Look At All The HQs Relocating to Dallas
Office projects are rocking DFW from the mammoth corporate campuses for State Farm to multi-tenant projects along the Dallas North Tollway. It's why we’re excited to bring you the DFW Office: Everything You Need to Know event on Nov. 18 (7:30am) at Providence Towers. You can register here. We've rounded up a few of the speakers to give you a preview of what's in store.
Billingsley Co just completed two spec office projects at Cypress Waters and is starting a new 215k SF four-story spec building there next year, Billingsley SVP of investments and build-to-suits Marijke Lantz tells us. 7-Eleven is moving its HQ from One Arts Plaza into a new build-to-suit (under construction) there, too, joining Nationstar’s recently opened HQ. Billingsley also has another 194k SF spec project breaking ground in Q1 in the IBP 190 development at Midway and the President George Bush Turnpike.
There’s still a lot of growth in North Dallas and across the Metroplex, Marijke says. Corporate relocations, expansions and businesses looking to move into more efficient buildings are among the drivers. Free from recession caution, companies looking to attract new talent need to change the work environment to appeal to three generations, she tells us.
Amenities are a big part of new office projects, Marijke says. Tenants want both indoor and outdoor spaces, whether it’s in downtown or in the ‘burbs. People like to take the laptop outside under a gazebo in the park, while still having WiFi. Outside work, Marijke is an avid skier, racing in high school and college. Her favorite slope: Steamboat (here she is skiing there with her two daughters; the oldest, Ahnie, starts at JLL next week in agency leasing).
KDC is heading up the 2.1M SF State Farm corporate campus, as well as the Toyota HQ that is on its way to Plano, says KDC SVP Bill Guthrey (here with Wicker & Associates' Jim Judge). Bill likes to think of these build-to-suit projects as custom homes for corporate America. State Farm will start the first phase of occupancy in January with the last building delivering in 2016. Toyota will break ground in Q1, but it may be the end of 2016 or early 2017 before the space is occupied.
Bill thinks both of these projects represent pure growth of both office space and jobs rather than a simple reshuffling. The new office construction is meeting new demands for energy efficiency, larger floor plates and a greater amount of natural light. KDC is also developing the 500k SF Raytheon project in Cityline as well as a 280k SF facility for FedEx in Legacy West across from the Toyota site. Away from work, you can find Bill playing tennis or golf. He’s got two kids (a junior at Texas Tech and an eighth-grader).
Champion Partners likes to buy value-add office that it renovates, stabilizes and turns over, but development may be on the horizon, Champion co-managing partner Steve Modory (right, with HFF’s Jud Clements at a broker-developer luncheon earlier this year) tells us. He declined to go into the specifics, but tells us Champion has sites in Las Colinas and on the North Dallas Tollway that may be turned into office projects. Champion sold five buildings this year--Tower 2600 and the four-building Galatyn Campus in Richardson--all part of 11 office buildings Champion has acquired since 2010, Steve says.T
In May, Champion acquired 3500 Maple in Uptown in a foreclosure sale in partnership with Building and Land Technology out of Stamford, CT. Look for a major renovation and re-leasing there. That project (by the Old Parkland campus that Harlan Crow is redeveloping) is near the new Oak Lawn exit off the North Dallas Tollway in an area that continues to change for the better, he says.
Lease structures for office properties are changing, says Henry S Miller president Mark O’Briant. “We have already seen a change from full-service to base-year plus E and J and now they are moving to NNN, especially for newer and medical office space,” he says. The significance is how office brokers compare space from building to building and will need to educate the office tenant on (more) reimbursements, Mark says. The outcome could be a need for more detailed analysis during conversions to NNN leases and more emphasis on property management and cost. When not working, Mark spends time with his wife, takes motorcycle rides, and serves in a prison ministry. There are many more projects to discuss, so come hear our all-star panel at Bisnow's DFW Office: Everything You Need to Know event on Nov. 18 (7:30am) at Providence Towers. Sign up today!
