DALLAS — This story originally appeared in the Dallas Business Journal, a WFAA news partner.
A chicken finger-slinging billionaire has reportedly bought an ultra-luxury condo on top of an up-and-coming Dallas high-rise.
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers founder Todd Graves purchased a penthouse on the top two floors of a massive project under construction along Knox and Travis streets, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified disclosing private information.
Graves has a net worth of $7.2 billion due to his nearly 90% ownership interest in the fast food chain, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The company has an office in Plano.
The million-square-foot development, which just broke ground, comprises three buildings: a 28-story hotel and condo tower, a 27-story apartment high-rise with 173 units and a nine-story office tower with 150,000 square feet of space. It will include 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a half-acre park that connects directly to the Katy Trail.
One of the project's penthouses was marketed for $25 million a few months ago, according to Bloomberg's source.
The project team for the three-building mixed-use hub along Knox Street near the Katy Trail and Highland Park is led by BDT & MSD Partners — which invests on behalf of Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and others — as well as Trammell Crow Co., Highland Park Village Associates and The Retail Connection. The project is being built by Balfour Beatty and Andres Construction. It is expected to open by 2026.
Plano-based Beal Bank originated a $619.45 million loan for the development, which includes both permanent and construction financing.
A BDT & MSD Partners representative declined to comment. Trammell Crow Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Joel Behrens, managing director for the Trammell Crow Co., said construction crews will be digging the massive hole on the project site for about a year to house 700,000 square feet for underground parking before the project goes vertical.
"Once we come out of the ground, Knox Street is going to be home to Dallas' finest hotel and residences," Behrens said at a groundbreaking event Jan. 10.
Allie Beth Allman & Associates is the listing brokerage for the condos. Behrens said the project will deliver what he describes will be the first five-star residential experience in a highly walkable mixed-use Dallas neighborhood.
"It takes a lot to entitle, design and capitalize a project of this scale in any environment, let alone through Covid, a massive run-up in interest rates, growing geopolitical tensions," Behrens said. "Yet here we are."
