KBS Brings 18-Story Dallas Tower to Full Occupancy

Highland Park Place

KBS has signed five new leases and an expansion at Highland Park Place, an 18-story office tower in Dallas. The transactions brought the property to 100 percent occupancy. According to CommercialEdge, the landlord acquired the asset in 2013.

The new deals included a 5,109-square-foot lease with a private advisory firm, where CBRE’s Rich Flaten and John Ellerman assisted the tenant; a 2,829-square-foot lease with iDesign; a 1,071-square-foot lease with Willowood Group, where Justin Utay of NAI Robert Lynn represented the tenant; a 1,782-square-foot lease with Greystone Servicing Co., with CBRE’s Renee Castillo assisting Greystone, and a 2,176-square-foot retail lease with Fairgrounds Coffee and Tea, where Todd Siegel with CBRE represented the coffee shop.

Additionally, a construction company extended its 2,340-square-foot lease and signed a 1,468-square-foot expansion with help from Cushman & Wakefield’s Kim Lyon and Scott Hobbs. CBRE’s Trey Smith and Lauren Napper represented KBS in the transactions. In January, the duo arranged an office lease at Prestonwood Place, a 133,353-square-foot, mixed-use development in Dallas.

Located at 4514 Cole Ave., the 164,011-square-foot asset is within 3 miles of downtown Dallas. The tower is also 20 miles from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Developed in 1983 and renovated in 2013, Highland Park includes an on-site carwash, energy management system, conference center and locker rooms. The Class A building also has 459 parking spaces.

Recovering market

The current health crisis continues to have an effect on the Metroplex office market. According to the February CommercialEdge national office report, vacancy in Dallas stood at 18.5 percent in January, above the 14.6 percent national average.

Dallas-Fort Worth is also recovering from last month’s snowstorm, which caused approximately 4 million Texans to lose electricity by the night of February 15. While the weather crisis also caused office occupancy to drop significantly, with Kastle Systems reporting a 97 basis points drop between 10 and 17 February, occupancy bounced back to 24 percent by February 24.