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                      Dallas-Fort Worth Business Journal                
Copyright Scripps-Howard Business Publications 1987;              
Business Dateline; Copyright (c) 1987 UMI/Data Courier

                                  July 6, 1987

SECTION: Vol 10; No 43; Sec 1; pg 21

LENGTH: 905 words

HEADLINE: Centrum Owners Forge Ahead With New Reorganization Plans

BYLINE: Anne Belli

DATELINE: Dallas; TX; US


 BODY:    The owners of the $ 85 million Centrum, close to a major 
reorganization of their ownership interests, plan to immediately begin a 
marketing campaign to boost the project and expect to sign several leases 
for the 467,000-square-foot development.

   "We're trying to give a new image to the project," said Karen Smith, 
retail development coordinator of the Centrum, which is located at the 
intersection of Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs Road.

   The Centrum was developed by Cedar Oak Ltd., a partnership comprised 
of William Lauterbach, chief executive officer of Argosy Development 
Corp.; William Hurd, president of Hurd Development Co.; DeWald 
Development Co.; KSI Enterprises of New York City; and  Stanley Rosenberg  
of San Antonio.  Construction of the project began in early 1985 and was 
expected to be complete in mid-1986.

   But then came the delays and the lawsuits.

   Although the Centrum itself was not mentioned, four Dallas banks in 
May 1986 filed four lawsuits against Hurd, saying he defaulted on 
approximately $ 10 million in loans, some of which were made to finance a 
tract of vacant land just east of the Centrum site.

   Hurd immediately placed the partnership that owned the land, Cedar 
Springs I Ltd., under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to evade 
foreclosure.  The land is now owned by FirstRepublic Bank Dallas.

   Although the lawsuit did not name the Centrum, real estate analysts 
say the suits affected the Oak Lawn project because in newspaper reports 
of his troubles Hurd was consistently referred to as "developer of the 
Centrum," even though Hurd was not a majority owner of the project.

   Another lawsuit also tainted the public's image of the project when 
the owners of the Argyle Apartments, Gargyle Corp., located a block away 
from the project at 3721 N. Hall St., sued Cedar Oak Ltd in June 1986.

   The owners of the apartments, which are managed by Transland 
Management Corp., charged that the Centrum's 65-foot clock tower exceeded 
a height limitation of 55 feet outlined in a deed restriction of the 
property.  The                                                                        
PAGE   33            Dallas-Fort Worth Business Journal  1987 UMI/Data 
Courier            

owners claimed the clock tower obstructed the view of the posh high-rise 
apartments.

   County records show the suit is still pending in the 160th District 
Court.

   In addition to the suits the Centrum has also been plagued with a 
number of construction delays.

   After topping out the project in December 1985, Cedar Oak Ltd.  issued 
press releases estimating that Avery Mays Construction Co.  would 
complete the building by July 1986.

   That date was later pushed back to the end of 1986, then to the fall 
of 1987 and, finally, to June 1, when the Rossetti and 
Associates-designed project was deemed ready for occupancy.

   Officials at Henry S. Miller Co. Realtors, which earlier this year was 
named exclusive leasing agent of the project's 250,000 square feet of 
prime office space as well as its 85,000 square feet of high-end retail, 
say they're eager to begin signing leases with prospective office 
tenants.

   But that hasn't been possible because of on-going negotiations between 
the owners of the property, American Savings & Loan Association, which 
provided the construction loan for the project, and Doviag Management USA 
Inc.

   Doviag, headed by James Hockert, is made up of Swiss investors and has 
been a silent partner in the Centrum since its inception.  Ownership of 
the property has already been renamed Centrum Development Ltd., Smith 
said.

   Hockert could not be reached for comment last week.

   "Basically they are going through a refinancing, which is not unusual 
in today's market," said John Crawford, executive vice president and 
general manager of Henry S. Miller.  "We are seriously talking about a 
lot of (leasing) deals now, and we're excited to finalize some of those 
deals."

   Byron McCoy and Ben Raines, the Henry S. Miller brokers actively 
trying to lease the office space, said as soon as the ownership 
reorganization is complete, they expect to sign several leases.  
"Basically we intend to have tenants in there by August 1," Raines said.

   McCoy and Raines said the base rate for office space is $ 24 a square 
foot, but they added, "We're being competitive." Effective rates range in 
between the mid- and high-teens, they said.

   Jackie DeGaugh, assistant vice president at Henry S. Miller, said 
several leases have already been signed for the Centrum's retail 
component.  Among future tenants are LeMarseille, a full-service 
specialty restaurant based in France; Visage, a ritzy nightclub; Pipino 
Buccheri, a vogue hair salon based in New York City; and Mucky Duck, an 
English-style pub.

   Retail rents, DeGaugh said, range from $ 18 to $ 25.

   Centrum Development plans to handle the sale of its 34 high-end 
condominiums. The residences cost between $ 316,000 for a 
1,393-square-foot unit with one

                                                                       
PAGE   34            Dallas-Fort Worth Business Journal  1987 UMI/Data 
Courier            

bedroom and one bath, to $ 1.9 million for a 5,010-square-foot, 
three-story penthouse with a view of downtown Dallas, said Jane 
Higginbotham, Centrum Development's director of sales.

   Higginbotham said although "contracts are being negotiated," none of 
the condos have actually been sold.

   In addition to moving in tenants as soon as possible.  Centrum 
Development has also recently hired Sunwest Communications Inc., a 
Dallas-based public relations firm, to assist in the marketing of the 
project.

   David Chortek, who was hired by Argosy Development to market the 
Centrum when construction of the project got underway, left the firm in 
November 1986.

SUBJECT: Mixed use developments; Building construction; Litigation; 
Bankruptcy; Leases; Southwest

NAME: William Hurd; Byron McCoy; Ben Raines

GEOGRAPHIC: Southwest Region; Dallas; TX; US

COMPANY: Cedar Oak Ltd; SIC: 6552 Henry S Miller Co Realtors; SIC: 
6512;6531 Centrum Development Ltd; SIC: 6552;6531