In today’s rapidly evolving market, it is paramount for property managers to stay ahead of the curve. Their value extends far beyond rent collections; they act as the first line of defense by proactively identifying operational inefficiencies and providing boots-on-the-ground support. First-class property managers capture opportunities to increase the property’s value by creating a unique tenant experience, implementing thoughtful preventative maintenance plans, and driving sustainability within their properties. This two-fold approach addresses landlord needs and tenant expectations and is necessary in today’s shifting landscape.

Driving Value and Supporting Sustainability

Property managers play a pivotal role in shaping the long-term impact on the environment. As sustainability becomes increasingly imperative in the face of climate change and resource depletion, property managers are stepping up to the challenge, implementing innovative strategies to drive sustainability within their portfolios. From energy-efficient upgrades to waste reduction initiatives, these professionals are at the forefront of creating greener and more sustainable buildings.

Landlords are looking to their management team to proactively identify outside-the-box options for added savings, such as selecting more sustainable solutions for energy and water. Not only are these initiatives cost-effective, but they enhance the overall value and attractiveness to tenants. Recently, our team faced the challenge of reducing water usage at a building we manage while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing outdoor environment. Through collaboration with our landscape partners, we identified areas where water usage could be optimized and created a plan tailored to the unique Texas climate.

Finding creative cost-efficient solutions, implementing ESG requirements that qualify for various tax incentives, and working to achieve sustainability certifications such as WELL, LEED, or Energy Star helps landlords mitigate environmental risk, qualify for lower insurance packages, reduce operating costs, and create a healthier, more sustainable work environment.

Through tracking and reporting on every expense, property managers are uniquely positioned to provide critical feedback regarding budget preparation—serving as true partners as they create alignment between the landlord’s goals and the building’s needs.

Elevating the Tenant Experience

A property manager’s ability to strengthen tenant relationships is an integral component of a landlord’s needs just as much as budgetary planning. By serving as an approachable and available resource, property managers can harness tenants’ requests to create a customized and functional work environment that meets tenants’ needs and ensures their overall satisfaction. For example, tenants at an industrial building may need the property manager to find cost-effective solutions for their mobile clean room so that they can operate efficiently, keep their space clean, and satisfy the Fire Code. However, addressing concerns is just one aspect of the property manager-tenant relationship.

Today’s market demands distinct and positive experiences to drive tenant loyalty, which bolsters an asset’s value. The reason is simple: employees are searching for something more—an office experience that transcends their day-to-day, providing a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment. While the employer (aka, the tenant) plays a significant role in meeting that need for the employee, the employer relies on the asset’s appeal to drive that message further, which is why tenants are drawn to (and remain within) assets that cultivate a positive, welcoming ecosystem.

One way that property managers can elevate the asset and the tenant experience is by finding solutions that meet tenant needs. A tenant may want lunch options in a building that does not offer a restaurant. Organizing routine catered lunches or arranging for local food trucks to come regularly offers tenants food variety during their work week, increasing their overall satisfaction.

Delivering Results

Property managers play a crucial role in the real estate market, especially in times of rapid change and evolution. In today’s dynamic market landscape, property managers must possess a diverse skillset. Ultimately, exceptional property managers are invaluable partners for landlords, providing strategic insights and operational expertise that drive long-term value. As tenants reevaluate their lease terms and landlords make essential decisions for their assets, property managers are the partners that keep everything moving in the right direction, with exceptional property managers making all the difference.

The post How Property Managers Serve as Value-Drivers for CRE Landlords appeared first on Stream Realty Partners.

One alternative to the boom-and-bust nature of private markets has been the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which authorized $10 billion for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program (Tech Hubs), which seeks to grow industries of strategic importance and plant the seeds of future tech hub growth in regions outside of Silicon Valley. These technology hubs partner with state universities and local entrepreneurs to attract and retain graduates in more rural and affordable areas, creating these highly specialized business clusters. Below are some industries and locations covered by this new era of government-guided industrial policy:  

The Nexus for Advanced Resilient Energy (“SC Nexus”) This hub is in South Carolina, in the tightly connected MSAs within the Upstate and Midlands regions (Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Columbia, and surrounding counties). This is an Advanced Energy hub, specifically developing and driving innovative research in designing and manufacturing control systems fundamental to a clean energy transition. Of significant importance is:  

• Advanced Manufacturing of small modular nuclear reactors, offshore wind turbine manufacturing, hydrogen production and storage, and development of batteries and photovoltaic solar panels.  
• Battery innovation and testing to develop and test the next-gen stationary battery components for large-scale energy storage. This includes vanadium flow, self-healing silicone anodes, and improved thermal safety technologies.  
• Grid re-engineering to develop and demonstrate new products using grid-storage AI and ML to enable efficient weather and cyber-resilient distributed systems.  

Central to this region’s success is the Savannah River National Laboratory in Jackson, South Carolina, along with a growing list of established private sector companies, such as Bosch, BMW, Duke Energy, Pomega, and Westinghouse, looking to take advantage of the substantial federal grant funding and workforce growth and development projects currently taking place in this area.

According to Rob Williams, a Vice President with Stream Carolinas, recent technology companies to establish operations in South Carolina include EnerSys, Omron Automation, Tesla, Mojave Energy Systems, TIME Bicycles, and Erchonia Corp. “South Carolina has proven itself effective in attracting top technology firms due to its low cost of living, friendly business environment, and commitment to growing the technology industry through programs such as SC Nexus,” explains Rob. “Put simply, South Carolina is a place where companies and their employees can thrive.” 

Texoma Semiconductor Innovation Consortium (TSIC) This hub offers a decentralized model of semiconductor chip production. By exploring the manufacture of bare semiconductor wafers in “Fablets,” which are mobile and distributed labs containing semiconductor manufacturing, production, and testing, it is possible to have a highly reactive semiconductor supply chain. This is especially important for the military and defense industries because it provides multiple chip redundancies and eliminates disruptions.  

Southern Methodist University leads this tech hub in Dallas, encompassing 29 counties in North Central Texas (including Dallas and Fort Worth) and Oklahoma. The North Texas Region is the birthplace of integrated circuits and has an existing advanced ecosystem of telecommunications and defense contractors. Companies involved in the TSIC area include Fujitsu, Lockheed, Toyota, GlobalWafers, and Texas Instruments, to name a few. The TSIC tech hub will strengthen existing business relationships between industries and companies dependent on stable semiconductor supply chains. The Fablet concept is looking to disrupt the production of modern microprocessors, the most complex devices ever invented or manufactured by humans.

Randy Cooper, Vice Chairman of Stream’s Tenant Representation Division, has observed the direct impact. “The buzz around tech is palpable, especially in North Texas, where firms are investing billions,” Randy notes. “For instance, the investment in Sherman, Texas by Texas Instruments could reach $30 billion. Consequently, there’s a growing interest from tech companies to locate nearby, fostering collaboration in research, development, and employment opportunities. Some in Congress are even comparing the semiconductor industry’s expansion in Texas to ‘the most significant technology revolution since the Manhattan Project.'” 

South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub – This region is the most exposed geography in the United States to climate-driven catastrophes, from sea level rise to hurricanes. As a result, this hub focuses on sustainable and resilient infrastructure, from extreme building codes, clean cement, and marine infrastructure to artificial reefs and seawalls to help prevent or mitigate future climate disasters. This hub partners with Miami Dade College and Florida Memorial University, venture capital funding, and 20 commercial partners to develop solutions to future climate problems. 

“Miami is rapidly emerging as a prime destination for tech companies,” notes Carlyle Coffin, Senior Vice President at Stream’s Miami office. “Major players are establishing headquarters here, while smaller firms are also flourishing. With Florida attracting more young professionals, the industry’s growth is inevitable. Apple’s recent announcement of a new 45,000 square foot office in Miami is a testament to this trend.”

In much the same way that life science laboratories sprung up in key locations (San Francisco, San Diego, and Boston) to meet the growing demand of venture capital-funded biotechnology startups, there will also be a need for creative office and R&D laboratories in these key areas focusing on these key technologies in the future. With the United States shifting priorities and providing a strategic roadmap (along with generous federal funding, grants, and workforce development plans) for industries to promote the goals of national security and climate change resilience, there is much opportunity for industrial and office developers to explore options in these hubs and ride the next wave of federal-assisted new technology startups.  

The post Unlocking CRE Opportunities in Today’s Technology Landscape appeared first on Stream Realty Partners.

Contrary to what many read about the commercial office market in national news coverage, Dallas-Fort Worth is trending in the right direction, with companies instituting “return to work” policies and business leaders writing thought pieces and internal memos on the importance of in-person collaboration. Just this past year, DFW led the nation in number of added in-office jobs—adding nearly 60,000 office roles, more than double the amount added by another major metro area in the US during that time-period—and we have seen over a thousand office leases signed. Ninety-six percent of those were new deals.

It comes as a shock, then, to tenants and landlord just how trying and drawn out the process has become to successfully negotiate an office requirement. Even though conditions within the market are improving, the gap between tenant and landlord expectations resulting from the pandemic has created many challenges, disrupting the office market in a way unseen since the 2008–2009 recession.

What Landlords are Experiencing

In the DFW Metroplex, rental rates in well-positioned assets (Class-A buildings in high-performing submarkets) continue to increase despite higher levels of vacancy. This movement can be attributed to the state of our capital markets, the surge in construction pricing, and the successful leasing activity of the newest and most expensive developments such as McKinney & Olive, Weir’s Plaza, 23Springs, and The QUAD.

To combat inflation, the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates by 5 percent since March of 2022. For landlords, these economic headwinds have made borrowing money to finance new office buildings more expensive, and subsequently, rental rates have increased to keep up with the rising cost of debt.

Record-high construction costs, which are forecasted to increase more than 18 percent from 2022 to 2024, have further complicated matters. Many landlords underestimated the rate at which construction costs would increase over the past three years, impacting the overall profitability of their assets and forcing them to rethink their original investment projections.

While it seems counter intuitive that rates continue to increase despite higher levels of vacancy, the law of supply and demand is balanced for new construction. Landlords must increase rental rates to overcome the cost of debt and the increase in construction costs. Tenants are willing to pay these high asking rates to be in a state-of-the-art building with walkability and access to the latest and greatest building amenities. If tenant demand for new construction declined or ceased to exist, new products would stop being developed.

Tenant Rental Rate Expectations

During the COVID crisis, companies in a position to make an office decision enjoyed the benefit of receiving unheard-of deal terms from landlords in exchange for taking a leap of faith and continuing to trust in the “return to normal” in the office sector; however, the ultra-incentivized pandemic pricing set unrealistic long-term expectations for rental rates. Furthermore, tenants now require watermark allowances from the landlord to offset the capital costs of building out office space and, even then, are often responsible for covering the difference between the allowance the landlord provides and the actual cost of construction.

Finding Middle Ground

Now more than ever, it’s imperative that landlords and tenants have the right people in their corners, advocating for them and providing sound advice. One of the most difficult and uncomfortable conversations to have with a client, in any business, is when you must deliver tough news. The ability to not only deliver that message in the proper form, but then proceed to recommend a solution or way forward is what separates the good from the great. The great commercial real estate representatives, on both sides, should be skilled in using facts and market trends to take the subjectivity and emotion out of the negotiation process. Otherwise, we’ll continue to be saddled with lengthy and unproductive negotiations. Simply telling your client what they want to hear, or what you think they want to hear, will only accentuate the growing divide between landlord and tenant expectations.

The post Negotiating a Narrower Gap Between Tenants and Landlords in Class A Office Buildings appeared first on Stream Realty Partners.

This article first appeared in D Magazine’s CRE Opinion section and was written in the Fall of 2022.

Businesses face many challenges, from attracting and retaining top talent to getting teams back into the office. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to either, one crucial aspect that companies often overlook is the significant role real estate plays when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent. In fact, real estate is one of the many reasons countless companies have relocated to Texas over the past decade. Business-friendly policies, low taxes, and an affordable cost of living have caused cities such as Dallas to grow in appeal, providing the perfect opportunity for personal and professional growth. 

This pre-pandemic growth resulted in developers building office buildings as quickly, and often as cheaply, as possible.  Then COVID-19 happened, everyone was sent home, and some companies or teams discovered that a work from home business model suited them. Others struggled keeping employees engaged, focused, and well trained as they tried to make work from home successful. Parallel to these companies working to bring their employees back to the office we entered a new and very different development cycle.  

As we enter this development cycle, I believe Dallas can continue to cater to today’s workforce and integrate into local community simply by capturing what the market wants. Experiences. 

Millennials, who currently make up 35 percent of today’s work force (and will make up 75 percent by 2030), want something more than an 8-5 workday. They are longing for experiences that are enriching, both in and outside of the office. Unfortunately, many of today’s office buildings simply don’t deliver, creating a less-than-enthusiastic “in-office” workforce. So, what does that mean for the future of the office?  Well, for existing buildings, that means adapt or be left in the dust. 

Numerous landlords have already begun radically transforming existing buildings to include retail, or expanded amenities, or, in some cases, converting functionally obsolete office space to multi-family housing.  

For example, Trammell Crow Center in downtown Dallas. Originally constructed in 1982, the user experience was once underwhelming, and the building struggled to attract tenants. However, under JP Morgan, Trammell Crow Center underwent an extensive multi-million-dollar renovation, which included new restaurants, an upgraded fitness and conference center, and an impressive lobby renovation with curated artwork. This resulted in a tenant experience unlike any other in the Dallas’ Arts District and, in turn, a building bustling with workers. 

In addition to revitalizing existing buildings, developers are embracing new and interesting office concepts that give users a more experiential office environment as they build new construction.   

Over Thanksgiving break I had the opportunity to take my wife and kids to the marketing center for The QUAD, a new 345,000-square-foot office development Stream Realty Partners broke ground on in March of this year. While my kids oohed and aahed at the excavators and cranes, I gave my wife the 60-second elevator pitch on the building, sharing about the traditional Class-A amenities we are incorporating, as well as the never-before-seen, touchless features all connected to your phone’s Bluetooth. From restaurants with various food and beverage options to the largest indoor installation of digital art in the state of Texas – she was quite impressed, to say the least. 

Dallas offices designed for tomorrow can provide the experiences workers want today. Whether it be floating staircases, sky lobbies, or living greenspaces, when buildings deliver experiences that enhance and inspire, they attract the best tenants and, in turn, the best talent, creating an environment that is ripe for collaboration, and ultimately, success. 

The post Creating the Office Environments of the Future for Workers Today appeared first on Stream Realty Partners.

For the industrial sector, the past decade has been one of immense growth with seemingly unlimited potential. Year after year, we continued to see demand increase and vacancy rates decline, making it the most robust markets of our lifetime. New supply reached unprecedented levels, and a low-interest rates environment caused capital to flow freely. As rates declined further, borrowers secured attractive financing for new acquisitions, development, or the refinance of existing assets. As a result, prices for industrial real estate soared, invalidating any historical data or glass ceilings present in the marketplace.

As we all know, good things do, in fact, come to an end. Although industrial macro and micro market fundamentals are positively different than what they were leading up to the Great Financial Crisis, this season will present challenges we haven’t encountered in quite some time.

Looking back, by the start of the second quarter of 2022, interest rate hikes to curb inflation started to create hesitation within industrial markets. Yields were ratcheting up, and capital was beginning to adjust its sights. This is far different than what happened at the start of the pandemic. In 2020, everyone froze in time for 60 to 90 days and then proceeded with their business plans as usual (development, acquisitions, tenant demand, etc.). But 2022 was a much different story that has carried over into 2023. There is an unprecedented gap between capital markets and supply and demand fundamentals, which have never been so disconnected.

Growing up in Texas, you learned if you didn’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it would change. The 2022 Capital Markets business was exactly that—a market that was constantly moving—and moving fast!

Though tenant demand continued to be strong, and most markets nationwide had historically low vacancies, debt and equity remained locked up through the end of last year, with capital sitting on the sidelines. Investors acted as if they were in the market (admittedly being more selective), but they had all but paused until the market volatility settled down.

So, what has changed, if anything, in the new year? There are notable lingering effects from 2022 present in the market today. But we are also sensing a fresh feeling in the air, and action bias is visible for the first time in quite a while. It’s early and limited, but evidence of this can be seen in the number of buyers showing up for acquisition deals this quarter versus, what we witnessed throughout 2022.

The majority of the activity is on sales of existing assets. Development deals, from land acquisition to equity raise, to construction financing for all intents and purposes remain frozen. Since more interest rate hikes are anticipated this year, I expect this will be our new normal for the foreseeable future until debt and equity markets loosen up and investors can accurately (and confidently) underwrite deals. The one bogey to watch closely will be tenant demand, especially in Q3 and Q4 of 2023, when we are hopeful capital will begin loosen up.

To tie it all together, here are a few trends that emerged over the past 12 months, as well as my thoughts as to what we can expect moving forward:

• Depending on location, pricing for industrial product has expanded by 150 to 200 basis points from peak pricing levels.
• For the first time in a long time, buyers can buy brand-new, stabilized assets for below replacement cost.
• Regardless of the deal profile, bid sheets for deals went down 75 to 90 percent; however, we are starting to see activity return during the first part of 2023.
• Very few development deals have been capitalized since the summer of 2022, which will curb supply in 2024 and 2025. We expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future, given that capital is demanding yields that are unachievable without artificially trending models.
• Generally speaking, land values have been cut in half to make development deals pencil. Even with a steep discount, land is almost illiquid in today’s environment, unless it is an interior Tier 1 submarket of Texas.
• For the first time in my career, investment yields are driving rental rates as much as—if not more than—tenant demand.
• Developers that capitalized their deals 12 to 15 months ago are having to significantly adjust their underwriting to maintain any level of spread. My prediction is this will work for some; my concern is it will not work for all deals.
• Build-to-suit deals are more expensive for tenants than leasing speculative development, due to volatile construction costs and lack of visibility into the capital markets. Historically, tenants with the foresight to pursue build-to-suits were economically rewarded.
• Discipline needs to return to the market. There were more than 130 developers last year responsible for the currently 80 plus million SF of industrial under construction in Dallas-Fort Worth, illustrating a lack of discipline in our marketplace entering 2022. (Note, my definition of under construction is any project that is moving dirt or beyond.)  As a result, we will see vacancy spike in 2023 when a large portion of this product comes online.

With the new year well upon us, all eyes will remain focused on tenant demand. There is still a strong appetite for industrial, with investors continuing to allocate significant funds towards the sector. We just need data points before they are comfortable jumping back in, which, thankfully, we are starting to see.

Capital markets volume for 2023 will undoubtedly be down and a fraction of what we experienced in 2021. Owners who are IRR-driven will constantly be evaluating a sell now or sell later analysis, while others with legacy basis will look to transact to prune the portfolio or recycle capital. Thankfully, we are entered this market adjustment in a much better position than in 2009. Strong industrial real estate fundamentals can weather significant headwinds especially given the current health of the market  coupled with lenders abiding by more conservative regulations imposed after the Great Financial Crisis.

Industrial real estate is resilient and necessary to our everyday lives which isn’t changing anytime soon. The last time I checked, people are not streaming back to brick-and-mortar stores; coupled with global influences like the pandemic, we are learning and becoming less reliant on others around the world. Those influences will lead to growth and innovation in industrial real estate within the U.S.

With the growth in Texas, specifically North Texas, I am confident in saying we’ll come out on the other side just fine. So, let’s take a breath and regain our discipline, give thanks for the fact we live in this great country, and get back to fundamental investing.

Seth Koschak is Executive Managing Director and Partner for Stream Realty Partners’ Industrial Capital Markets group in Texas.

The post Industrial Capital Markets: What To Expect In 2023 appeared first on Stream Realty Partners.

As commercial real estate continues to evolve, the role of a property manager has evolved, too. In the past, a property manager’s focus was primarily on rent collection, budget preparation, and overall building maintenance. Now, the role requires so much more. Complex issues, changing climates, and the need to implement solutions require resourceful and agile professionals that are ready to enact policies, ensure preparedness, and respond to the unthinkable.

Just two years ago, the pandemic caused uncertainty across markets, with tenants and clients alike looking to property managers for definitive answers surrounding processes and protocol. Tasked with analyzing ever-changing guidelines, property managers implemented action plans, determined the scope of sanitation, developed quarantine and evacuation protocols, created new signage, set elevator capacity, and more while maintaining an asset’s revenue stream.

A property manager’s role, however, hasn’t just morphed into one of navigating crises.

With ESG (environmental, social, and governance) at the forefront for many companies, property managers are now taking the lead by recognizing and implementing eco-friendly initiatives at the building level to help clients meet ESG objectives.

Throughout my career in the commercial real estate industry, I have found property management to be an exciting service line that attracts high-caliber, dedicated professionals who take great pride in their portfolio’s performance. I have supported my team as they tackle numerous obstacles and challenges, fervently working to find solutions that align with a client’s needs and goals. Here are some real-life examples from my team:

Camping at My Property for a Week

Vice President, Property Management

It was a stormy night with 110-mile-per-hour winds. I was five months pregnant and ready to put my feet up when a tenant called. One of the turbines in his space had blown off, causing water to pour into the building. It sounded like he was standing by Niagara Falls. It was pitch black outside when my husband and I hopped in the car and headed to the property. We pulled into the parking lot, where the entire single-ply roof membrane was lying after having blown off. Two overhead doors had blown out, and a demising wall between two vacant spaces had fallen over.

Before the storm was even over, I started to call and secure vendors. Empire Roofing Company arrived at the property by 5 a.m. and had the building outfitted with a temporary roof by 7 p.m. that night. With debris, equipment, and materials everywhere, I had electricians, a restoration company, insurance adjusters, a trash company, and our HVAC company on-site for the next week. I essentially lived out of my car, with everyone coming up and tapping on my window to ask questions. I’ve never been more thankful for my network of vendors and a team of knowledgeable property managers to advise on each situation.

A Windy Weekend

Senior Property Manager

The weather doesn’t take holidays, and it certainly didn’t want me to take a break either. Several weekends ago, I was heading out the door to dinner with friends, and I got a call that a storm with microburst winds had whipped up near my cold storage property. The roof, the length of a football field, was ripped off my building and damaged the ammonia-filled pipes. Stopping the ammonia leak was my top priority. That’s a risky environment for my tenants.

I canceled my dinner and called the building engineers and a few property vendors to help me secure the building. Our diligent team of engineers stopped the leak in no time, and we got a temporary roof back on the building in a record-breaking ten days! It takes a village to restore a building after a destructive storm like that, and I’m thankful to have one!

 The Ice-Capades

Vice President, Property Management

Ice sculptures belong in Alaska or an over-the-top holiday celebration, but not in an industrial cold storage warehouse. One morning, I received an email that said, “Tara, ice has formed inside the building. Can you help?” I didn’t think much of it. A little ice is expected in a building that remains below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. That quickly changed as pictures arrived, with images of floor-to-ceiling ice structures that had formed overnight from a pinhole leak in a single sprinkler head. I called a colleague to brainstorm how to get ice out of the space while keeping it below freezing so the tenants’ goods wouldn’t spoil.

We called in a restoration company, and they chipped, chiseled, and blow-dried the ice out of the warehouse for over a week. They were taking shifts every few hours, so no one got frostbitten. Many weeks before this incident, I had requested building owners replace the sprinklers because I was concerned about leakage. Sure enough, after the ice-capades, my request was approved.

PSA: Make Sure Your Sprinklers Are Working

Vice President, Property Management

This was the first of five fires I’ve dealt with in my career. There was a tiny 8×8 closet with a 28-foot-high ceiling in an industrial property. The closet had one light fixture and one sprinkler head, and it was stacked to the top with cardboard boxes filled with files. One night the stack toppled over, hit the light fixture, and the boxes caught on fire. The smoke alarm went off, and I woke up to a call that the fire department had been dispatched. I immediately jumped in my car and called the tenant to tell them what was happening. I needed them to get someone on-site so the fire department didn’t have to break through the door.

The one sprinkler head put most of the fire out and kept it from spreading, and the fire department put out the rest of it and inspected the premises. Never take for granted functioning sprinklers and a full night’s sleep.

In a world filled with challenges, property managers remain ready to deliver.

The post In A World Filled With Challenges, Property Managers Remain Ready To Deliver appeared first on Stream Realty Partners.

This article first appeared in D Magazine’s CRE Opinion section.

In 1875, Dallas lawyer Robert Cowart wrote a famous article in the Dallas Daily Herald about a fictitious panther freely roaming the streets of Fort Worth without anyone noticing this wild beast—Cowart’s jab at categorizing Fort Worth as a sleepy village. This, of course, sparked retaliation by the proud citizens of Fort Worth who took his criticism to heart and, in turn, adopted the panther as the city’s mascot, which is still evident throughout the city today.  

After a 20-year commercial real estate career in New York City, I recently returned to my hometown of Dallas. My time away gave me a new perspective and appreciation of Dallas and the metro in general. A key change I noticed is that Fort Worth isn’t the Cowtown I remembered from my youth; my hope is that the city of Dallas is aware of this as well.  

Since we returned, our friends who have visited us from New York all want an authentic Texas experience during their stay. They want to go to Fort Worth, to see Sundance Square and The Stockyards, and not downtown Dallas. As a proud Dallasite, I want to show them my city, but I get it.  

I can’t blame them, Panther City has become a true destination–who wouldn’t want to stay at the Hotel Drover? The urban revitalization of Fort Worth is extremely orchestrated and accessible. What’s concerning is that downtown Dallas seems to be fading out of the conversation as a destination.  

Dallas needs a vibrant downtown to compete as a world-class city; it needs to become a destination. The downtown revitalization efforts by developers such as Woods Capital, Todd Interests, and Hoque Global cannot be overlooked. Successful projects such as the AT&T Discovery District, office repositioning of Trammell Crow Center, hospitality renovations at The Adolphus, The Joule, and The Statler, and the mixed-use preservation of the mid-century masterpiece at The National are all excellent examples of what can be done. 

As a downtown community, we need to rally around projects like these, but there is more to be done. Nationally, eyes are on Dallas as it continues to be the preferred headquarters relocation destination. Downtown Dallas needs to be part of that conversation—not just the overall North Texas region—with coordinated efforts to create a destination-driven area that continues to attract the best and brightest workforce nationally.  

To use New York as an example, post 9/11, Liberty Bonds were given to developers to revitalize lower Manhattan and increase residential development. I witnessed an office-centric district transform to a work/live/play 24/7 community with stroller-pushing families, buttoned-up office workers, and nightlife patrons. Tribeca and Battery Park City became some of the most affluent ZIP codes in the United States. Many of these buildings were obsolete offices that were repositioned as residential apartments. 

This balance of office and residential was evident during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when areas like Midtown were completely abandoned due to the lack of full-time residents, whereas lower Manhattan still bustled. We are seeing this type of transformation in the early stages in downtown Dallas—but we need the residential demand to follow suit. 

The creation of a live/work/play community helps to ensure a vibrant environment. In successful urban revitalization, as the residential population grows, the office vacancy rate shrinks and more amenities are created to support those communities.  Recently, we’ve seen interesting destination-driven developments in the Design District, and to a lesser extent in the Cedars, but similar additions to the downtown core would be beneficial as well. 

Although I am thrilled to see Fort Worth thriving as a destination, downtown Dallas needs to sit up and take note. As proud Dallasites, we need to support our downtown. Doesn’t the iconic image of the Dallas skyline still mean something, or is it just imagery of what once was? The last thing we want is for a panther to be wandering around downtown—and for no one to notice. 

Clayton Kline is an Executive Vice President with the Office Occupier Services division in Stream’s Dallas office. With over 20 years of experience, Kline has provided advisory services to commercial landlords and tenants throughout New York and Dallas, representing companies such as Twitter, Guggenheim Partners, Complex Media, The Johnson Company, ComScore, Fitch Ratings, and NBBJ. 

The post Revenge of the Panther City appeared first on Stream Realty Partners.

Stream Realty Partners is gearing up to build a 12-story office tower at the southwest corner of Tennyson Parkway and the tollway.

The company’s Platinum Tower will be next door to a five-story building Stream is constructing.

The 271,000-square-foot project is one of almost a dozen office developments in the works on the tollway in West Plano and Frisco — more than in any other area of North Texas.

“There is so much interest in this area,” said Chris Jackson, regional managing partner, Stream Realty Partners. “We plan to start construction before the end of the year.”

Developers and building investors attribute the boom in part to what they call “the Toyota effect.”

Since Toyota Motor Corp. announced last year that it would move its North American headquarters to West Plano, office developers have been scrambling to get projects going in the area.

“We’ve seen two large lease deals directly related to Toyota come through the market,” Jackson said. “It gives other businesses the confidence to locate in the same area.”

The global automaker’s 2.1 million-square-foot headquarters campus on Legacy Drive is the largest new office project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Right up the road at the tollway and Headquarters Drive, Liberty Mutual Insurance will be moving into a high-rise office complex with more than 1 million square feet.

Another nearby building opening this year will house the headquarters of FedEx Office.

Together the projects are expected to house almost 12,000 workers and generate additional business in the surrounding area.

“There is going to be a Toyota multiplier up there,” said Jeff Ellerman, a vice chairman in commercial real estate firm CBRE’s Dallas office. “I’m really not concerned that we are getting too far over our skis with construction.

“It doesn’t feel like we are overbuilding.”

Already committed

More than 5 million square feet of office space is under construction or announced along the tollway in West Plano and Frisco. More than half of it is already committed to tenants who will occupy the buildings when they are done.

Developer Randy Heady is building a 170,000-square-foot office building in Frisco and plans to start a 200,000-square-foot speculative office building later this year in West Plano.

He predicts that not all the new office projects being talked about along the tollway will get built.

“We are way overannounced and not at all overbuilt,” Heady said. “It’s a hot market, and we are getting lots of calls from interested tenants.”

The development is heading north up the tollway from Legacy business park.

The Dallas Cowboys are building more than 300,000 square feet of office space in their new Frisco headquarters on Warren Parkway.

And right next door, the Frisco Station development plans to kick off a more than 200,000-square-foot office building next year.

Farther north at Lebanon Road, the mixed-use Wade Park project is also pitching office leasing deals.

Fifth tower

Granite Properties, which is building the fifth office tower in its Granite Park development, has landed tenants for the tower before it’s even finished.

The 12-story, 306,000-square-foot office project is being built near the southeast corner of the tollway and State Highway 121.

Greatbatch Inc., a medical device maker that moved to Frisco from New York, just leased more than 50,000 square feet in Granite Park V.

Other tenants are looking at the speculative high-rise.

“We have proposals out to lease three more floors,” Granite chief operating office Greg Fuller said.

He’s not yet concerned about the pace of building in the area.

“I don’t think there is too much construction going on now, but there is a whole lot more planned.”

Fuller said there is a lot of capital in the market to finance additional development — a potential worry even in a good market like Legacy.

“All of a sudden you could have a lot more space on the market.”

By: Steve Brown, The Dallas Morning News

SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News

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