D.R. Horton to move headquarters to Arlington, officials say

D.R. Horton, the largest home builder in the U.S., plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from a Sundance Square office tower bearing its name to a new $20 million building in north Arlington.

The company’s 500 corporate employees would move into a 150,000-square-foot building planned for six acres along the Interstate 30 frontage just east of North Collins Street, the city said in a news release Thursday evening.

The Arlington City Council on Tuesday will consider a $5.5 million development grant for improvements to drainage, roadways, structured parking and other infrastructure at the site.

Mayor Jeff Williams said the grant would come with strings requiring that D.R. Horton produce at least the number of jobs and property value of the new headquarters that were part of the announcement.

“We have a formula there,” Williams said. “There are requirements that have to be met, and we feel confident that they will be.”

He said the grant funds will come “from a variety of sources, and of course we’re going to be evaluating that” at the council meeting.

The company was founded in Fort Worth 1978 by Donald R. Horton, who remains chairman. The headquarters moved to Arlington in 1993, but in August 2004, Horton signed a 10-year lease for more than 160,000 square feet on eight floors in City Center Tower 2 at 301 Commerce St. in downtown Fort Worth. The tower was renamed the D.R. Horton Tower.

“They’re coming home, coming back to Arlington,” said Councilwoman Kathryn Wilemon, who was on the council when the company moved to Fort Worth.

“We’ll work on this agreement with them, and this will be coming to the council. And hopefully everything works out to everyone’s advantage. ... We’re always excited about new jobs in Arlington.”

Tracy Gilmour, a spokeswoman for Sundance Square, said: “We hate to see a company leave Fort Worth. We have a great relationship with D.R. Horton, and we wish them the very best.”

Gilmour said D.R. Horton’s move out of Tower 2 will leave just a small gap in the building’s occupancy, and because the move is not immediate, the district will have plenty of time to find new occupants.

D.R. Horton is having a good week. On Tuesday, the home builder announced its net income increased to $221.1 million, or 60 cents a share, handily beating analysts’ estimates of 50 cents per share. Its net income surpassed last year’s mark of $113.1 million and 32 cents, as the company sold more homes at higher value.

Company officials could not be reached Thursday evening for comment on the proposed relocation to Arlington.

Horton said in a statement: “The proposed relocation of our company will provide us with a new company-owned headquarters that is conveniently located in the heart of North Texas with great access to DFW International Airport. We look forward to returning to Arlington.”

D.R. Horton employs about 6,300 employees nationwide. The company ranked 354th on the 2015 Fortune 500 list, operates in 79 markets in 27 states and closed 34,684 homes in the 12-month period that ended June 30.

Since its founding, D.R. Horton has built more than 500,000 homes, positioning the company as America’s largest builder by volume for 13 consecutive years. The company was created more than three decades ago with a vision of building “livable and affordable new homes with unmatched efficiencies and uncompromising quality.”

Correspondent Sarah Bahari contributed to this report.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 6:31 PM with the headline "D.R. Horton to move headquarters to Arlington, officials say."