WHOA, NELLY

As part of an effort to emerge from Chapter 11  bankruptcy, the owner of Dallas Logistics Hub has sold more than 1M SF  at the inland port for about $75M.

The bulk of that space two Class-A LEED Gold industrial buildings totaling 828k SF, sold to Atlanta-based Weeks Robinson, which used some of the $150M in equity it raised earlier this year for the $24M acquisition. CEO Forrest Robinson tells us the buildings were priced below replacement value because of the depressed real estate market. He says Dallas is a great industrial market and far along in the recovery process—even more so than Atlanta. Colliers' Chris Teesdale and Tom Pearson repped DLH Master Land Holding Allen Capital Partners (did ya get all that?) and will work with  Scott McGarity on leasing and management.

Forrest likes the proximity of the 635k SF at 4800 Langdon Rd(pictured) and the 193k SF 4900 Langdon Rd (43% leased when put together) to the intermodal terminal and access to I-45, noting the growing import and export business out of Houston. He also likes the age of the proeprties' 2009 vintage, saying they have the newer attributes that logistics companies are looking for. Weeks Robinson also acquired the 505k SF  Forum 303 Crossing (then 40% occupied) from Panattoni Development Co. in March. Forrest tells us Weeks Corp (a previous incarnation of the firm) sold its Dallas portfolio to Duke Realty in '99, so 2011 isn't his first foray into the market. It's also hired 28-year industry veteran Bob Rice to open a Dallas office and focus on the lease-up efforts.

For DLH, it's positive to have a quality company coming in, Chris says. The huboverlaps Dallas, Lancaster, Wilmer, and Hutchins. The buildings are near the junction of Interstates 20 and 45 and adjacent to the Union Pacific Intermodal Terminal  and the planned BNSF Intermodal Facility. ?There are solid fundamentals for that whole South Dallas area,? Chris says. The 6,000-acre DHL, one of the largest multimodal logistics facilities in North America, suffered from the struggling economy, triggering last year's Chapter 11 filing. Creditors have until June 15 to vote on the plan.

DLH prez Dan McAuliffe says confirmation of that plan will put the development back on track. DLH also sold the ADESA Dallas Auto Auction Facility on the Hutchins side for almost $51M. The Class-A, LEED Silver facility includes 200k SF on 175 acres. The site has a 14-lane auction arena, admin offices, showroom space, restaurants, and hospitality facilities. It also includes a 107k SF reconditioning building, a 5,000 SF technical building for repairs, and parking facilities for up to 15,000 vehicles. DLH was repped by CBRE's Jack Fraker and Josh McArtor. The buyer is FKAR.