$100M Financing Deal in Place for Dallas’ 1 MSF M-U Shops at Park Lane

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor 

Lenders are willing to shell out the big bucks for the right property and The Shops at Park Lane in Dallas, Texas fits the bill. With the assistance of HFF, Northwood Investors L.L.C. has secured $100 million in financing for a segment of the 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use development from ING Investment Management.

Sited on 33.5 acres within close proximity to a light-rail transit station, Park Lane made its debut in 2009, developed at a cost of $441 million, according to a City of Dallas Office of Economic Development document. The project marked the first phase of a planned two-phase endeavor that is zoned to accommodate an aggregate 2.9 million square feet of space. It was just one year after Park Lane opened when Northwood acquired the asset, which currently boasts 600,000 square feet of retail space featuring such popular national stores as Whole Foods, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and highly coveted outlet destinations including Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth and Bloomingdale’s-The Outlet Store.

And with 340,000 square feet of office space featuring such tenants as Kosmos Energy and the Art Institute of Dallas, as well as the premier 325-unit The Heights at Park Lane residential segment, Park Place offers a live-work-play atmosphere. The financing ING Investment provided for the previously unencumbered property came in the form of a long-term loan.

It appears investors of all types are keen on mixed-use projects in bustling metropolitan locales. Recently, a group consisting of Enterprise Community Investment, TD Bank and the National Trust Community Investment Corp. came through with New Markets Tax Credit financing for Oxford Mills in Philadelphia, a $37.8 million adaptive reuse endeavor that will yield retail space, educational office space and 114 apartments targeted for the city’s public school teachers. And in Manhattan, CWCapital, working with Rockwood Real Estate Advisors and Principal Global Investors, arranged $46 million in new financing for a mixed-use building on the Upper West Side.

Following a general recession-induced lull in construction over the last few years, construction financing for mixed-use properties has become more readily available, too. A joint venture headed up by the Bozzuto Group obtained $91 million in construction and permanent financing for the $130 million Cathedral Commons project in Washington, D.C.