Building Owners Lock Down Access for Long Haul

"We can only respond to a specific threat and right now we have no specific threat, but it is heightened vigilance," Joe Marchant, BOMA Dallas' executive director, tells GlobeSt.com. "There have been some changes made quietly that improved physical security." Some building guards, he says, are dressed in civilian clothes effectively making them "invisible" to the average passerby.

The building owner's name didn't matter; the response was the same to the ground war's start, unlike the 1991 Gulf War when it was business as usual in the glass-and-steel high-rises of the nation's metros. Every building owner polled around town reports 24/7 manned loading docks and checks at the front door of all visitors and packages.

"After 9/11, everyone changed the way they viewed security in commercial buildings," says Glenda Simcox, BOMA Fort Worth's executive director. "Everyone became more aware of the safety of their tenants."

Univision Tower at 2323 Bryan in Dallas' CBD is a 464,000-sf fortress every day due to its high-profile telecommunications tenant roster. Yesterday, the security belt was cinched a bit more, with ingress and egress limited to one door. "The tenant base and the infrastructure in this building demand complete controlled access," says John Patterson, principal of Capstar Commercial Real Estate Services in Dallas, whose firm is tasked with leasing and management in a building considered one of the toughest to crack in town. Only four of 26 floors can be accessed without an elevator key card.

"It is a higher rate of security than the typical office building," says Capstar's vice president Glenn Benoist, "but most telecos do that." He says restricting access to one door was done because "we're trying to choke it down somewhat and at the same time trying not to make it inconvenient to the tenants."

Patterson says similar action was taken at Capstar-run suburban buildings with high-profile tenants. He and Capstar's security contractor, the Houston-based ACSS, have been talking for weeks while the war drums beat. Yesterday, the nation's high state of alert set the plan in motion.

Crescent Real Estate Equities of Fort Worth, as did many of its counterparts, kept intact most security measures implemented after Sept. 11. Yesterday, Crescent fired up the "supplemental" plan for tougher surveillance inside and out, which includes discontinuing or restricting "temporary" courier or other vehicular parking adjacent to buildings all across the portfolio.

"We also are in close contact with local authorities in each of our markets to state up-to-date with events as they unfold," says Crescent's chief spokeswoman, "and we are in constant contact with our customers to keep them advised of changes as they occur."