Dallas-Ft. Worth CBDs' Vulnerability Not Sept. 11-Related

The initial reaction to Sept. 11 was to seek space outside the brass-and-glass high-rises of the city's heart. Some Dallas tenants did put out feelers, Jean Farris, leasing director for Harwood International in Dallas, confirms to GlobeSt.com. Only time will tell if they intend to follow through on their actions.

"Some tenants still could be skittish," Farris says, "but I don't think there's going to be any mass exodus." Time for the most part has healed the wounds as it has done with tragedies at other public buildings, such as the public schools.

The prestigious addresses, the thrill of reporting in each day to a penthouse office and the Hollywood-style glamour of a Downtown office will always have followers. But, it's not necessarily the dominant force in Dallas-Ft. Worth, where there is plenty of developable land and an equal prestige to be found in submarkets such as Uptown or Las Colinas with its marble curbs and Old World canals. "Telecommunications made the world smaller and they now realize they don't have to be right in the heart of the CBD," she says.

Harwood has the distinction of having one of its prized possessions in Uptown, a CBD neighbor that offers suburban convenience in an urban setting. Its International Plaza is a mid-rise development which, Farris says, is an extraordinarily popular office design in the region. Tenants bent on appearances can easily find innovative building designs, tony addresses, easy access and impressive views of the Dallas skyline, all within a stone's throw of the CBDs.

"Regardless of the unfortunate events on 9-11, most Dallas developers have always been very involved in trying to understand what corporate America wants to achieve in the use of its real estate facilities," says Jim Lob, senior vice president of Grubb & Ellis Co. in Dallas.

The region has long relied upon the corporate campus mindset to increase value of its abundance of land and will continue to do so. Unlike many US cities, Dallas and Ft. Worth have vast tracts of land in and around the city limits to support the needs of those looking to custom tailor a building or grab a campus environment within easy shot of the airport and CBDs. "It will be no different," Lob says. "A higher percentage of continued growth in the suburbs versus the urban core and specific users who will consider build-to-suits versus existing buildings due to their own needs."

There is plenty of low-rise product to be found, but generally it's in the business parks of the outlying markets where developers are busy integrating campus designs and amenities with small user needs. It's a good match, but the "garden" lifestyle is not for everyone–and not necessarily within ready distance of staff's homes, more of a consideration now than in years past due to traffic congestion.