Several of Jackson Walker's clients were honored on February 26 at the Dallas Business Journal's 17th Annual Best Real Estate Deals Awards. The Best Real Estate Deals Awards, known as the "Oscars" of the Dallas-Fort Worth real estate industry, are given to outstanding real estate transactions in the region. The awards gala took place at the Westin Galleria in Dallas, Texas.

Winning the award for Best Office Deal – Existing Space was JW client Chesapeake Energy, for a transaction involving the acquisition of a 20-story office building in downtown Fort Worth. The building was formerly the corporate headquarters of Pier 1 Imports Inc. The transaction, which Jackson Walker partner Susan Halsey handled, involved over $100 million dollars, 460,000 square feet of office space, and 14.7 acres of real estate. This deal was also a finalist for the Best Commercial Property Sale award.

Another winner was JW client Valencia Capital Management, which received the Best New Mixed-Use Development award for Midtown Park, an 83-acre planned development in North Dallas. Midtown Park, a development that Jackson Walker has been involved with since its conception, will include high-rise condominiums, luxury town homes, a medical office building, and retail shops, as well as parks and public spaces, hike and bike trails, and easy access to a DART light rail station. JW partners Susan Mead and Suzan Kedron assisted Valencia and its consultants in obtaining the mixed-use planned development zoning district and the over $9 million in infrastructure bond money from the City of Dallas needed to implement the plan.

A third JW client, Bank of America, played a significant role in the Best New Retail/Hospitality Project. The development that won the award is The Village at Allen and The Village at Fairview, two contiguous mixed-used developments that will have a combined total of more than 3 million square feet of commercial space. Bank of America was the administrative agent on the construction loans for the projects and was represented by Jackson Walker attorneys Mike Haggerty, Debbie Robinowitz and Susan Halsey. The Village at Allen and The Village at Fairview, projects of MGHerring Group, will include anchor stores, specialty shops, restaurants, a cinema, a hotel and convention center, and more.

Also honored at the Best Real Estate Deals Awards were JW clients who were finalists for awards.

Crescent Real Estate Equities was included in a nomination for the Best Office Deal – Existing Space award. The nominated transaction involved the relocation of Tenet Healthcare Corp. to the Fountain Place building in downtown Dallas, which is owned by Crescent. The lease transaction, which was handled by Susan Halsey, involved 165,000 square feet of office space on five floors of the business tower and represented a major step in the revitalization and expansion of downtown Dallas.

Another finalist for the Best New Mixed-Use Development award was the Watters Creek development, a 1.15 million square-foot mixed-use development of upscale restaurants, retailers and businesses that is part of the environmentally-conscious Montgomery Farm community. Jackson Walker attorneys Bill Dahlstrom and Myron Dornic represented Emerson Partners, the Master Developer for the project, and Trademark Properties, the purchaser of the retail portion of the development, in connection with negotiating economic development incentives, forming a tax increment financing district and other zoning matters.

Jackson Walker is proud to congratulate its clients on these honors.