Team Tabani participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Foundation in Dallas, TX.  The Komen Dallas Race for the Cure is an annual 1K and 5K fundraising run/walk event held at NorthPark Center. It is a co-ed race and great fun for the entire family. The Race is in its 27th year and is part of a national 5K series sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. The goal of the event is to raise funds, heighten awareness and educate people about breast health as well as to recognize and celebrate breast cancer survivorship. The Race is the largest fundraising event for local breast cancer screening, treatment, education and research in Dallas County.

The Natchez Democrat

Published Wednesday, August 27, 2008

NATCHEZ — The Natchez mall is about to get a little bigger.

That’s because an expansion project by the Tabani Group, the mall’s owner, is currently in the works that will grow the mall by 12,000 square feet.

That new growth will add four new retail shops and possibly one restaurant said mall manager Marie Lofton.

But the new growth will not be within the confines of the mall.

Instead, Lofton said the project calls for the construction of a strip-mall in front of the already existing mall.

While preliminary work started approximately two weeks ago Lofton said recent rains have slowed the project’s progress.

“The weather plays a big part in it,” she said of the project.

Regardless of weather Ross Harle, Tabani’s asset manager, said Dec. 31, is the projected date to have construction completed and possibly have new businesses moved in.

“We hope to be operational by then,” he said.

While the project is still in the early stages, Harle said two shops have already signed on to lease space in the new facility.

Lofton said so far a video game store and a beauty supply shop have signed up to be part of the mall’s extended family.

And Harle said the decision to develop outside the physical structure of the mall is a trend that’s becoming increasingly popular in mall development.

“There’s a great deal of space there,” he said of the parking lot area. “And it’s a great way to create some buzz outside the mall.”

The Dallas Business Journal has awarded Zaf Tabani with the honor of being one of the top 50 Minority Owned Business Leaders in the DFW Metroplex.   This honor is awarded to owners of minority businesses who have had an impact in the community and are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.   For 2009 Zaf Tabani ranked at number 17!

A hulking, empty Wal-Mart shopping center on Main Street in Plainfield has been sold to a Dallas-based real estate investment group with big plans for redevelopment.

In a court-approved sale, the Tabani Group has acquired the former center at 2575 E. Main St. that was owned by financially troubled Premier Properties.

Tabani also bought the nearby Main Street Crossing strip retail center built by Premier at Perry Road and Main Street. It is a smaller center that was anchored by Joe's Grille and Cord Camera, but both businesses closed last month.

Indianapolis-based Premier is facing a blizzard of lawsuits over unpaid debts in several states, where mortgage holders foreclosed on loans, and Premier's founder, Christopher White, is facing fraud charges in Indianapolis.

Plainfield officials said new ownership for some of Premier's real estate may help preserve the successful buildings and remodel the older prime locations along Main such as the former Wal-Mart.

"We're very excited to be in the Plainfield market because of all the potential. The demographics and the excitement in the whole trade area are encouraging," said Jeremiah Sunden, national sales director for Tabani.

"We see Plainfield as one of the three fastest-growing (retail) markets in Indiana because of its history of population growth and in the (nearby) industrial parks.

"Even in difficult times, there is always demand for good real estate."

The regional shopping and dining district along Main and around Metropolis is still busy with shoppers despite the nationwide recession.

The 23-acre Wal-Mart site with a long-vacant building of nearly 200,000 square feet is a valuable property in the heart of Plainfield's commercial corridor. It has been empty since 2005, when Wal-Mart built a new supercenter and moved several blocks to the west.

Premier then bought the old Wal-Mart, which is next to the J.C. Penney store and Metropolis.

Though Premier never announced firm plans for the former Wal-Mart, company representatives talked of several possibilities. It could be redeveloped with several tenants or it could be torn down to open up the view from heavily traveled Main Street toward Metropolis.

Tabani hasn't finalized a plan for using the vacant building. "One of the great things about former Wal-Mart buildings is their flexibility," Sunden said.

However, Tabani's Web site does show a new plan for the center to be renamed the Shops at Metropolis.

The company is touting an artist's sketch that shows at least one possible renovation of the long-low department store building converted to a strip center. There could be several new main doorways so that each major tenant would have an entry.

The upscale design would be similar to the modern facade on both the Metropolis mall and the prairie style architecture of the new Plainfield High School that opened last year.

"We're open to any suggestion. We've learned to be creative and to have open minds as we look to backfill the space," Sunden said

Dallas-based Tabani Group has purchased two neighborhood shopping centers, Golden Beach Marketplace in Fort Worth and The Shoppes at Deer Creek in Crowley.

Tom Salanty, of the capital markets group of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas, represented the seller of both properties, Weingarten Realty Investors of Houston. The sale price was undisclosed.

Anchored by Albertsons, Golden Beach Marketplace is a 93,430-square-foot center at the southeast corner of Golden Triangle Boulevard and North Beach Street. It is the only grocery-anchored shopping center serving the northeast Fort Worth neighborhood. Other major tenants include Blockbuster Video, Pizza Hut and Sonic.

The 87,571-square-foot Shoppes at Deer Creek is located on the northwest corner of FM 1187 and FM 731/South Crowley Road. It is 85 percent leased to 15 tenants, including Blockbuster, Edward Jones, Planet Beach and Pizza Hut.

FelCor Lodging Trust Inc. (NYSE: FCH) has sold the Crowne Plaza North Dallas Hotel, in Addison, the company's real estate advisers said Thursday.
 
The Irving-based hotel real estate investment trust sold the hotel to the Tabani Group, a privately held real estate development company based in Carrollton. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Zaffar Tabani, president of The Tabani Group, said his company plans to renovate the hotel, retain the Crowne Plaza franchise and engage Matrix Hospitality Group to manage the property. Tabani said he is enthusiastic about the hotel's future earning's prospects. The hotel has seen revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth of more than 7 percent in 2004.

For every NorthPark Center and Stonebriar Center mall, there are a dozen smaller retail centers like Southlake Corners or Ensenada Square.
 
And with the demand for existing retail properties continuing to outstrip supply, the Dallas-Fort Worth retail real estate market this year has seen steady interest from large and small investors alike, according to some brokers.
 
Compared with other parts of the country, retail properties in North Texas are cheap. That has many investors looking for diamond-in-the-rough qualities.
 
Take Southlake Corners in northeast Tarrant County, for example. A few years ago, the shopping center was an eyesore with a dark Wal-Mart and an unattractive facade. Developer Archon Group LP of Irving purchased the 135,128-square-foot property and repositioned it into a higher revenue-generating community center that counts Circuit City, Staples and The Home Depot Floor Store among its tenants.
 
"(Archon) took an older center with a vacant Wal-Mart and turned it into a sought-after asset for investors in the market," said Douglas Hazelbaker, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis' Dallas office, adding that more than 100 bidders responded to the initial offering.
 
The Inland Real Estate Group of Cos., one of the largest shopping-center owners in the nation, recently acquired Southlake Corners for an undisclosed sum. Hazelbaker and Ryan Shore represented Archon Group of Irving in the sale.

In Arlington, local investor Tabani Group Inc. snapped up Ensenada Square, a one-story retail center located at 301 S. Bowen Road, anchored by a Kroger grocery store. Stephannie Mower, vice president of PM Realty Group, brokered the sale.
 
Mower says the Ensenada transaction is typical of a strong demand from savvy smaller investors with experience.
 
"Ensenada Square is not going to attract some of the more national money, but it was attractive for many smaller investors because it offered a good location in a good submarket," Mower said.
 
Second-half rally
 
Although the year started off slow, retail property trading activity has picked up in the third and fourth quarters, Hazelbaker said.
"At the beginning of the year, interest rates went up pretty substantially, and the market took a little pause. But now we are seeing a normal pace of activity. Investors are aggressively looking at retail properties," Hazelbaker said.
 
So far, Hazelbaker and Shore's deal volume is up from last year. Their year-to-date transaction volume throughout Texas represents about 1.13 million square feet of retail.
 
Mower says that PM Realty Group's volume of deals in the D-FW market is only slightly higher than last year, while national volume is up about 20%.
 
The outlook for retail property sales in 2007 looks positive especially in consistently high-performing North Texas markets. But taking into account a slowdown in the housing market, there may be trouble ahead for some property owners in second-tier and third-tier markets outside of the core Dallas-Fort Worth markets, Mower said.
 
"I think there is going to be some fallout in terms of potential foreclosures for centers bought in 2004 and 2005. Some people overpaid -- they just didn't understand retail," Mower said.

Zaffar Tabani founded the Tabani Group in 1981. The Carrollton-based commercial property and investment company has operations in Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Tabani was interviewed by Staff Writer Pavan Lall.
 
Q. Being the first to locate a turnaround candidate or undervalued property is key for a commercial real estate firm like yours. How do you best the competition?
 
A. In today's competitive real estate environment, such opportunities rarely find you -- you must find them. One must leverage relationships to find those special situation properties to become the go-to person for troubled deals by seeing angles in deals that others cannot. It comes down to vision, experience and reputation.
Q. What's one red flag that commercial developers can miss when making acquisitions?

A. Having the finances to complete an acquisition. I assume that costs will overrun, financing won't be as plentiful as envisioned or tenants will underpay. I picked up some of my best deals from developers who ran out of money before a project was completed. In today's environment, an increasingly common mistake is not realizing energy costs have increased -- pricing investment based on last year's profits makes little sense for office and hotel properties where energy costs are significant.
 
Q. How does a real estate firm identify and manage contractor capability problems that arise after a deal has been signed?

A. It's the objective of any serious real estate investor to eliminate as many unknowns as possible as part of the due diligence prior to closing a deal. There should be few surprises, if any. We work collaboratively at the onset to ensure success. Should there be disagreements, they are best diffused by working through with the right senior people on the other end.

Q. How does the Texas market compare to California, in terms of locating deals and profitability margins?

A. The two markets are similar in size and scope. However, pricing expectations are higher in California. Texas sellers are more pragmatic. Most investors recall the last real estate pullback during the 1990s, and the ever-increasing new properties adding to competition in (Texas) markets. As California investors foray into Texas, we are seeing the California mentality developing here, making deals difficult to ferret out. In my opinion, Texas currently offers more compelling opportunities at the moment.

Owners of Keller Crossing retail center are set to close on an additional one and a half acres of adjoining land this week to expand the development. Keller Crossing, located near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 1709 and Keller-Smithfield Road, would add 9,800 square feet of retail space to its current 125,000 square feet.
“It’s a very good area and we were interested in expanding our holdings,” said Mushtak Khatri, acquisitions director for Tabani Group Inc., the property’s owner.
Keller Crossing boasts a Stein Mart, Tuesday Morning, Big Lots and several smaller retailers currently and Khatri said he is already in talks to fill the expanded space.
“We’re talking to Verizon, Dunkin’ Donuts, FedEx, the kind of people who would be interested in such a project,” he said. “I am confident we’ll have the space leased soon.”
Tabani will market the new retail space at $26 to $28 per square foot.
Tabani purchased the shopping center in 2007 and converted an 85,000-square-foot former Winn-Dixie shell into three retail spaces. In December 2007, Tabani added a 38,000-square-foot Stein Mart, which filled the project.
Khatri said his firm will purchase the land for an undisclosed amount from private property owners Rob and Janis Jones.
Though Khatri said he is mainly in talks with retailers, leasing the space to a restaurant is on his radar.
“Keller needs more restaurants and we’ve had some interest,” he said. “I could see a restaurant going in there.”
Tabani owns two other Tarrant County retail centers: Golden Beach Marketplace on Golden Triangle Boulevard in north Fort Worth and Sublett Crossing in Arlington.

Dallas-based T.F. Stone Cos. Inc. sold the 42,504-square-foot office building at 16600 N. Dallas Parkway in Dallas to Tabani Group, Inc., also of Dallas.

The four-story office building was constructed in 2002 on 1.18 acres in Dallas County.

The Tabani Group Inc., a Carrollton, Texas-based real estate investment company, has bought Raleigh  marketplace at 3421-3489 Austin Peay Highway for $7.1 million. Tabani bought the property under a limited liability entity named Tabani Raleigh TN LLC; the seller was Brauvin Raleigh LLC Raleigh Springs Marketplace is a 114,200-square-foot shopping center built in 1983 on the south side of Yale Road. The southeast part of the property fronts Austin Peay Highway. The center is anchored by A.J. Wright discount apparel and home-fashion store and -A-Lot grocery store. No out parcels were included in the sale. The Shelby County Assessor's 2007 appraisal was $3.9 million. Raleigh Springs Marketplace has about 20,000 square feet of vacant space, all in smaller bays, said  Tabani Group acquisitions manager Karim Bouaziz. The company is planning about a half-million-dollar renovation and re-façade with the goal of attracting more tenants. "We're actually in design phase now." Bouaziz said. "We're accepting and reviewing plans from some local architects, and we should have a re-façade plan chosen and start pulling permits and things like that within the next 30 to 60 days. So the renovation should be complete, we're hoping, by the first of June." The family-owned Tabani Group invests mostly in shopping centers. The majority of its holdings are near its Texas headquarters, but the company owns centers throughout the country and is looking to expand, Bouaziz said. "At present, Tabani does not have other holdings in Memphis; but we do like Memphis and we've looked at and are still looking at other sites in memphis" he said.