DFW LAND Buys Columbus Mixed-Use Development

DFW LAND, a North Texas real estate investment and development firm, is continuing its Midwest expansion with the acquisition of the office and retail components of The Pointe at Polaris, a mixed-use development in Columbus, Ohio, from a joint venture between VanTrust Real Estate and NP Limited Partnership.

The transaction price was not disclosed. The deal covers two fully leased buildings with a total of 212,366 square feet of trophy office space and 33,071 square feet of retail. Two residential buildings with a total of 473 luxury units were not included in the sale.

Newmark Capital Markets arranged the sale and acquisition financing for the transaction.

Located at 8890 Lyra Drive, the four-story, 145,000-square-foot, Class A office building with 35,000-square-foot floorplates came online in the development’s second phase in 2021. Occupying 10.13 acres, the site has 600 parking spaces in a multi-level parking structure.

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In September 2019, Bank of America agreed to lease the top two floors, totaling approximately 60,000 square feet, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The bank consolidated two offices when it moved 240 employees into the new space in 2021. Other office tenants include Fiserv, Power Home Remodeling and Employers Health.

The 100,000-square-foot mixed-use building in the first phase was completed in 2017. Located at 8940 Lyra Drive, the three-story building has ground-floor retail with office space on the upper floors. Retail tenants include Kitchen Social, Condado Tacos, Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea and Club Pilates.

The smaller building, which sits on 11.06 acres, has 350 parking spaces in a multi-level parking garage.

The Pointe at Polaris is situated along Interstate 71 in the Polaris submarket, one of suburban Columbus’ most active commercial corridors featuring retail, dining and employment centers. The mixed-use development is located across from Polaris Fashion Place, a 1.3 million-square-foot mall and the largest regional shopping center in Central Ohio. Last summer, O’Connor Capital Partners took full ownership of the mall when Washington Prime Group. sold its majority stake in the asset.

Newmark Senior Managing Directors Derek Fohl and Peter Harwood, Executive Managing Director Jim Postweiler and Associate Director Jack Trager, in cooperation with Executive Vice President Jim Clark, represented VanTrust Real Estate. Vice Chairman Gary Carr advised the buyer. Executive Managing Director Ari Schwartzbard and Vice Chairman Bill Weber arranged the financing, while Associate Jake Paschen provided analytical support for the transaction.

More DFW LAND deals

This is the second Midwest acquisition for DFW LAND. The Newmark team also worked with DFW LAND in the firm’s $100 million September purchase of Park Place Village, a mixed-use asset in the Kansas City, Mo., suburb of Leawood, Kan., from KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III. The 484,980-square-foot property consists of office and retail space spread across 10 buildings.

Although DFW LAND has been active in Texas, the Kansas deal was its first foray out of the Lone Star State. The firm, led by CEO Vijay Borra, has been seeking well-located office and retail assets in growing MSAs across the U.S., according to Chief Investment Officer Brian Rosen.

In December, DFW LAND made a deal much closer to home. The firm acquired The Office at Park Lane, a 230,691-square-foot, two-building office property in Dallas from Northwood Investors. At the time of the sale, the property was 66 percent leased to 16 tenants including BOKA Powell, Curtainwall Design Consulting and Condon Tobin.

Northwood had owned the assets at 8070 and 8080 Park Lane since May 2010. The property is 7 miles from downtown Dallas and 22 miles from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. It is part of a larger mixed-use development dubbed The Shops at Park Lane, which contains retail and office space along with 570 residential units.