"It's a total transformation that re-establishes the club for the next 30 years," says Dave Woodyard, EVP of business and sports clubs for Dallas-based ClubCorp Inc. The 150-seat ballroom will be expanded to accommodate 250; the dining room redo will create eight private rooms, an increase of two, for parties from casual to formal dress; and offices will be relocated to expand the dining room and bar/grill areas. He says the work will take "four to five months" to complete, with the 1,700-member Tower Club staying open throughout the phased-in makeover, which will include new fixtures and furniture for ClubCorp's flagship property in the 1.4-million-sf high rise at 1601 Elm St.
"I think Dallas is really going to love it," Woodyard tells GlobeSt.com. The renovation cost is being shared by high-rise owner, Los Angeles-based Younan Properties Inc. Woodyard says it's also tied to a ClubCorp plan that allocated $28 million for its 2007-08 cap ex program nationwide. In Chicago, the Mid-America Club at 200 E. Randolph Dr. is getting a $3.5-million overhaul and the Metropolitan Club at 233 S. Wacker Dr. is in line for $6 million of upgrades. The Houston City Club at One City Club Dr. is being paced through a $3-million renovation and eight other clubs each will get $1 million of upgrades.
ClubCorp did have brokers sizing up Downtown relocation sites, but "we decided in the end this was the best alternative," Woodyard says, adding both existing and new high rises were under review. "The synergies in the new buildings were not as positive as staying where we are and renovating."
[IMGCAP(2)]Sarah Payne, senior associate for Stream Realty Partners LP in Dallas, says the Tower Club's 10-year renewal took 18 months to lock down due to delays from the sale of the high rise earlier this year to Younan and ClubCorp's pass just months before to Denver-based KSL Capital Partners LLC. She and Stream president and partner Jon Altschuler were negotiating directly with ClubCorp, which typically uses brokers for site searches and then solos for its lease talks.
[IMGCAP(3)]In inking the deal, Payne says Thanksgiving Tower's leasing team also picked up a perk: an opportunity to offer a one-year membership as a concession for a large lease signing. The concession options include a top of the building sign. The 56%-leased Thanksgiving Tower's largest contiguous block is 560,000 sf in the lower bank. The 50-story building's upper bank is more than 95% leased, according to Payne. The class A space is being marketed for $17.50 per sf to $19.50 per sf plus electric.
As the ClubCorp deal moved across the finish line, Payne and Altschuler also landed a 3,000-sf law firm, Hubbard & Biederman, which is relocating from Comerica Bank Tower at 1717 Main St. The inbound tenant, signing a short-term lease for a 19th floor office, will light the space Jan. 1.
"We're chasing more than one million sf of deals," Payne says, adding the largest deal in the pipeline is a 200,000-sf prospect. "We think 2008 is going to be a really strong year for the building.
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