Fountain Place | Dallas
Early in his career, Grant was appointed as the senior U.S. commercial development executive for Campeau Corporation, a Toronto-based real estate company. Campeau had purchased major office building sites in both Houston and Dallas. The planned projects were very ambitious: a twin tower scheme of more than 2 million square feet in Dallas and an 80-story, two million square foot tower in Houston. When he assumed the management of the Dallas and Houston development offices, Grant was tasked with terminating both projects and disposing of the building sites. In Houston, he negotiated the sale of the company’s property to a local builder and achieved what was then a record price for land in downtown. In Dallas, however, he identified a local developer who agreed to a long-term ground lease of the building site. Under the terms of the lease, Campeau earned an initial annual return of 11% on its land cost plus a 15% carried interest in the office project, then called Fountain Place. The magnificent building, designed by I.M. Pei, became a Dallas landmark. Following the completion of the tower, a severe market downturn resulted in foreclosure of the developer’s interest by the lender. However, the ground lease did not provide for subordination of the fee. As a result, the company preserved – and ultimately realized - the full value of the underlying land.
Hayes Mansion Conference Resort | San Jose
The City of San Jose acquired ownership of the Hayes Mansion, a magnificent residence built in 1905 by a prominent local family, with more than 60 rooms and a place on the National Register of Historic Places. It had been vacant for nearly a decade when we proposed to fully restore the property and convert it to conference center use. With three phases of renovation and expansion over 8 years, the Hayes Mansion ultimately offered 220 hotel rooms and suites, 18 dedicated meeting rooms, three restaurants, and a full spa; it became the premier corporate conference center in Northern California. The City made the property available under a long-term, participating ground lease and provided nearly 90% of the required funding through a series of municipal bond offerings. Grant negotiated both the land lease and financing arrangements on behalf of Network Conference Company.