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March/April 2007 This issue home | Past issues | Chamber home Richardson Project Wins DBJ’s 2006 “Best Real Estate Deal” Award
At a gala awards banquet held February 22 at the Hilton Anatole, the Blue Cross office campus project won the Dallas Business Journal’s prestigious overall “Best Real Estate Deal” award for 2006. Along with previous “Best Deal” winner Countrywide Financial in 2004, Richardson has been honored in two of the past three years. Not only is the Blue Cross project the largest HQ office campus to be built in the Metroplex in the last 20 years, but it is also the largest transit-oriented development ever announced on a DART rail line. The 1.1 million SF campus, scheduled to open in 2010, will enable Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) to consolidate its 2,700-employee Richardson workforce now spread over four locations and accommodate as many as 2,500 new workers. BCBSTX is a division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), which also operates the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Dallas-based Koll Development Company (KDC) will build and own the new facility, and also will assume BCBSTX’s existing lease obligation at its current 517,000 SF HQ at 901 South Central Expressway. Construction of the new facility, located on a 34-acre tract directly north of the Renaissance Hotel at the NE corner of Lookout and the DART rail line, is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2007.“Bringing our Richardson and Dallas employees under one roof will allow us to gain significant workplace efficiencies for our core operations without any increase in our lease-related administrative costs,” said Martin Foster, BCBSTX president. “This move also reflects our tremendous growth from 2 million members in 1998 to 3.4 million members today, and demonstrates our commitment to the city of Richardson.” “For more than 25 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has been a dominant presence in Richardson, and we are so proud that they have chosen to maintain their headquarters operations in our city,” said Mayor Gary Slagel, City of Richardson. “The City of Richardson thanks our partners at Collin County and the Collin County Community College District for assisting us in creating the most desirable economic climate for this impressive campus development.” “We are honored to have been selected to develop the new headquarters for such an outstanding organization,” said Tobin Grove, president of KDC. “Together with the City of Richardson, The Staubach Company and Galatyn Properties, Ltd., we’ve worked diligently to meet all the needs of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.” Jeff Ellerman and Mike Sessa of The Staubach Company are representing Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas in the transaction. KDC has selected Dallas-based Corgan Architects, Inc. and Chicago-based zpd+a as project architects for the new building. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas – the only statewide, non-investor-owned health insurer in Texas – is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, working with nearly 40,000 physicians and 400 hospitals to serve 3.4 million members in all 254 counties. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is a division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the country’s largest non-investor-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall. HCSC is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Action News is a monthly publication of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce Communications Department. To unsubscribe, e-mail administrator@telecomcorridor.com. Please provide your name, company, phone number and e-mail address. |
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