Compression Migration Tenants Seek Rental-Rate Relief

ADDISON, TX—Bent Tree Tower II, a 166,000-square-foot office building located at 16479 Dallas Pkwy., north of Westgrove Drive, recently sold for an undisclosed price. The eight-story building was sold by Regent Properties, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment management firm, to a partnership that was formed by Dallas-based Hudson Peters Commercial.

“Bent Tree Tower II has significant visibility and is a highly accessible tower,” said Matthew Benbassat, chief operating officer of Regent Properties. “Its location along the middle portion of the Tollway has allowed it to benefit from escalating rents in Frisco/Legacy to the north and Preston Center to the south, making it a good long-term investment.”

Regent Properties invested $4.7 million in renovations to the building, which included a remodel of the property’s entrance, an update of the building’s lobby and common areas, the addition of a large monument sign, and a modernization of the building’s systems.

“There was a lot of interest in this offering and an overwhelming demand for the tower because it was institutionally owned and maintained,” said Creighton Stark with Colliers International, who brokered the deal with Colliers’ Chris Boyd. “Not only does the building enjoy significant visibility and accessibility along the Dallas North Tollway, but it is also surrounded by strong residential demographics, private schools and elite country clubs.”

Bent Tree Tower II is anchored by energy firm Forney Corporation. The property boasts a fully equipped gym, deli and shared conference room. It is located within two miles of Addison’s restaurant row and less than a 30-minute drive to downtown Dallas, both major airports and nearby Addison Airport.

“Hudson Peters Commercial was previously a tenant in this building and knows the benefits of this location,” said Janice Peters, principal at Hudson Peters Commercial, who will oversee leasing of the project along with Tom Hudson.

The property will be managed by the Hudson Peters’ property management division.

“The property sits in a high-growth portion of the lower Tollway that is experiencing what we consider a compression migration,” Stark tells GlobeSt.com. “This is where tenants are being out-priced, or compressed out of their current submarkets, in this case both Legacy at 121 and the North Dallas Tollway, and Preston Center at Northwest Highway and the North Dallas Tollway, and they are seeking rental-rate relief. At the same time, those tenants are not willing to sacrifice the employee experience of a rich-amenity environment, and therefore are migrating to the Lower Tollway Corridor. As a result, properties such as Two Bent Tree Tower, among others in this corridor, are experiencing vacancy absorption and rental-rate lift, which is what we call the compression migration effect.”

Hudson Peters formed a capital markets division earlier this year to acquire and syndicate commercial properties.

“This is a quality asset to begin building our portfolio of properties,” said Michelle Hudson, principal at Hudson Peters Commercial.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, DFW maintained robust job growth by adding 125,400 non-farm jobs since July 2018, a 3.4% annualized gain. Moreover, net absorption in third quarter 2019 dropped slightly from last quarter with more than 506,000 square feet of space taken up, yielding 2 million square feet total so far for the year, according to a CBRE report. This total has far surpassed the total in year-to-date absorption compared to this time in 2018.

Vacancy continued to be flat in third quarter 2019 despite the positive absorption. This is due to about 599,098 square feet of competitive inventory introduced to the DFW market, the sheer amount of existing office stock in the metroplex and the general tenant appetite for newer cutting-edge office product, says CBRE.