Richardson’s collaborative efforts involving the City, Chamber, DART, educational institutions, allies and enthusiastic community friends and boosters turned in another superlative performance in 2015. Some of the highlights were:
- 26 expansions and relocations that will result in 6,315 new/retained jobs and the occupancy of 1,374,933 square feet of commercial office and flex space (see list at end of article)
- Three of the 10 largest commercial real estate leases in the Dallas area for 2015 – RealPage, GEICO and Frontier Communications
- 58 new restaurant announcements
- Ranked as the top-performing Economic Development Organization for its size in the United States by Denver’s Atlas Advertising
In addition, Richardson’s 2015 office space net absorption (occupied vs. de-occupied) was 646,000 square feet, ranking it 2nd among DFW suburban cities. In spite of that, Richardson has retained seven properties that offer large (100,000-square-foot+) blocks of office space that bolster its chances for another banner year in 2016.
Richardson also saw a boom in its flex (office/showroom) space inventory, where net absorption of 462,000 square feet was higher than any year since 1998. In that year, the telecom boom was nearing its peak, and fast-rising office rental rates caused tenants to seek out lower cost flex space as an alternative. According to the flex landlords we’ve spoken to, that same thinking is the driver behind the 113 leases made on Richardson flex space in 2015.
The other major phenomenon in the Richardson commercial market that continued in 2015 was the ownership changes that have occurred. Within the past 24 months nearly 6.1 million square feet of space in 43 major Richardson office and flex properties has changed hands to 24 new owners. For the most part, the new owners are not local but based in major cities across the U.S. as well as in Canada and Mexico.
One of the factors that makes Richardson different from most other Dallas suburban community office markets is its institutional-grade status. With that standing, Richardson has, for decades, been able to attract investment capital from outside the state to develop or buy Richardson properties.
With big blocks of available office space, a feeding frenzy in flex and the institutional appetite for Richardson projects, 2016 figures to be another very good year for the Telecom Corridor® area.
2015 Richardson Expansions and Relocations
| # | Date | Company | Business | Type | From | Occupancy | Address | Square Feet | Type Space | Jobs | Broker |
| 1 | 1/3/15 | Service King | HQ for auto repair business | Relocation | Richardson | Lease | 2600 NCX #400 | 27,000 | Office | 80 | Brandon Wood,
Corp. Realty Adv. |
| 2 | 1/8/15 | iWire365 | B2B communications consulting | Relocation | Plano | Lease | 700 N Glenville #700 | 12,000 | Flex | 30 | Nicholas Payne
PS Business Parks |
| 3 | 1/15/15 | Nexa Technologies | Customizable online stock trading system | Relocation | Plano | Lease | 801 E Campbell #400 | 5,842 | Office | 20 | Deborah Borum
Beltway Comm. |
| 4 | 1/30/15 | TNT Dental | Internet and web services for dental professionals | Relocation | Plano | Buy | 500 Lockwood | 10,928 | Office | 45 | None |
| 5 | 2/5/15 | Texas Instruments | Semiconductor chips | Relocation | Plano | Own | 300 W Renner | 100,000 | Office | 400 | None |
| 6 | 2/5/15 | Hitachi Telecom | HQ for telecom arm of Hitachi | Renewal | Richardson | Lease | 2280 Campbell Creek | 33,014 | Flex | 100 | Susan Arledge
Cresa |
| 7 | 2/6/15 | Avnet | Distribute tech parts & equipment | Relocation | Richardson | Lease | 2101 E PGBT | 36,000 | Office | 40 | John Aldrich
Aldrich Group |
| 8 | 2/6/15 | Amerisource-Bergen | Contact center for Fortune 50 pharma company | Relocation | Frisco | Lease | 1225 Alma | 38,000 | Office | 250 | Chris Doggett
Fobare |
| 9 | 2/10/15 | TD Ameritrade | Data center for stock trading firm | Relocation | Carrollton | Buy | 1811 Renner | 73,320 | Data center | 15 | Anthony Bolner
Stream |
| 10 | 3/26/15 | Vertex Group | HQ for utility company BPO | Relocation | Richardson | Lease | 501 W PGBT #350 | 20,000 | Office | 250 | Chris Doggett
Fobare |
| 11 | 4/1/15 | Gold Financial Services | Mortgage banker | Relocation | San Antonio | Lease | 885 E Collins | 12,000 | Flex | 40 | Tanghongs/Lewis
Lee |
| 12 | 4/17/15 | Kathrein Group | US HQ for wireless telecom business | Relocation | Medford, OR | Lease | 2400 Lakeside | 8,026 | Office | 25 | Mark Jordan
Sooner Mgmt. |
| 13 | 5/1/15 | Silicone Specialties, Inc | Materials for highway & commercial construction | New branch | Dallas (HQ) | Lease | 610 S Sherman #118 | 6,397 | Flex | 15 | Ryan Wolcott
Stream |
| 14 | 5/12/15 | Frontier Communications | Phone and cable TV operator | Relocation | Allen | Lease | 2221 Lakeside | 192,340 | Office | 800 | Rick Hughes
Cushman & Wakefield |
| 15 | 5/15/15 | Ecova | Business cost saving solutions | Relocation | Dallas | Lease | 1130 E Arapaho | 20,429 | Office | 70 | Dean Collins
Cushman & Wakefield |
| 16 | 6/4/15 | RealPage, Inc. | Software for real estate mgmt | Relocation | Carrollton | Lease | 2201 Lakeside | 400,000 | Office | 2,000 | Tim Terrell
Stream |
| 17 | 7/2/15 | GEICO | Auto insurance | Relocation | Farmer's Branch | Lease | 2280 N Greenville | 232,000 | Office | 1,700 | Tom Lynn & Nick Lee
NAI Robert Lynn |
| 18 | 7/3/15 | GXT, Ltd. | Telecom engineering & consulting | Expansion | Richardson | Lease | 1130 E Arapaho | 8,252 | Office | 30 | Kent Smith
NAI Robert Lynn |
| 19 | 7/7/15 | Adolfson & Peterson | Commercial GC | Expansion | Richardson | Lease | 1600 N Collins | 19,000 | Office | 45 | None |
| 20 | 7/23/15 | Adva Optical | Optical networks | Renewal | Richardson | Lease | 2301 N Greenville Ave | 25,000 | Office | 75 | Baron Aldrine
CBRE |
| 21 | 7/29/15 | Associa | Residential association mgmt | Expansion | Richardson | Lease | 1225 Alma | 10,000 | Office | 60 | Rick Currey
Fobare |
| 22 | 8/6/15 | RealPage, Inc. | Software for real estate mgmt | Relocation | Carrollton | Lease | 2221 Lakeside | 25,000 | Office | 100 | Tim Terrell
Stream |
| 23 | 10/12/15 | Yankon Lighting | LED lighting lamps & fixtures | New branch | China | Lease | 1365 N Glenville | 15,000 | Flex | 5 | Josh Barnes
Holt Lunsford |
| 24 | 10/13/15 | Appfolio | SaaS for property mgmt and law offices | Expansion | Richardson | Lease | 1701 N Plano Rd #600 | 24,479 | Flex | 45 | Randy Cooper
DTZ |
| 25 | 12/5/15 | Blue Calypso | Mobile shopper engagement solutions | Relocation | Dallas | Lease | 101 W Renner | 3,906 | Office | 15 | Fletcher Cordell
Transwestern |
| 26 | 12/8/15 | Crum & Forster | Commercial insurance | Relocation | Carrollton | Lease | 2400 Lakeside | 17,000 | Office | 60 | Laura Maczka
JP Realty |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Totals | | | | | | | 1,374,933 | | 6,315 | |
Source: Richardson Economic Development Partnership