Duke Plots 3M-SF Mixed Use on 185-Acre Claim

COPPELL, TX-In a hotly contested race to the finish, Duke Realty Corp. has wrestled control of 185 acres that's been on nearly every metroplex developer's radar screen for years. Sources say Duke anted up roughly $25 million to claim the land from the Lesley family estate.

With the land in its grips, Duke is charting an estimated $200-million development--still unnamed--with 2.1 million sf of industrial product, 800,000 sf of value-office space and 22.3 acres earmarked for retail and hotel development. The acreage has nine-tenths of a mile frontage along Interstate 635 plus it's bounded by Freeport Parkway and Belt Line Road. Transwestern Commercial Services' Henry Knapek, Todd Jones and John Fulton marketed the property, just as they're doing for the estate's last foothold in the neighborhood--a 28-acre tract right across the road.

"It was a beauty contest: who could buy it at the highest number and the shortest inspection period," Jeff Turner, senior vice president of the Indianapolis-based Duke's Dallas operations, tells GlobeSt.com. Turner, like his peers, had been courting the Lesley family for years for all or part of the land.

Turner's wasting no time in turning dirt, particularly since Duke's 3.8-million-sf Freeport North Park in the Coppell submarket is 98% filled. Turner says the plan is to rev up construction in early 2007 on one warehouse and one value-office building. "We'll have space on the ground by late 2007," he vows. Meanwhile, build-to-suit prospects already are circling, he says. As for the 22.3-acre tract earmarked for retail and hotel development, it probably will be passed to other developers.

Duke has secured a 75% tax abatement for the site, which also carries a Triple Freeport exemption. Turner estimates it will take nine to 12 months to complete infrastructure, which will include a gateway called Lesley Boulevard. Other roadwork includes a frontage road and extension of Dividend Boulevard.

"This is going to change the face of the western 635 corridor leading to the airport," Turner says. "It's the last piece as you approach Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport."