Arlington picks developer to recruit corporate headquarters
Hoping to bring higher-paying jobs to town, Arlington has partnered with Trammell Crow to attract a corporate headquarters to the entertainment district.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a 12-month agreement with the Dallas-based developer to help market and potentially build an office campus on 18 acres at the northwest corner of Interstate 30 and Collins Street. The city bought the land Jan. 30 from the Texas Transportation Department for $7.6 million to exert more control over what is built there.
Ideally, Arlington is interested in recruiting a regional, national or international headquarters or several companies needing new office space, city officials said.
“Our goal is real simple. Our goal is to have the private sector develop the property into an office campus environment,” Deputy City Manager Jim Parajon said. “Trammell Crow is one of the strongest companies in the world for office development. In the Metroplex, they have demonstrated over and over again they are able to achieve those results. The opportunity for us to have them serve as our development partner is huge.”
The city is not paying Trammell Crow upfront for its services.
“There is no payment unless an acceptable development deal comes through. That conversation becomes part of the development deal to be negotiated,” Parajon said.
The agreement, which the council could renew for a second one-year period, also gives Trammell Crow the option to buy the property. The price would be negotiated, said Roger Venables, assistant director of the Community Development and Planning Department.
Although Arlington has bought up smaller plots of privately held land near downtown, it had not previously purchased a parcel this large for potential economic development. The Transportation Department no longer needed the site, which had been a maintenance facility. Under state law, the land was first made available to the city, the Arlington school district and the county, but only the city showed interest.
“It’s 18 acres of prime real estate off one of the main highways in the Metroplex within the entertainment district. It’s a great location,” Parajon said. “A group like Trammell Crow can help us get the project we’re looking for.”
As home to the University of Texas at Arlington, District 3 Councilman Robert Rivera said, the city is blessed to have an educated workforce. Recruiting new companies that offer sought-after jobs can help keep those college graduates in town, where they can buy homes, start their families and spend money at local businesses.
“There are a number of those who leave Arlington either to be close to their job or to work. Every opportunity that we can take advantage of to attract and retain high-paying jobs for our educated workforce will strengthen the future of Arlington,” Rivera said.
Even before buying the land, Arlington issued a request for proposals in August seeking a development partner for the proposed office project. Trammell Crow, Provident Realty Advisors, SCC Development Co. and Cienda Partners responded.
Trammell Crow is involved in numerous projects in Dallas-Fort Worth, including the Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, Legacy Towers in Plano, the Union at Carrollton Square apartments in Carrollton, and a 1.6-million-square-foot speculative industrial development underway on 314 acres at the northwest corner of Interstate 35W and Eagle Parkway, just north of Alliance Airport.
Arlington used its existing cash resources to pay for the land.
“The city’s interest isn’t to hold the land. It’s to get an office employment center developed on the property,” Parajon said. “All indications are that we are in an opportune market and we have a very strategic location.”
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Red-light cameras on ballot
The Arlington City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to add a proposed city charter amendment banning red-light cameras to the May 9 ballot.
District 1 Councilman Charlie Parker abstained from voting, saying that although he doesn’t want to deny residents the chance to vote, he can’t support a city charter change that he feels could jeopardize public safety.
Critics of the cameras gathered enough signatures from registered voters to force the council to put the matter before voters. They say the cameras have resulted in more rear-end collisions at monitored intersections and are nothing more than a cash cow.
Arlington police officials say the cameras, which record about 95,000 violations a year, have reduced collisions at monitored intersections by as much as 75 percent. — Susan Schrock
This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Arlington picks developer to recruit corporate headquarters."