Why is the Platinum Corridor the address to have for new projects from office to mixed-use? There’s an educated (and young) workforce, great schools and abundant housing options in every direction. That’s why we’re excited to bring you the inside scoop at Bisnow’s Future of the Platinum Corridor event on Feb. 25 (7:30am start) at One Hanover Park in Addison. Register here.

One of the pioneers of development along the North Dallas Tollway is the 2.2M SF Hall Office Park at 3001 Dallas Pkwy. The 162-acre office park has 16 buildings with a 17th (300k SF) in the works, says Hall Financial Group director of leasing Kim Vincent Butler (far right, with Transwestern’s Nora Hogan and Colliers International’s Greg Cannon at the NTCAR Stemmons Awards event last month). Kim says the plethora of projects under construction around the complex will provide additional amenities like restaurants, retail and hotels that will benefit Hall’s office tenants.

Kim says people need to be realistic about the new project announcements, because they won’t all happen at one time, nor in one cycle. One exception may be the Cowboys project, which is definitely coming and will most likely be built out in one phase with the exception of the additional speculative office along the Tollway, she tells us. Kim doesn’t anticipate any other major spec, multi-tenant office developments. These are still hard deals to get done with lots of equity required and the lending community hasn’t relaxed its standards on financing, she says. There are more build-to-suits on the horizon. The market is right and with all that we’ve seen so far, there will be more corporate consolidations, she says.

Billingsley SVP investments and build-to-suits Marijke Lantz (between daughters Avalon and Ahnie) tells us company patriarch Henry Billingsley saw the future of development in the North Dallas area, actively pursuing land acquisitions, including IBP and Austin Ranch, for years. Henry started the land acquisitions in the late '70s before it became a hot area, Marijke tells us. Billingsley saw this area continuing to grow with educated workforce, access, the right demographics and pro-business cities.

Billingsley is actively pursuing build-to-suit deals at International Business Park (pictured); International Business Park 190 at Midway; and Austin Ranch, including campus opportunities. She tells us the firm is finalizing the design of a new 195k SF building at IBP 190 and anticipates having a large vacancy at IBP in the next 18 months, which is a great opportunity to have a vacancy with a high parking ratio in a growing market.

With some large land sites available along the Tollway, Marijke thinks there is opportunity for corporations that want to create their own corporate identity and campus. Light rail expansion can cement the region's status, she says. It will be needed in the next 10 years to help with impending traffic as housing in a five-mile radius is getting more dense with multifamily projects, including Billingsley’s Boathouse (500 units) and Lake District after that (more than 600 units). Register here for the Bisnow Future of the Platinum Corridor event.