The buyer is re-entering the office market after a seven-year hiatus
Skywalker Property Partners has acquired The Crossings I in North Dallas, snapping up a class A office building in one of the city’s strongest submarkets for its newest fund, The Leverage Strikes Back LLC.
Redubbed to just The Crossings, the 232,541-sf high-profile project is situated at 5429 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, part of a true live-work-play neighborhood with the 1.5-million-sf Galleria Dallas as the centerpiece. The Skywalker Property-managed fund’s new holding is 94%-leased, a cash-flowing asset with upside in below-market rents.
“The Crossings was a good fit for us on multiple fronts. The quality of the project’s location, the strengthening of the Lower Tollway submarket and the attractive terms convinced us to re-enter the office market after a seven-year hiatus as a buyer,” explains Gary Walker, managing principal of Arlington, Texas-based Skywalker Property Partners.
Todd Savage of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc. and Ben Esterer and Keenan Ryan, both with JLL, represented the institutional seller, Goddard Investment Group. Jack Mock, Skywalker’s acquisitions associate, and Chris Aguilar, asset manager, took point for the buyer.
“The Lower Tollway submarket has bounced back stronger than other office markets in the city,” Mock says. “That bodes well for continued high occupancy and rent growth.”
According to Q1 office market reports, the DFW Metroplex has experienced two consecutive quarters of positive net absorption. Five of the 10 largest deals to date this year have occurred in the North Dallas corridor.
The 10-story office structure is set on an irreplaceable freeway-fronting site – 2.58 infill acres close to the Dallas North Tollway and surrounded by more than 1,000 multifamily units and premier mixed-use developments, including luxury hotels. The Crossings’ amenities include a tenant lounge, fitness facility with locker rooms, full-service café, 24/7 security, structured parking, on-site management and bank.
Goddard has owned the Crossings nearly two decades. The office building was completed in 1986 and renovated in 2018.
“Goddard has done a great job with the building. Tenants are happy,” Aguilar says.
The Crossings houses the U.S. headquarters of two publicly traded companies: Rexel USA, the largest tenant with 69,120 sf, and U.S. Lime & Minerals Inc., which occupies 12,425 sf. The roster also includes Prospera Financial Services’ headquarters, totaling 18,193 sf, and Texas Bank, which has a 6,410-sf branch office with a drive-through lane.
Skywalker Property is planning to upgrade the tenant lounge and attached five-story parking garage. Plans are also in the works for spec suites, a first for the office building, which will continue to be leased by CBRE. The buyer will assume on-site management.
The Leverage Strikes Back has the capacity to acquire up to $200 million of commercial assets. Skywalker Property made the close with equity from the fund and short-term seller financing.
“The submarket’s strength and the office market timing make us confident about re-entering the office market even though we are taking on some near-term rollover and financing risk,” Mock says. “We believe we will be able to keep occupancy high and grow rents as well.”
The Crossings is the second asset for the new fund’s portfolio. About six months ago, Skywalker picked up three industrial buildings, totaling 176,700 sf, in Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley. The team is sourcing office, industrial and retail properties in the $10-million to $30-million range.
Skywalker Property Partners identifies, underwrites, acquires and executes highly opportunistic and value-add investments on behalf of its fourth discretionary fund, The Leverage Strikes Back LLC, formed in 2023 to build a $200 million portfolio of office, industrial and retail properties in Texas and surrounding states. The strategy targets transactions from $10 million to $30 million. Additional information about the investment group is available at www.SkywalkerProperty.com.
