Seven-Year Lease Sets Up Herman Miller Showroom

The Zeeland, MI-based Herman Miller will open doors in late May or early June on 13,250 sf of a 17,000-sf building at 1700 Oak Lawn, which has sat empty nearly two years, Jake Marks with Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. tells GlobeSt.com. The structure is one of the smaller ones in the Dallas Design District, but it's positioned at the entrance to 500,000 sf of showroom space that's now 80% leased, according to Marks. To get a spot in the specialty marketplace, rates start at $15 per sf and go up to $23 per sf plus electric.

Marks says talks began shortly after the Robert Allen Group of New York City relocated its Beacon Hill showroom to 1025 N. Stemmons Frwy. The Herman Miller talks went hot and cold as the executive team weighed whether it would open a sixth national design center. The decision has put Dallas on the same playing field as Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Toronto.

"I think they were pretty much focused on that building from the onset," says Marks, who teamed with TCC's Kathy Brown to structure the deal. Peter Danna and Jeff Cutler with CB Richard Ellis Inc. steered negotiations for Herman Miller, which is getting ready to move its sales office from 2941 Trade Center Dr. in Carrollton to the design district building, owned by Crow Holdings of Dallas. Herman Miller, getting a building in shell condition, is handling the finish-out.