Zydeco Development Reels in $100M for Austin Portfolio

MetCenter, industrial building. Image courtesy of Mohr Capital

Mohr Capital, a Dallas-based privately held real estate investment firm, has acquired MetCenter, a five-building, 404,800-square-foot industrial and office portfolio in Austin, Texas, from Zydeco Development for $100 million. Amazon.com Inc. and Uber Advanced Technologies currently lease the 160,000-square-foot industrial building within the portfolio.

READ ALSO: Zydeco Adds Creative Office Space to Austin MetCenter

The four office buildings, which total 244,800 square feet of space, have a diverse mix of tenants from the technology, government and health-care sectors. One of the tenants, Arrive Logistics Inc., a third-party logistics startup, leases 78,000 square feet of space in two buildings at the 550-acre business park near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Attractive features

Easy accesses to the airport as well as major highways were among the reasons cited by Mohr Capital for purchasing the property. MetCenter has access to Highway 71, Highway 183’s new 12-lane expansion and State Highway 130. It is also less than 5 miles from downtown Austin.

MetCenter, office component. Image courtesy of Mohr Capital

Boyd Messmann, acquisitions consultant for Mohr Capital, also noted the business park has above-market parking ratios. He added in prepared remarks that MetCenter provided tenants with high-quality office and industrial space at a significant discount to CBD occupancy costs. He also cited the two on-site substations that have separate power sources for redundant power and underground telecom infrastructure with multiple carriers.

Bob Mohr, founder & chairman of Mohr Capital, said in a prepared statement that Austin’s favorable tax environment and growth through corporate relocations and population inflow will help the city continue its growth as a hub for business and innovation. Mohr said the firm plans to actively seek other opportunities in the area, which is one of the fastest-growing markets in the nation.

Messmann and Kyle Campbell, director of acquisitions, represented Mohr Capital throughout the transaction. JLL’s Austin Capital Markets team represented Zydeco.

A multi-phase project

The sale of MetCenter comes as Zydeco recently finished development of two creative office buildings at the business park. Located at 8000 Metropolis Drive on 14.1 acres, the new buildings are part of the second phase. Prosperity Bank provided a five-year, $27.1 million construction loan to Zydeco, according to Travis County records.

Zydeco broke ground on the first of four buildings in November 2018. At that time, JLL had completed leases for Arrive Logistics as well as Seton Healthcare, Power Home Remodeling Group and Kapsch TrafficCom. On-site amenities include a disc golf course, 1.5-mile hike and bike trail and basketball and tennis courts. A food truck court is available for tenants and visitors during lunch hours on weekdays.

Mohr’s most recent deal

Last month, Mohr Capital sold a 460,000-square-foot net-leased office building in the Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in an off-market transaction for $61.1 million. The buyer of the property, which is fully leased to Rockwell Automation for 13 years, was not disclosed. The firm had acquired the asset for $52 million about two years ago when it was in foreclosure proceedings.