PLANO, TX-A high-rolling joint venture has borrowed $31.2 million to acquire the only Texas asset of Lord Baltimore Properties--the 308,038-sf Plano Corporate Center I and II. Sources estimate the deal closed at roughly $50 million, particularly since it included a separate transaction for nearly 13.9 acres of abutting developable land.

Lincoln Property Co. Commercial got $12 million of equity backing from the El Segundo, CA-based Pacific Coast Capital Partners LLC to acquire the 34-acre business park along West Plano Parkway. Buyer, seller and Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. dealmakers Andrea Peskind, Brad Thornburg and Stuart Calhoun aren't discussing disposition details.

Scott Lewis, vice president in Dallas for CBRE/Melody of Texas Inc., says the deal had 18 days to close after the loan application went to the lender. "There were a lot of moving parts in the transaction," he says, adding the closing stipulation came from the seller's side.

Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking's New York City office provided interim financing. Lewis tells GlobeSt.com that the elite lender offered the best spread on a Libor-based loan with a floating interest rate cap. "We took it to over a dozen lenders," he says. "What helped Societe Generale get the deal was their flexibility on the back end if Lincoln wanted to sell a building." The CBRE/Melody team included Tom Melody, Paul House and James Tramuto.

The business park's location at the corner of West Plano Parkway and Custer Road held the attraction for would-be buyers as did the upside potential in a class A pair of three-story buildings with a 73% occupancy in one of the hottest development corridors in the far north submarket. Added appeal came from the extra land: 3.9 acres that can hold an 80,000-sf office building and a separate 10-acre tract primed for a 160,000-sf office project.

The 153,349-sf Plano Corporate Center I at 2201 W. Plano Parkway is 66% leased to four tenants, of which 52% is occupied by FedEx Kinko's through November 2015. The 154,689-sf Plano Corporate Center II at 2301 W. Plano Parkway, also with four tenants, is 67% leased, of which Reynolds & Reynolds Co. leases 13% through July 2010 and UICI Student Insurance Co. has 43% until August 2014.

Lincoln senior vice president Clay Duvall was unavailable for comment prior to press time to comment on the JV's plans for the park, which got under way in 1999 with one building and added its second in 2001. The city's dynamics, the location and development potential set up a winning formula for the investors. As for the seller, the Baltimore-based seller has closed down its only Texas office.