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November 2005 • Volume 2, Issue 11 This issue home | Past issues | Chamber home Brokers, Developers Take 'Grand Tour' Of Richardson Two 55-seat buses filled with Dallas-area commercial real estate brokers, leasing agents and developers got the grand tour of the Richardson office and tech scene on Friday afternoon, Oct. 21. They were participating in the Chamber's Brokers & Developers Committee annual Richardson Commercial Property Tour. The Brokers & Developers committee is tri-chaired by Talynn Otsuki, Onyx Realty Services; Bill Rudd, Crescent Real Estate Equities; and Scott Jessen, Colliers International, who worked with John Jacobs, senior vice president of economic development, and Sue Walker, vice president of economic development, both with the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, to organize the tour. The 2005 Broker-Developer Commercial Property Bus Tour was hosted by Crescent Real Estate Equities, L.P., which also provided a barbecue luncheon prior to the bus tour. The event started on the sixth floor of Crescent's Palisades I building, 2425 North Central Expressway. Oct. 21 was a beautiful, sunny day and out the window there was a clear and spectacular view of North Central Expressway cutting through the heart of the Telecom Corridor® area and the center of the commercial office submarket in Richardson. “Next door you could also overlook the site of the 131,541-square-foot Fall Creek I building and 8.1 acres of adjacent land which were recently purchased by Fossil, Inc. for its corporate headquarters and expansion,” Jacobs said. “This took another 100,000-plus-square-foot building off the Richardson market and retained an important business for Richardson. “Fossil is an internationally recognized retail name and its watch and accessories business had revenues last year of almost a billion dollars. Fossil is one of Richardson's major employers, with more than 850 employees here, and we value their presence,” Jacobs said. "The Fall Creek site will give them great brand-name visibility to the hundreds of thousands of motorists driving down Central every week.” On The Road Again The bus tour really started by showcasing the Palisades Central I building, which has more than 180,500-square-feet of office space, of which approximately 75 percent is occupied, according to Bill Rudd. “That means about 45,000 square feet are available for lease, with typical floorplates of 18,700 square feet, the kind of information important to brokers who have or may have client companies and businesses that are considering and comparing sites in this commercial real estate marketplace.” This information was available to each of the participants in the form of a massive 142-page binder containing flyers, promotional literature and fact sheets detailing each of the 67 properties in Richardson that were included in the tour. The binders also contained a copy of the Richardson Economic Development Partnership's marketing brochure “Surround Yourself With Synergy,” as well as a Richardson street map and a commercial/industrial aerial map of the city. Each bus had a pair of experienced tour guides: Mike McCartan of Mark V Commercial with Talynn Otsuki, Onyx Realty, and Bill Rudd of Crescent with Byron McCoy of Holt Lunsford Commercial. For two and a half hours, the buses wound their way through Richardson office and commercial areas. getting a drive-by look, plus commentary from the tour guides of the available space, listed lease/rental rates and the leasing agents/property managers involved. Some of the leasing agents and property managers were on the buses and they had a chance to describe their properties and answer questions. CAPSTAR Commercial Real Estate Services hosted a bus tour stop at their building, Campbell Commons, at 1201 E. Campbell Road a 114,247-square-foot building they lease for iStar Financial. Johnny Johnson of iStar hosted this tour stop and provided water, soft drinks, coffee, ice cream – and a needed rest break – to the bus tour participants. The tour concluded back at Palisades I and the participants left with a fuller and more current understanding of available office and tech-flex buildings and sites in Richardson. Feedback “I thought the tour was extremely informative, and was impressed with the caliber of the participants, there were lots of brokers,” said Mary Miano, director of business development at PageSoutherlandPage, an architectural firm. "Richardson is unique in the corporate market sector in Dallas; it has a unique sense of corporate community and the brokers who work this market live it, breathe it, and know the community. “People were not on this bus tour just for a good time, they really listened, were taking notes and I'm glad I went on it. It helped me to understand the product here, which is not just office but also tech and industrial space,” said Miano. Holly Plank, chief operating officer of Pearson Group, which owns a 119,000-square-foot building at 1130 E. Arapaho Road (#34 on the tour), remarked:“This was my first bus tour and from a landlord's perspective it was very beneficial. It provided a great overview of the Richardson market and a wonderful opportunity to meet brokers, as well as representatives from the City and Chamber. It was well organized and orchestrated -- and worthwhile from my point of view.” “The bus tour was well attended by both owners and brokers and several commented that it was well planned and provided quality information for both the office and office/tech markets,” Bill Rudd commented. “With the recent increase in leasing activity Richardson seems to be positioned for a steady recovery going into 2006." |
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