When office construction in the Telecom Corridor® area, came to a halt in mid-2002, no one knew how long it would be until market forces would stimulate a resumption of activity. Now we know: After five years, a new round of office construction has definitely come back to the Telecom Corridor, led by a diversification of the Richardson tenant base.

The bottom of the market for Richardson’s inventory of 14+ million square feet of office space occurred in the 4th quarter of 2003, when office vacancies soared to 28.2%. Since that time, a gradual but steady recovery has been underway that has reduced the overall office vacancy rate to 17% and boosted average full service lease rates from $16.69/SF to $17.81/SF.

But what has really attracted developer attention is the 5.3 million square foot Class “A” segment of Richardson’s office market. Class “A” vacancies stood at a staggering 26.4%, but by the end of 3Q 2007, they had fallen to a mere 9.0%. The dramatic shift in the Richardson Class “A” market is further illustrated by the following table which lists all 13 “A” buildings which at one time had blocks of 100,000 SF or more of vacant space. Today, 12 of the 13 have been occupied, and the remaining building is now undergoing a significant upgrade by Transwestern Property Company with its re-opening scheduled for mid-2008.

With that record of solid absorption and with Class “A” vacancies slipping below 10%, office developers have taken notice: Granite Properties (www.graniteprop.com) broke ground in mid-2007 on its second 150,000 SF, 3-story office building at its Granite 190 Business Park. The building is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2008, and it is already receiving some serious looks from prospective tenants. Granite’s reputation for quality, attentive management

and tenant satisfaction is unsurpassed.

Making its first entry into the Richardson market in July, Hall Financial Group (www.hallfinancial.com) purchased 62 acres on the Bush Turnpike west of Custer for a multi-building office development. In front of 300 attendees at the Richardson Chamber’s “Business Appreciation Luncheon” on November 1, Hall Financial Group Chairman Craig Hall expressed his excitement about the Richardson project and stated that development would commence in 2008. Final plans are not yet complete, but the project is expected to comprise over 1 million square feet at completion. The development is greatly anticipated as a result of Hall’s reputation for superb design, public art work amenities and environmentally sustainable, “green” development.

In addition to these two large-scale developments, office development is taking place at the Vantage Companies’ Renner Business & Technology Park and Professional Plaza near Renner Road and Shiloh. The newly completed Professional Plaza development consists of 11 buildings totaling approximately 65,000 square feet, while the Technology Campus Phase III has 93,000 SF with 6 buildings ranging from 11K to 20K SF. On site is a community center features conference rooms equipped for video and audio conferencing and a workout facility with

showers/lockers. Occupants also benefit from onsite marketing and management personnel.

GVA Cawley is marketing the highly-visible Custer Commons office condo buildings under construction on the Bush Turnpike east of Custer. The 4-building set will consist of buildings totaling approximately 40,000 SF, 20,000 SF and two of 5,000 SF.

With positive net absorption of over 200,000 SF in 2007, several major office lease deals still pending and average rates moving back towards the mid-$20 range, the Richardson office market, and high-end space in particular, appears to be a prime target for development activity in 2008.