| COVER STORY, JULY 2006
CATERING TO THE CLIENT
Generic office developments have given way to personalized office space across Texas.
Lara Fuller
Many of the office projects being developed today are designed with the tenant in mind. Developers are conscious of creating projects that fit the needs of business, whether big or small. Some developers work closely with a business or corporation, designing the project to their exact specifications. Others develop their projects to cater to a certain segment of the market. Texas Real Estate Business recently took a look at five of the newest office projects in Texas to see how developers are making their clients more comfortable.
The Campanile East Development
Houston
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John Hansen Investment Builder is currently developing the Campanile East office building, which is located at 4203 Montrose Boulevard in the Campanile Office Park in Houston. Designed by Philip Ewald Architecture, the 55,000-square-foot project will cater to the smaller office tenant with suites ranging in size from 380 to 2,000 square feet.
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The Campanile East project is being developed to fulfill a segment of the Houston real estate market that is currently being underserved. The development will cater to the smaller office tenant, one which occupies 2,000 square feet or less. “This particular project came about out of necessity, or to be more specific, we needed more space for the demand,” says John Andell, vice president with John Hansen Investment Builder in Houston, the project’s developer.
Campanile East, which is currently under construction, will be located at 4203 Montrose Boulevard in the Campanile Office Park. The office park, which was originally constructed in 1985, is located in the heart of Houston’s museum district, neighboring the Museum of Fine Arts, the Menil Collection and the University of St. Thomas. When complete in February 2007, the project will feature 55,000 square feet of space in suites ranging in size from 380 square feet to 2,000 square feet. “The unique design of the building will also include a historical brick house (designed by William Ward Watkins in 1920) that will serve as the frontage on Montrose and will be occupied by a specified retail component,” says Andell.
Houston-based Mission Constructors is the general contractor, and Philip Ewald Architecture of Houston is the project architect.
Texas Association of School Boards Headquarters
Austin, Texas
In Austin, Trammell Crow Company and Cadence McShane Corporation recently completed the 148,161-square-foot headquarters for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). The three-story facility is located at 12007 Research Boulevard in the Riata Business Park.
The facility was constructed to improve efficiency for TASB, which encompasses all 1,042 Texas school districts, 20 regional education service centers, 45 junior colleges, 38 tax appraisal districts and 146 educational cooperatives. With the completion of the new headquarters, the staff is being consolidated from four buildings into one. Features at the new facility include the 5,500-square-foot Walker-Davis Conference Center, with catering space and an on-site print shop, as well as the server room, which features efficient, flexible technology and communications equipment. “This project provides high-quality office space with abundant parking, all at an affordable price,” says Lance Sallis, senior vice president with Trammell Crow in Austin.
The exterior of the TASB headquarters, designed by Austin-based Susman Tisdale Gayle Architects, features a composite aluminum panel system over a steel frame with stone and masonry accents. Large storefront windows also help provide light throughout the facility. To best fulfill the needs of the school board association, the interior of the building was designed to allow flexible workspace configurations.
Fluor Corporation Headquarters
Las Colinas, Texas
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Dallas-based Koll Development Company has completed the global headquarters for Fluor Corporation in Las Colinas, Texas. The 136,000-square-foot building includes a commercial kitchen and dining area, an employee fitness center, a 100-seat auditorium, multiple meeting rooms, a three-story atrium and a two-story covered parking facility.
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Koll Development Company (KDC) of Dallas recently completed the new global headquarters for Fluor Corporation. The project is located in the Irving business community of Las Colinas, at 6700 Las Colinas Boulevard. “The project came about as a result of Fluor’s desire to relocate its corporate headquarters to the Dallas/Fort Worth area,” says Don Mills, senior vice president of construction with KDC. “The company wanted to accomplish the move in a very short timeframe but was interested in having a new building that they would own.” KDC was selected as the development team and moved quickly to complete the project by the deadline. “The building received its certificate of occupancy on March 30, eight days ahead of the early completion date called for in the contract,” says Mills.
Features at the 136,000-square-foot headquarters include a commercial kitchen and dining area, an employee fitness center, a 100-seat auditorium, multiple meeting rooms, a ‘history walk’ depicting Fluor’s nearly century-long story, a three-story atrium and a two-story covered parking facility.
The three-story building was also designed to meet LEED standards. All of the windows use high-performance glass and the south- and west-facing windows have sunscreens for shade. “The team also worked to preserve as much natural vegetation and trees as possible during the construction process,” says Mills.
St. Louis-based Clayco was the general contractor; Forum Studio, a subsidiary of Clayco, handled building design; and Gensler handled interior design.
Rollingwood Center
Austin, Texas
The Rollingwood Center office project will sit at the northwest corner of Mopac Expressway and Bee Cave Road in Austin. Endeavor Real Estate Group of Austin, developer of the project, chose this location to give tenants easy access to southwest Austin and the surrounding area. Endeavor has owned the land for more than 6 years but has held off on development until the market was ready and it had a better idea of who its tenants might be. Construction on the 325,000-square-foot project is expected to begin within the next 4 months.
When complete, the four-building Rollingwood Center will sit atop a hill, offering tenants views of downtown Austin from every floor, including the first floor of the main building. Merriman & Associates of Dallas is the project architect.
“One of the unique features of the project is that it will have an underground tunnel connecting the parking garage to the main building,” says Travis Dunaway, senior marketing associate with Endeavor Real Estate Group. “In addition to the stunning design of the site and buildings, the exceptional location sits at the gateway to southwest Austin.”
Essilor Corporate Headquarters
Farmers Branch, Texas
Construction recently began on the first phase of the expansion plan for the U.S. corporate headquarters for Essilor of America, a manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses. Essilor of America is currently located in a 130,000-square-foot building at 13515 North Stemmons Freeway in Farmers Branch. The growing company needed more space, however, and when the expansion is complete, Essilor’s new headquarters will total more than 270,000 square feet. “Essilor’s redevelopment came about as a result of company growth,” says Jean Russo, senior director with Cushman & Wakefield, who represented Essilor in the acquisition of the land and buildings surrounding its existing headquarters.
The additional space, being constructed by CF Jordan of El Paso, Texas, will enable Essilor of America to consolidate its corporate personnel while also growing its presence along the Interstate 35 corridor. “I think that the uniqueness of this project is that there are no other corporate campuses that front I-35/Stemmons Freeway north of LBJ,” says Russo. The Essilor headquarter building is the first multi-building, campus-style development that sits on the I-35 corridor from North Dallas to Lewisville, Texas.
In addition to its Farmers Branch headquarters, Essilor of America also has an office/manufacturing facility located one mile north of the headquarters facility.
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