With Dallas-Fort Worth maintaining its stranglehold on the No. 1 spot for corporate relocations, office demand continues to grow in the rapidly expanding Collin County area.
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Allen EDC’s Dan Bowman, Gensler’s Barry Hand, KDC’s Aarica Mims, JPMorgan’s Graham Perry and Ranger Tax Consulting’s Alex Pace
High-profile relocations like AT&T and Samsung Electronics America have helped turn Collin County into a hot office, and massive projects like the 2,500-hectare Fields master-planned development in Frisco and the Dallas Stars $3B sports and entertainment district are set to greatly expand the area’s supplies.
“The office was gone for a while, but it’s back,” KDC Senior Vice President of Development Aarica Mims said during the event Bisnow‘s Collin County State Market event on October 15 at the Sheraton McKinney Hotel.
Employers are prepared to re-sign long-term agreements, but Mims said they want an on-site experience that will help employees return to work.
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Glenn Silva of Lone Star Pace, Princeton Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr., McKinney Mayor Bill Cox, Frisco Mayor Mark Hill, Allen Mayor Chris Schulmeister and Anna Mayor Pete Cain
The aviation-for-quality trend has powered office leasing and development throughout DFW in recent years, and Gensler principal Barry Hand said the tallest building is what the company is looking for throughout the metro.
“Whether it’s a hybrid environment or a great parking facility with concierge service … that’s where the employers are going to be the more advanced tenants,” Hand said, noting that the Fields project in Frisco really takes the aviation-for-quality trend to the next level.
Karahan Cos. and KDC recently announced plans to develop approximately 11M SF of office space at the luxury Fields project in Frisco. Fields was jointly developed and owned in partnership with Karahan and Hunt Realty Investments, along with investors Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital.
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Natasha Roach of Anna EDC, Eric Seitz of The Seitz Group, Bryn Carden of Weitzman, Mark Meyer of Hillwood, Gonzalo Echeverria of Mitra TBG and Brad Wells of Associa
The Stars district at Plano’s The Shops at Willow Bend Mall also plans to add 2M SF of Class-A office space to the district. Plano Economic Development Director Michael Talley said in June that the additional office space will help the city welcome a larger share of companies looking to relocate to DFW.
Beyond corporate relocations, companies in Collin County are also expanding their footprint in the region.
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Christy Pennington of Clark Hill, Ed Hogan of JVP Development, David Gawlas of Rosewood Property Co., Lance Taylor of Trademark Property Co., Jim Cuddihee of Moss & Associates and Scott Lowe of The Beck Group
While companies with a presence in North Texas have long had satellite offices in Collin County, many have become front-facing locations as the population grew in the northern suburbs. In addition to being closer to customers in growing cities, the move also brings the company closer to many of its employees.
AT&T’s move to Plano is a perfect example. The telecom titan’s new 2.3M SF Plano campus is expected to offer a shorter commute for the majority of AT&T’s DFW personnel, a company spokesperson said in January.
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Dallas Stars’ Brad Alberts, Cawley Partners’ Bill Cawley and Ryan Maher Maso
“This is a big win for Collin [County]and they are ready to see more of it,” Ranger Tax Consulting partner Alex Pace said of AT&T’s upcoming relocation from Downtown Dallas.
JPMorgan North Texas Market Executive Graham Perry, who works at the company’s regional headquarters in Plano’s Heritage West development, said he regularly gets questions from people asking about the Collin County area to be able to move. Cities like Frisco, Plano and McKinney are typically close to companies’ lists because of their high quality of life, pro-business environment and workforce that can support growth.
“Talent is everything behind growth in Collin County,” said Hand. “A lot of the corporate relocations you see are because there is talent in demand.”
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McKinney EDC Michael Kowski, T. Wilson Kirk Wilson, Craig International David Craig, Shop Cos.’ Tim Axilrod, Stillwater Capital’s Clay Roby and Wilks Development’s Chad Long
However, the responsiveness of local officials to the need for business relocation is also very important. Being able to meet a need quickly is refreshing for companies moving out of California, where government officials can feel unreachable and unresponsive, said Allen EDC CEO Dan Bowman.
Mims said it is also important that the county is intentional about growth, because it has land available that will continue to attract new companies to move. With that growth comes more traffic, so it’s important to maintain infrastructure to control commute times because that’s part of what drives companies out of Dallas County.
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Ken Moen of LJA Inc., Trevor Yealy of Avelo Airlines, Kenneth Carley of McKinney National Airport, Stephen Holley of Holley Development Co. and Elizabeth Tovarnak-Mow of the North Texas Tollway Authority.
When office space is available in the district, it will be fast. So the competition will be fierce among companies that want to be fast, because many new developments are still years away from delivery.
Many companies looking to relocate to these areas must decide between existing premises or suitable options.
“If you come to town and you’re looking for 250K SF in Collin County, there are probably four Class-A options that are in the ground today,” Mims said.
“There’s a lot of really cool Class-A office buildings that are in the works … that I think will be done very quickly, because of the demand for offices,” Mims said.