lounge and meeting area, and a fitness facility.

A sweet spot

While the Dallas-Fort Worth office market appears to be nearing the end of its struggle to regain its footing in the pandemic era—the vacancy rate in the month of January held for a second month at 17.6 percent, according to CommercialEdge research—circumstances differ in the area surrounding the Legacy community, part of Plano’s Far North Dallas-Upper Tollway submarket.

“Upper Tollway/West Plano has emerged as one of the most dynamic office submarkets in Dallas-Fort Worth. The area has some of the newest office stock in the metro,” according to a fourth quarter 2021 report by Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services. “Companies located here have access to a deep and well-educated labor pool. Furthermore, both the state and the City of Plano have shown a willingness to dole out generous incentives for companies looking to relocate to or expand here.”

Taconic and Champion have tapped CBRE to handle leasing for Legacy Commons. The partners have not yet disclosed plans for the undeveloped parcel at the site. The land can accommodate the development of an additional 300,000 square feet.