Finalist: West 7th
Traveling west from downtown Fort Worth on West Seventh Street, drivers may have noticed a transformation over the past seven years. The few blocks before the intersection with University Drive have become Fort Worth’s hub for mixed-use development, attracting residents to places like Montgomery Plaza and the West 7th development for all their live-work-play needs. While West 7th, developed by Dallas-based Cypress Equities, has been home to apartment homes and restaurants like Patrizio’s, Fireside Pies and Bailey’s Prime Plus for a few years, but Cypress is working on its third and final phase. Located on the southeast corner of West Seventh Street and University Drive North, the third phase will develop 32,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, including 96 apartment units. The company secured $14.5 million in financing for the project in November 2011.
Key Players:
Jesus Chapa, City of Fort Worth; Kirk William, Cypress Equities; John Fainter, Carlyle/Cypress West 7th LP; Frank Bullock and Roger Chieffalo, SRS Real Estate Partners; Jerry Bolz, Peloton Real Estate Partners; Robert Shaw, Columbus Realty Partners; David Farrell, Good Fulton & Farrell; Gitesh Patel, RTKL; Carl Malcolm, JHP Architects; Michael Bennett, Bennett Benner & Pettit Architects & Planners; Mike Dempsey, Rogers-O’Brien Construction; Mike Flowers, Amicus General Contractors; Kim Cole, Huitt-Zollars; Ben Weissman, Jordan & Skala Engineers; Christopher Ullman, The Carlyle Group; Lance Wright, GE Capital; Michael Ramirez, Omni American Bank; Vernon Bryant, Southwest Bank; Kevin McGinnis, Liechty & McGinnis; Lorin Combs, Winstead; David Banowsky, Banowsky & Levine; Dee Finley, Harris Finley & Bogle; Brandon Hurley, Kelly Hart & Hallman.
Finalist: The Plaza at Cedar Hill
The Plaza at Cedar Hill was in trouble when three of its anchor tenants left for other developments in the area. Linens N Things, Old Navy and Rack Room Shoes all left the center, but CBRE and Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group were able to re-tenant the 292,000 square feet of vacant space with Toys R Us/Babies R Us, HomeGoods, DSW and Chipotle Mexican Grill. At the same time, Kite Realty Group, the landlord, invested $1 million in remodeling the center. Investment by Kite is expected to reach $3 million. Moving fast on the leases and making some improvements allowed the center to continue to contribute to the Cedar Hill tax base and keep jobs at the center.
Key Players:
Luke Isenbarger and Jeff Wright, Kite Realty Group; Jeff Kittleson, David Copeland and Daniel Taylor, CBRE; Mark Reeder, SRS Real Estate Partners; Steve Greenberg, The Retail Connection; Allison Thompson, Cedar Hill Economic Development.
Finalist: One McKinney Plaza
Transforming One McKinney Plaza from a 1980s office building to a contemporary mixed-use space is something the Gaedeke Group saw as a natural step to keep up with Uptown’s evolution. “When I first moved to Dallas, I moved onto McKinney Avenue. I lived at the Worthington, and back then they did have sidewalks, but nobody was on them,” said Sabine Gaedeke Stener, CEO of Dallas-based Gaedeke Group. “The neighborhood today is a walking neighborhood.” When Gaedeke set out on a $6 million renovation of its property on the corner of McKinney Avenue and Hall Street in 2010, bringing the building closer to foot traffic was important. The building was hidden behind trees and overgrown planter boxes, Stener said. “We said, ‘OK, our street appeal is really nonexistent, and we have to move closer to the street,” Stener said. The group, which acquired the building in 1996, connected the 15-story office tower to a two-story annex building, creating an outstretching glass lobby. To attract people in the neighborhood, the company decided to transform the annex building into 15,432 square feet of retail space. “When the building was originally developed in the mid-80s it was more envisioned to be really not a mixed-use,” Stener said. “We recognized that the retail was really valuable.” Private Social, a restaurant from Top Chef contestant Tiffany Derry, and Del Frisco’s Grille, a concept from Southlake-based Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group, now occupy the bustling corner. “What we wanted to do was be able to make a statement on the street,” said Earl Harris of Dallas-based The Weitzman Group, which handled the retail leasing of One McKinney Plaza. “We had a ton of interest, but we were really picky on who we wanted and what kind of concepts.” The fresh façade of One McKinney was attractive to Private Social partner Patrick Halbert, who was trying to launch a new concept. “The quality of the renovation was excellent, and I think it was perfect for the concept we were trying to put out in Uptown,” Halbert said. For Del Frisco’s Grille, which launched its second location in the space in November 2011, leasing in One McKinney Plaza has exceeded its expectations, said Bill Martens, vice president of development and construction. With the success of the restaurants, Gaedeke is happy with its investment, Stener said. Retail occupancy at One McKinney Plaza is at 86 percent. A 2,800-square-foot space attached to the lobby is available, as well as a 1,700-square-foot space on the second floor, Harris said. While many developers might have just built a new building, Stener is proud of her LEED-certified renovation. “If not a hopeless feat, and it is not an unsexy or unspectacular feat, to bring these older buildings up to current standards,” Stener said. “Then you can compete with a new building.”
Key Players:
Sabine Gaedeke Stener, Belinda Dabliz, Glenn Lickstein, Julie Lennon and Anthony Reynolds, Gaedeke Group LLC; Donald R. Powell, BOKA Powell LLC; Ben Hewett, Austin Commerical; Santos Martinez, Masterplan; Earl Harris and Marc Marrocco, The Weitzman Group; Bill Martens, Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group; Patrick Halbert, Private Social; Kevin McIntosh, KMAC Group Inc.; Jason Puig, SRS Real Estate Partners; Emily M. Johnson, Pachecho Koch; David A. Parkin, Parkin Perkins Olsen Consulting Engineers Inc.; Chris Russell, Christopher Russell Landscape Architects