Mindlin Plans Makeover for 195,587-SF New Buy

DALLAS-The Mindlin Cos. LLC will invest at least $1.5 million to upgrade its newest acquisition, the 195,587-sf Woodview Tower, which was bought last month. The make-ready plan to lure tenants to the 48%-leased office building near Love Field includes bait like a chance to win a cruise for six on a 54-foot private boat, with crew, in the British Virgin Islands.

1349 Empire Central

Bradley Mindlin, principal of the Los Angeles-based company, says upgrades to Woodview Tower at 1349 Empire Central will swing into full force shortly after 2008 begins. “This building should look like a brand-new building by March or April,” he says. Built in 1982 and renovated in 1997, the building’s upgrades will include a new chiller, roof and several floors of spec suites. The team is targeting tenants in 2,000-sf to 5,000-sf range, with the class A’s spec floors being built out with a full-service common break room.

“The view is this market is still a big-tenant market, but there are more small-tenant deals there,” Mindlin tells GlobeSt.com. There are 17 tenants now in place, with the largest being the US Postal Services’ legal division.

Woodview Tower

Mindlin subsidiary, Darby Real Estate Services, will lease and manage the asset just like it does for the firm’s other one million sf in Dallas. And for the first time in years, there will be an on-site office, Mindlin says. Darby employees Beall Carothers and Dawn Williamson have been assigned to the building.Mindlin says he likes to own buildings 30 to 60 days to “find the personality” before embarking on a retooling plan. With that done, talks have begun with Clinton Climate Group to devise an energy-efficiency program for the tower. “It won’t be a LEED building, but it can become a greener building,” he says.

Mindlin closed the all-cash deal right before Thanksgiving, inking it three weeks ahead of schedule. Grubb & Ellis Co. senior vice president Scot Farber and Tom Strohbehn in Dallas brokered the sale from Boston-based TA Associates Inc. TriSail Capital Corp., a Los Angeles-based division of Bank of America, provided 18-month financing for the acquisition and renovation. TriSail’s Kirk Malmrose and Brian Eisner of George Elkins Mortgage Banking, also in Los Angeles, packaged the loan. Mindlin’s not discussing financials, but Dallas County has the asset and the adjacent extra 3.3-acre tract assessed at $6.97 million.