Fort Worth Dealmakers Lure DR Horton's HQ Back to Town

DR Horton inked a 10-year lease for eight floors and optioned two more in the 38-story City Center Tower II at 301 Commerce St., being renamed to DR Horton Tower. "For a 10-year lease, we wanted to be sure we had the space to grow," Stacey Dwyer, the homebuilder's executive vice president and treasurer, tells GlobeSt.com. DR Horton, which is on track to close on 44,000 homes this year, took down 4,000 sf of retail space and the balance in office space to help leverage a corporate goal for a year with 100,000 closings. The firm is growing 10% to 15% annually, which makes the goal within reach by 2010.

The fate of a 52,000-sf headquarters building at 1901 Ascension Blvd. in Arlington remains undecided, Dwyer says. The homebuilder, founded in 1978 in Fort Worth, moved to Arlington roughly 15 years ago, first into leased space and moving in 1992 to a building on 5.2 acres bought out of receivership. The homebuilder also is leasing a small suburban office on the outskirts of Fort Worth and owns a 1.5-year-old building in Mesquite, about 30 miles east in Dallas County. But, the word "consolidation" isn't ringing through the halls, given the corporate goal to crack 100,000 closings per year and a secure footing at two suburban locations in rapidly developing, single-family neighborhoods.

The Sundance Square Management Inc. team for building owner, the Bass family of Fort Worth, says tenant improvements will begin immediately on DR Horton's floors. The homebuilder's new headquarters pairs space darkened nearly three years ago by Harcourt Brace Inc. and some now being cleaned out by Pier I Imports Inc., which is shifting into its new headquarters building on the CBD edge.

Dwyer says the homebuilder looked at building as well as leasing, but its eyes were always on Fort Worth. "DR Horton started in Fort Worth and we wanted to return to Fort Worth," she says. Talks began 60 to 90 days ago with Sundance Square Management.

"This deal was completed very quickly because both sides got right down to business and didn't let up until all the details had been worked out," Johnny Campbell, president and CEO of Sundance Square Management, says in a press release. The building owner used in-house broker, William Booker, to negotiate the deal with tenant rep, Kay Day of Kay Day Real Estate in Fort Worth. The homebuilder will occupy part of the fifth floor and floors eight through 12 and 37 through 38.

"We travel all across the country in our business and Fort Worth has one of the best downtown areas we've seen," Donald R. Horton, founder and chairman of the Fortune 300 company, says. "Sundance Square is a wonderful corporate environment, and we appreciate the opportunity to be part of it."

The deals lets the 820,509-sf City Center II with just 16,736 sf on the market today. The building's quoted rent ranges from $21.50 per sf to $23.50 per sf plus electric.