With over a month left to go, and several significant pending announcements, Richardson can already count 2007 as another vintage year for economic development. The City has registered 26 expansions, relocations and start-ups which are expected to attract or retain 1,868 Richardson jobs and occupy 1,053,894 square feet of office and flex space. Of interest is the fact that 18 (nearly 70%) of the 26 projects involved technology-based companies. So while the city has sought to diversify its economic base with high-quality financial service, healthcare and other service companies, its inherent strategic value to technology companies remains evident.

The year thus far has been highlighted by the relocations of MetroPCS and Yahoo! and by precedent-setting expansions of resident companies Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Texas and Cisco. There were also number of exciting retail and mixed-use projects underway that will bring renewed life, energy and vitality to the City as they begin to blossom in 2008. A more detailed look at some of the key business moves through the 3rd quarter of 2007 would have to include:

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Texas: With the October 25 ground-breaking now history, the company can look forward to the opening of its new 1.1 million square foot headquarters in early 2010. Since the project was structured as a build-to-suit for lease by Koll Development Company it, in all likelihood, represents the largest-ever commercial lease transaction in DFW. Those who would like to get all the details will be pleased to know that the February 6 meeting of the Richardson Chamber’s Broker & Developer Committee will feature a panel discussion with representatives of various organizations that made the deal possible. For more information on the Broker & Developer Committee, contact John Jacobs at 972.792-2802.

MetroPCS: After successfully conducting one of the largest IPO’s in the nation earlier this year, the company announced in June that that it would be moving its headquarters to Richardson. The company selected the 115,00-square-foot building at 2250 Lakeside Drive in the Greenway Business Park. MetroPCS is moving its first contingent of approximately 200 employees in late November with over 300 more to follow by mid-December. With a large number of DART commuters in their ranks, MetroPCS will enjoy, along with a number of other employers in the 75 Corridor, a DART bus shuttle service to and from the Galatyn Park Station.

Cisco Systems can now be added, along with Bank of America and VeriCenter to the ever-expanding list of major corporations with data center operations in Richardson. Cisco has now completed the makeover of a 240,000-square-foot, 4-story building on its Bush campus to a state-of-art data center. Once it is fully occupied with equipment, it is estimated that the Cisco data center will be largest single tax base addition (outside the Texas Instruments plant) to the City of Richardson since 2000.

And Richardson is still not done: Fobare Commercial is completing the conversion of a 100,000 square foot building at its 100-acre Collins Tech Park. The Park is equipped with its own 44-megawatt electrical substation and has attracted the attention of a number of Fortune 100 type companies with data center needs.