Feb 6, 2014, 12:31pm CST
J.C. Penney land to be home to massive $2B development
It's been 15 years since J.C. Penney Co. Inc.'s prime acreage along Legacy Drive in Plano caught the eye of longtime Legacy-area developer Fehmi Karahan.
Now, Karahan -- along with a development partnership that includes J.C. Penney-- expects to begin plans to develop 240 acres of recently purchased J.C. Penney land into a $2 billion mixed-use development called Legacy West that could rival the neighboring 168-acre Legacy Town Center.
"We see this as a continuation of Legacy Town Center," Karahan told the Dallas Business Journal."The project could include offices, multifamily, retail, a hotel and maybe some corporate campus uses ... I would venture the value of Legacy Town Center exceeds $1.2 billion, and at this point, the 240 acres fully-developed could exceed $2 billion."
Karahan, who also developed the Shops at Legacy, declined to disclose the details of the land deal that closed Wednesday, citing a confidentiality agreement with the Plano-based retailer.
Paul Swinand, retail analyst at investment research firm Morningstar, had previously valued the vacant chunk of land at about $300 million. He later released a more conservative estimate of $150 million.
"It’s not land in Chicago or Manhattan, but Plano’s not nowhere," he said. "Land is not free there."
The development partnership, dubbed Team Legacy, includes The Karahan Cos., Columbus Realty and Dallas-based KDC, which is developing CityLine, the massive State Farm-anchored mixed-use development in Richardson.
As part of the deal, J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) will retain a large ownership stake in the partnership, which will develop the 240-acre project. J.C. Penney has owned the tract of land at the southwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway and State Highway 121 since 1987, after the retailer moved from New York. Penney will not serve as the landlord of the property once the sale is finalized, according to Penney.
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2014/02/06/...-massive-2b.html