Dallas Apartments to be Sold in Foreclosed Homes Auctions
A high-profile luxury apartment complex in the West End portion of downtown Dallas will be one of 184 investment properties to be sold at foreclosed homes auctions in Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin counties in September.
The 1001 Ross Avenue apartment complex, which was built in 2003, consists of over 200 apartment units, with retail units at street level and residential units above ground. It is owned by real estate investment firm Jefferson on Ross Avenue LP.
The apartment complex is set to be sold off in the scheduled auctions after Jefferson on Ross Avenue failed to pay its loan balance owed to Bank of America. The original loan amount was $29.3 million, according to a Texas-based foreclosure research firm.
In the city’s list of foreclosure filings for commercial real estate properties, there are properties with over $496 million in unpaid loans. The largest loans are mostly for apartment projects and there are about 50 foreclosure filings involving apartments.
Additionally, there are more than 30 parcels of land also set for foreclosure auctions in September. Among these are large development projects in Denton County, on State Highway 114, and in North Fort Worth, on State Highway 380.
As of January, commercial real estate foreclosures have jumped by over 10 percent compared to the same period last year.
Texas housing analysts also have observed that the type and quality of properties entering foreclosure are changing. Properties in the higher end of the market are now getting foreclosed.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, nearly 1,700 commercial real estate properties have been foreclosed, including those already posted for the September auctions.
In an interview with some tenants of the Jefferson at 1001 Ross Avenue apartment complex, it appeared that most tenants do not know that their complex is in foreclosure.
Tenant Linda Melcher said she has a lease that ends on August 2010. She is concerned about the effect of the foreclosure on her lease and on the other tenants of the complex.
Recently, a restaurant opened on one of the units on the ground floor, but most of the retail spaces are empty.
Another tenant, Rick Owen, said that several commercial tenants have failed to progress so they moved out, including Cold Stone Creamery and a taco business.
Nevertheless, the tenants are still hoping that the owners and the bank can reach an agreement or that the new owners can run the complex well.
