Texas Firm Announced as New Marquis Buyer in York

By Samantha Thrift Thursday, June 16, 2011

York County has announced that Todd Interests, a Texas real estate investment firm, is the developer who purchased the Marquis at Williamsburg in March.

Located near the intersection of Interstate 64 and Route 199 and adjacent to Water Country USA, the 223-acre development has 268,691 square feet of anchor stores, including J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods. It is also anchored by a Target, which was not included in the sale.

The developer inherited $38 million in debt, owed to the Marquis Community Development Authority, construction companies that performed site work and tenants who paid for some building construction expecting to be repaid.

The Marquis, which opened its first store in October 2007, was originally developed by Premier Properties USA. Premier went bankrupt in 2008, with investor Dominion Capital taking control. When Dominion didn’t make payments, primary lender CIT foreclosed on Dominion and took ownership of the Marquis. Progress ground to a halt, and very little of the proposed development was built.

Todd Interests President Shawn Todd stated in a press release that he was optimistic about the property despite its troubled past.  

“Over the last three and a half years, the Marquis has survived the perfect storm, having weathered a defunct developer, a national recession and continuing indebtedness,” Todd said. “But I am looking forward to building out a quality project, and to working with York County, the current tenants, and other vested parties to take this development to its full potential.”

Earlier this year, the Dallas Observer reported Todd was redeveloping the former U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in downtown Dallas. That news brought accolades from politicians and preservationists alike, the paper wrote.

Todd Interests is a Dallas-based firm that "acquires and develops unique real estate investment opportunities on a national scope, partnering with high-net worth individuals as well as private and institutional opportunity funds whose focus is toward exceeding the greater-than-average return," according to its website. In particular, the company "specifically seeks exclusive, targeted opportunities that are positioned for an innovative, highly strategic investor capable of redeveloping - sometimes renovating, sometimes reinventing the project."