Frost Bank's Back Office Headed for Suburbs

The relocation search has been under way for about nine months, J. Michael Gosslee, senior director for Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc., tells GlobeSt.com. Close to 100 buildings were surveyed and the short list pared to 10 before Frost Bank settled on Esters 114 Office Center at the intersection of Esters Boulevard and Texas 114.

The 10-year lease for 1701 Esters Blvd. was won with location and economics. "The advantage of a tenant's market is you buy when the price is right," Gosslee says. That right price laid on the table included "substantial" finish-out dollars, he adds. "The landlord was very aggressive in terms of the tenant improvements." The move will add some more office area in a rectangular configuration as the staff goes from a typical high-rise floor plate to a portion of a 100,823-sf, single-story design.

Frost will continue to be a mainstay name for the CBD, even though it's pulling the back office and related operations out of Bryan Tower at 2001 Bryan St., most of which are headed to the regional office in International Center at 2727 N. Harwood. The move to the suburbs is perceived as convenience for couriers who spend their days shuttling from the operations center to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas at 2200 N. Pearl St. in the downtown and the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Gosslee says the two-year-old office building in Irving has an "easy-in, easy-out" for the day-to-day mainline stops. He says the bank's suburban campus in San Antonio has worked out well and the shift to the suburbs will work out just as well in Dallas.

In addition to Gosslee, the bank's C&W team consisted of Bob Edge, vice chairman, and Matt Heidelbaugh, associate director. Michael Peinado of Dallas-headquartered Lincoln Property Co. represented the building owner, the Operating Engineers Pension Trust of California.