Cawley Partners started construction last week on a 250k SF regional HQ for Alcatel-Lucent on 18 acres at the intersection of Independence Parkway and Lotus Drive in Plano as part of a JV with PCCP. This move will provide a cutting-edge, consolidated and regional HQ for the firm, says Cawley Partners’ Bill Cawley. Bill says the new construction is on the existing Alcatel-Lucent campus (where they are operating in existing buildings now.) Cawley bought those buildings as part of this deal and will likely transform them into a data center and a high-density call center, he tells us.

Bill (left, with Velocis' Jim Yoder, speaking at a Bisnow event last year) says the existing buildings don't fit the way Alcatel-Lucent does business today and a new HQ was needed. Bank of the Ozarks provided the construction financing. The project, designed by Morrison Dillworth + Walls and constructed by Hill & Wilkinson, will be completed by Q3 ‘16. The building will include state-of-the-art labs, creative work areas and a rooftop terrace for employees. Earlier this year, Alcatel-Lucent announced its plans to join forces with Nokia, but Bill says that deal never came up in negotiations.