KBS Expands DFW portfolio with 19-Story Las Colinas Office Tower

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III started the year with a new acquisition in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: the 364,366-square-foot Tower on Lake Carolyn building in the Las Colinas submarket, one of the fastest-growing communities in the DFW area.

The 19-story office property, located in the heart of Las Colinas’ Urban Center, was 83 percent leased at the time of the sale, according to a company news release. Currently occupied by 42 tenants, the Class A building was completed in 1988 and later underwent capital improvements valued at $8 million. The property is LEED certified.

“We love operating top-tier properties in promising locations like the Las Colinas Urban Center,” said Ken Robertson, senior vice president & asset manager for KBS Realty Advisors. Factors that made the property attractive to KBS, Robertson said, included improved highway access, housing development, completion of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) line connecting it to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and new retail amenities.

With the acquisition of the Tower on Lake Carolyn, KBS-affiliated companies now own 11 properties in the Metroplex, totaling more than 3.3 million rentable square feet.

According to Marcus & Millichap, office transaction velocity in the area rose alongside prices and investor demand in 2012. Well-located, performing Class A buildings traded at prices above $175 per square foot, while single-tenant assets leased to high-credit tenants, such as government agencies, changed hands for more than $300 per square foot.

Photo rendering of the Tower on Lake Carolyn property courtesy of KBS Realty Advisors.

Chart courtesy of Marcus & Millichap Research Services.

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