Dallas Infomart Owners Seek Financing

The owners of the Infomart, one of the major carrier hotels in the Dallas market, are seeking $135 million in debt financing for the property. ASB Capital Management, which is a partner with DCI Technology Holdings in ownership of the Informart, has hired Jones Lang LaSalle's real estate banking division to help arrange the financing, according to the Dallas News.

The Dallas Infomart is a 1.2 million square foot technology hub that is currently 97 percent leased, with tenants including SoftLayer, The Planet, Dataside and Switch and Data, as well as network providers including MCI, Allegiance Telecom and Level 3.

The Infomart was built by Trammell Crow in 1980, and was initially envisioned as a hub for computer industry trade shows. The struggling facility found a niche in the early 1990s when it began leasing space to telecom tenants. In recent years the building was owned by Nexcomm Asset Acquisitions, which took out a $115 million loan on the building with GMAC Commercial Mortgages. DCI Technology acquired the loan and declared in Nexcomm in default, but the two companies eventually reached a settlement, according to local media accounts.

The Infomart is a distinctive facility, and in many respects an atypical carrier hotel. The building's glass facade was designed to be a replica of the Crystal Palace, built in London in 1851 as part of the first World's Fair. During the dot-com boom, the facility's owners sought to expand by buying properties in Boston and Los Angeles, but later divested both sites.

The owners are seeking a five-year loan, and they expect to attract the interest of both domestic and foreign investors. "This asset is one of the most recognizable and high quality buildings in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, and one of this country's most renowned and advanced office buildings," Jones Lang LaSalle's Martin Kamm said in a statement.