Younan Sails Through Downtown Tower Buy

DALLAS-In a threshold-crossing deal, Younan Properties this morning has closed, just as promised, on the 1.4-million-sf Thanksgiving Tower in Downtown Dallas. The deal, seeded by a $106-million loan, catapults the buyer into the largest private owner of class A office buildings in the city.

The new owner is starting out a value-add play with a 58%-leased high rise and less than 8% of the in-place leases up for renewal this year, including the Tower Club on the 48th floor of the 50-story landmark at 1601 Elm St. “We are going to be very flexible in developing terms that will benefit any tenant in the market,” Zaya Younan, chairman and CEO of the Los Angeles-based investment group, stresses to GlobeSt.com. “And, we will make all the necessary effort to make sure the Tower Club stays in the building.”

Younan is keeping locally based Stream Realty Partners LP in place to lease the building, which presents his largest leasing challenge in three years of office acquisitions in Greater Dallas. “We’re a much larger company now than before. It’s less than 10% of all we own in Dallas so we are very comfortable with that,” he explains. “It’s a class A-plus in a great location in a market that is recovering. We do have work to do, but we are not afraid of the challenge.” The plan of attack includes “lots of incentives and large TIs,” he says, adding his in-house team will be managing the new deed just as it always does.