The US startup, beginning with 12 jobs and adding 10 more down the line, cranks up production next week at 10490 Miller Rd., says Carsten Kruse, president of Dr. Kracker. Taking the space with a four-year sublease, Kruse says the location will replace the German supply chain to Whole Foods stores in 13 states and Canada. With three of the four partners in Texas, the transition made sense, particularly since expansion is part of the plan. Kruse's partners include George Eckrich of Austin, Danny Kelley of San Antonio and the cracker line's creator, Dr. Klaus Karg of Germany.

Phillip Rosenfeld with Dallas-based Morse Co. says the Dr. Kracker/Kracker Enterprises LLC team subleased the building from Marlow Industries, which kicked in several months of free rent and $105, 000 toward the retrofit of Northgate II, owned by PS Business Parks of Los Angeles. Rosenfeld says Marlow, with six years, 10 months left on its lease, set the discounted rent to start this month at $2.71 per sf net and bump three times, ending with $5.45 per sf net.

Rosenfeld says the Northeast Dallas building was on the sublease market since the end of 2002 although Marlow, a supplier of thermoelectric cooling technology for the telecommunications industry, kept part of its Vista Park team in the structure until late October 2003 when it vacated and turned over the keys to a free three-month run to get the building ready for Dr. Kracker's production. The Dallas-based Marlow, which has a corporate-owned headquarters nearby, has no plans to vacate any other flex space in the Vista Park campus, says Rosenfeld, who along with Scott M. Jessen of the Morse Co. represented Marlow Industries. David Albert, an independent broker from Dallas, negotiated for Dr. Kracker.

Kruse says the corporate plan is to expand the four-flavor line of low-carb, whole grain flatbreads and add markets in the US, Canada and Mexico. The initial ramp-up includes supplying select stores in the Southwest as well as 100-plus Whole Foods' locations.