Sublease, Direct Talks Set Up HQ Location for the Long Term

The April merger put the Boston-based Stream's name on the letterhead, but brought the headquarters to Dallas where ECE has been in place since 1995. The move-in to 2220 Campbell Creek Parkway in Richardson will be completed by month's end.

ECE execs were looking for a new headquarters location when parent, the Miami-based HIG Capital Inc. bought the competitor and the largest of the two outsourcing operations for call centers and technical support networks, Susan Arledge of Arledge/Power Real Estate Group in Dallas explains to GlobeSt.com. ECE has been operating out of a 62,000-sf leased building at 2140 Merritt Dr. on the Dallas campus of Spectrum Software Inc., ECE's one-time owner.

To make the move, the merged Stream subleased 46,785 sf from ADC Telecommunications Inc., an Eden Prairie, MN-based group that vacated the 77,181-sf Campbell Creek Business Center in 2003. The sublease runs through the November 2006 balance of the term and options ADC's hold for the rest of the building, owned by Dallas-based Granite Properties, Arledge says. In a second twist to the deal, the Arledge/Power team negotiated a seven-year lease with Granite, locking in a rate two years in advance of the direct lease's kick-in, she confides.

The upshot is Stream got a plug n' play deal and ready-to-go office space at a sublease rate and a crystal-ball direct rent. "Granite was very fair in structuring two years in advance based on today's market rate," Arledge says, noting the sublease was sealed at "very, very aggressive terms." The office building was on the market for $12 per sf. She says the negotiated rate beat the quote, but didn't dip into the single digits.

Stream is in the process of fine-tuning plans for the new location, including how many will relocate from Boston and the number of new hires. At present, the plan calls for 350 jobs in the next two years to be housed in Richardson.

Besides Arledge, Stream's team included Van Power and Jeff Pappas while ADC's representatives were Andrew Taguwa and David Cooke with the Staubach Co. in Dallas. Mark Harrison with Granite Properties handled its side of the deal.