Fort Worth expected to net $5 million from sale of Pinnacle Bank Place

January 23,2018

by Sandra Baker

Fort Worth’s Local Development Corp. is selling its Pinnacle Bank Place residential and retail development on Lancaster Avenue to New York-based Beachwold Partners, which owns and manages multifamily communities in eight states.

The corporation Tuesday approved the sale of the 120-unit community at 250 W. Lancaster Ave. for $25.25 million. The firm offered the highest price, besting the second-highest offer by $150,000. The sale is expected to close in the spring and the corporation to net a $5 million profit that will be used to hire staff, conduct marketing and further other economic development efforts of the city.

The corporation was created in 1987 to promote, sponsor and coordinate activities centered on job creation and economic development. The mayor and City Council comprise its board.

The board hired Institutional Property Advisors in August to bring the property to the market. The property, now 90 percent leased, drew 118 potential buyers, of which 23 toured the building. The city received seven preliminary offers, and four final possible buyers were interviewed. A parking garage attached to the apartment building is not included in the sale.

Pinnacle Bank Place was designed to kick off development on Lancaster Avenue, said Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, the city’s economic development assistant director.

And that has happened. In 2015, the city selected Dallas-based Catalyst Urban Development as master developer of 5 acres along Lancaster that opened up after the Interstate 30 overpass was moved south several years ago.

Catalyst is partnering with national builder Lennar Corp. to develop the multifamily part of that $38 million, 254-unit project. The first apartments are expected to be built at the northwest corner of Lancaster Avenue and Lamar Street.

Pinnacle Bank Place “is a huge success in terms of a economic development standpoint,” Councilman Jungus Jordan said. “It’s the first time you have a sense of what Lancaster is going to look like. The other developers, which are waiting in line, can see what it’s going to look like.”

In November 2011, the city formed Lancaster Corridor Redevelopment Llc. to own and develop Pinnacle Bank Place, which has 25,000 square feet of space for shops, restaurants and banking. Construction was completed last May.

Under the new ownership, rents of at least 11 apartments will need to remain below market rates.

Sandra Baker: 817-390-7727, @SandraBakerFWST

Location Mentioned: Pinnacle Bank Place