SkyWalker Property Partners sold its 76k SF Westpark Centre in the Mid-Cities to an Atlanta-based fund targeting government-leased properties in an off-market, all-cash transaction.

It is the fund's first acquisition in North Texas and second in the state. The GSA occupies 52% (40k SF) of the three-story office building at 150 Westpark Way in Euless. Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance DFW’s Shane Benner was the sole broker for the transaction. The buyer is RP CBP Euless. SkyWalker purchased Westpark Centre in 2008. The 4.3-acre property is located off Airport Freeway and TX 121. The building is now 80% occupied by five tenants.

GROUNDBREAKING

Trammell Crow Co and MetLife broke ground Friday on the more than 900k SF Park District. The 20-story office tower, PwC Tower at Park District (which we first told you about last year) will feature approximately 500k SF of Class-A office space with 7,000 SF of ground floor retail. PwC is the building’s anchor tenant occupying about 200k SF on eight floors. Trammell Crow Co’s residential subsidiary, High Street Residential, is developing the 33-story Residences at Park District, which will feature 253 luxury residential units and 13k SF of retail space fronting Klyde Warren Park. The two buildings will be connected via a plaza, which was designed by The Office of James Burnett. The development team is being led by TCC’s Scott Krikorian, Joel Behrens and K.C. Bills. Balfour Beatty is the general contractor and HKS is the project architect. The development team is seeking LEED Gold certification for PwC Tower at Park District and LEED Silver certification for The Residences at Park District. Financing for the project was led by JP Morgan Chase. CBRE’s Dennis Barnes, Celeste Fowden and Clay Gilbert are leasing and marketing PwC Tower at Park District. CBRE’s Phil Puckett repped PwC.

LEASES

Henry Schein leased 18k SF at 1080 S. Kimball Ave in Southlake from KTR DFW II. Bradford’s Michael Spain and Nick Talley repped the landlord. USI Real Estate Brokerage Services’ Jeremy Halback repped the tenant.

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Presidio extended its lease of 35k SF and expanded 5,601 SF at Waters Ridge Tech I at 1955 Lakeway Dr in Lewisville. The tenant was repped by DTZ’s Stuart Smith. The landlord was repped by Younger Partners’ Heather Shover, Kathy Permenter and Sean Dalton.

NEW CONSTRUCTION

SB Hall, the new home of the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business at The University of Dallas celebrated a ribbon cutting and dedication of the 46k SF building on Friday Built by The Beck Group and designed by Perkins+Will, the three-story building (on the top of a hill on the northwest side of campus) has views of Downtown Dallas and Las Colinas. The facility is pursuing LEED-certification. SB Hall will open for classes today.

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Construction started on the 182-unit Post Oak Apartments on a seven-acre parcel at the southeast quadrant of McKinney Ranch Parkway and Collin McKinney Parkway in McKinney. KWA Construction started construction for the owner, McKinney Millennium II, and developer, Ground Floor Development. The project was designed by Architecttura.

KUDOS

J.C. Penney executive chairman Myron E. Ullman III received the National Retail Federation’s Gold Medal Award, which is given to an individual who has served the industry with distinction and achieved a national reputation for excellence. Over three decades, he has led five major global enterprises and distinguished himself as a leader who has driven the growth, development and transformation of world-class companies.

EXECUTIVES

Plano-based J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison was named to the National Retail Federation board of directors. He was among a group of five national retail company execs.