Deal Structure & Financing

The financing and deal structuring of the space will be as follows: BP Group will purchase the vacant lot from the private owner for $250,000. They will obtain financing through Elenor Financial at 75% Loan-to-Value. Units of America/Griffin Realtors will earn a 2% leasing fee and an asset management fee of 1% of gross rent receipts.

Leasing Details

All tenants inside the glass box building will be presented with a 5 year Triple Net lease with the option of an extended term. Whole Foods who will occupy the 10,00 square feet of space in the DP&L building will be presented with a 10 year lease also with the option to agree to a longer term. Each tenant will have the option to renew before their lease agreement expires. If any tenant is seen as incompatible, after the term of their lease the option to renew will be revoked. To remedy poor performing tenants, a marketing and event planning schedule will be in place at all times. The event planning will be co-managed with LD Unlimited to bring a variety of events to Browder street.

The proposed square footage for Chipotle, Sushi Domo, and the Apple Store are 1,500 sqft.  Dunkin' Donuts will occupy the 1,000 sqft space. The reason for this is Dunkin' Donuts proposed hours of operation are 6am-4pm and if they are occupying space in the suite closest to Commerce street, it would give the appearance of the entire building being closed. If at anytime space becomes vacant, Units of America's tenant representatives will implement a marketing campaign to attract potential retail/restaurant/entertainment tenants to the Browder Street Plaza. The proposed hours of operation are: Chipotle 11am-10pm, Sushi Domo 11am-2am, Apple Store 10am-7pm, Whole Foods 9am-10pm.


An outdoor cleaning vendor will be sub-contracted to maintain the Plaza area.


According to Mr. Griffin, the retail leasing specialist, rents for this space could range from $16-$23 per square foot per year. For this proposal we used a rental rate for the glass building of $18 per square foot and for the Dallas Power & Lights space we used a rental rate of $19.50. The rent rate for the Chase Bank ATM is $1,200.

Design and Operations Elements

To compliment the Dallas Power & Lights building and other historic sites surrounding Browder street, in the center of the street will be an elegant 8 foot tall water fountain. This cast stone four tier fountain will be the main attraction. It will be the perfect place to relax after a nice meal. Since the city has already allocated $500,000 for park and pedestrian improvements to the public space within the plaza, we recommend that the city include the addition of the fountain into the side-aside funds.

Directly in the heart of the Main Street District, Browder Plaza sits in the center of what is to be a wave of revitalization. Downtown Dallas 360 which is a partnership between the City of Dallas and Downtown Dallas, Inc, is understood to have a goal of competing with other major city's downtown arena. Most of the retail and restaurant pedestrian lifestyle was lost to the underground tunnel development. The Uptown environment offers a similar atmosphere of the Main Street District envisions for downtown Dallas. Currently parking is limited and surrounding the retail district is a ton of vacant space inside of historic buildings. Nieman Marcus is one of very few downtown retailers that stood the test of time. With this in mind, catering to this demographic of consumers is essential.

Downtown Dallas 360 envisions an around the clock outdoor sophisticated experience with great food and many entertainment options for residence and visitors. The Browder Place development will not only meet the goals of Downtown Dallas 360, it will bring life to a neglected area of downtown Dallas while remaining environmentally friendly. This new development will make valuable use of the vacant lot on browder street and the vacant space on the first floor of the Dallas Power & Lights building. According to the Request For Proposal Addendum 2, the current zoning regulations if the total square footage of "glass boxes" on any give parcel of land exceeds 1,000 square feet it will trigger the downtown Dallas parking requirement. We highly favor the city on approving a code amendment to exempt the glass box/retail kiosks from parking requirements in CA-1 zoning.

The prospective consumers are from the surrounding 7,000 residence  and the 75,000 current daytime population. Over 50, people live within a 1 mile radius of downtown Dallas and over 5,000 live within a 5 minute walk of Browder Plaza. Because of the limited parking the "drive up" consumers will have an option to valet their vehicles through a valet vendor that will be available from 10am-2am.

Project Title: Glass Box Retail Space Model: Restaurant Construction: Wood Siding / Wood Frame Location: DALLAS, TX Stories: 1 Costs are derived from a building model with basic components. Scope differences and market conditions can cause costs to vary significantly. Story Height (l.f.): 12 Floor Area (s.f.): 5,500 Data Release: Year 2012 Quarter 2 Wage Rate: Union Basement: Not included

Cost Ranges	Low	Med	High
Total:	$645,750	$717,500	$896,875
Contractor's Overhead & Profit:	$161,550	$179,500	$224,375
Architectural Fees:	$56,700	$63,000	$78,750
Total Building Cost:	$864,000	$960,000	$1,200,000

Project Title: Whole Foods Model: Supermarket Construction: Face Brick with Concrete Block Back-up / Steel Frame Location: DALLAS, TX Stories: 1 Costs are derived from a building model with basic components. Scope differences and market conditions can cause costs to vary significantly. Story Height (l.f.): 18 Floor Area (s.f.): 10,000 Data Release: Year 2012 Quarter 2 Wage Rate: Union Basement: Not included

Cost Ranges	Low	Med	High
Total:	$1,094,850	$1,216,500	$1,520,625
Contractor's Overhead & Profit:	$273,600	$304,000	$380,000
Architectural Fees:	$95,850	$106,500	$133,125
Total Building Cost:	$1,464,300	$1,627,000	$2,033,750

As a team we decided not to construct the kiosks for a few reasons. If kiosks were built in the middle of Browder street  we thought the fixtures would have the potential to clog the area and not allow for a walk through scene. The vendors would be seasonal with limited hours of operation due to the generic foods or retail items being sold. To add the generic vendors may have a challenge generating the sales required to maintain there business long term, thus creating a substantial turnover of tenants. The best route to a well known and lucrative site is branding Browder Street Plaza and having well known tenants occupy the space with the long term in mind. Because of the sophisticated environment that Downtown Dallas 360 envisions, not having brand named tenants in the plaza could be very risk to the future of the site. 

Introduction: Browder Street Plaza Response to RFP

Since the idea and development of the City of Dallas downtown tunnels in the late 1960s by Vincent Ponte, downtown Dallas has had to find a way to rebound. The tunnels separated retail and restaurant shopping from ground level pedestrians. In 2012 the downtown scene is roaring back to life, with many companies moving there headquarters there and many households moving down town as well. The City of Dallas, along with the Browder Street Plaza is positioned to reap the benefits of being right in the heart of this catastrophic change. 


Arien Ramsire is Founder and Principal Broker of Units of America, LLC. Mr. Ramsire has an extensive background in commercial real estate, specializing in Tenant Representation and the brokerage of multifamily assets. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a B.B.A. in Finance and he is currently attending the University of Texas at Arlington pursing a Master of Science in Real Estate. His skill set also includes market analysis, lease analysis, site analysis, and construction management. Although most of his recent activity has centered in the D/FW area; he has also conducted business in various locations around Texas. He has been a practicing commercial real estate broker since 2006.


The Other Partner in the project is Robert Griffin who is a shopping center specialist with 15 years of asset management experience over seeing the leasing, operations, and capital investment of shopping centers across the United States. Robert earned a M.S. in Finance in 1991 from the University of Texas at Dallas. He holds the designations of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and the designation of Certified Property Manager (CPM). Mr. Griffin is also an active Texas Real Estate Broker licensee. He has professional memberships in the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), the CCIM institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

The types of retail/restaurants planned will cater to the age 25-50 working class that are into health awareness and also keen on environmentally friendly products. The 5,500 sqft "glass box" building being proposed for the private vacant lot will be constructed with a goal of Platinum LEED certification in mind. Whether it's an evening out for dinner, a convenient place to meet friends and co-workers for happy hour, or lunch on the go, Browder Plaza will be more than just food, drinks, and shopping, it'll be an experience!

Primary Contact:

 Arien Ramsire

  P.O. Box 142093

Irving, TX 75014

Phone: 214.564.8318

arien@unitsofamerica.com

Meetings Scheduled

After quite a few calls, email, and some hand written letters I have a few meetings scheduled for next week.

Patrick Batteaux: Lender - Wells Fargo Commercial - usually only owner occupied new construction. would definitely need to be fully pre-leased.

Tamela Thornton: Developer - SmithCypress Partners (rescheduled until July 3rd)

Montey Bush: Lender/Private Equity

Eve Clark: General Contractor - MEB Construction. Too busy to talk.
Carolyn Schwartz:  City of Dallas Buyer- Very helpful, always available.
Robert Griffin: Retail Broker - shared a lot of information and other contacts

Ramsire Development Co. will be constructing a Response to the Request For Proposal from the City of Dallas. "Browder Street Plaza", the site site directly behind the AT&T headquarters in Downtown Dallas.