The mixed-use commercial space at downtown’s redeveloped Seaholm Power Plant is under contract to be sold to Clarion Partners, an investor based in New York, the Austin American-Statesman’s Shonda Novak reported Tuesday.
Novak cited sources "with knowledge of the deal" but did not receive confirmation from marketers and developers who might be involved in sale of the site. A spokeswoman for city’s Economic Development Department told the Statesman reporter that the department did not have any information a buyer’s identity.
Seaholm Power, which the city chose to develop the old power plant site in 2015, put the complex’s commercial space up for sale in March, an offer that includes a 99-year lease on the power plant building and its 100,000-plus square feet of office space, for which the developer pays the city $1/year.
The developer has met the criteria needed to sell its interest in the buildings—it was required that it wait one year after all the space in the power plant building and office building are 75 percent leased and occupied—according to a source quoted in the article, but the city must consent to any sale under an agreement with the developer.
While talk of the sale reignited criticism that the city didn’t get enough civic and social benefits out of the development, Novak reported, the city’s project manager for Seaholm has previously stated that the city’s main objective was to preserve the 1951 building that, with its chimney stacks and metal Art Moderne signage, has long been a high-profile landmark. The building is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Novak also reported that Clarion Partners, the prospective buyer, recently purchased the largest office building in Dallas’ Victory Park development.