Pizza Inn Closes Land Deal for 140,000-SF Headquarters, Training, Distribution Complex

DALLAS-The 500-location Pizza Inn Inc. has closed on an 11-acre tract in the Colony, north of Dallas, to build a 140,000-sf headquarters, test and training center and distribution facility.

Dallas-based Billingsley Development Co. will develop the site, which will be situated in the northern section of Austin Ranch along Plano Parkway. A ground-breaking date has not been set, GlobeSt.com has been told. The headquarters is to be ready for a summer 2001 occupancy.

The two-story headquarters will result in a consolidation of leased sites in Dallas, Addison and Grand Prairie that are being used for executive offices, training and distribution operations. The pizza chain employs 150 people at the leased sites. The consolidation, says Ronnie Parker, the chain’s president, is needed “to meet future expansion expectations.” Just in November, three Pizza Inn franchises had opened in Iceland and two in Texas. Pizza In has 500 franchises in 22 states and 16 countries.

The Colony has approved a 70% property tax reduction over five years for Pizza Inn while allocating some $250,000 for infrastructure improvements at Austin Ranch. The decade-old chain currently has its administrative offices at 5050 Quorum Dr. in Dallas.

The restaurant chain’s corporate campus will neighbor corporate offices for Freddie Mac, which had broken ground about three months ago, and the Leather Center, a furniture retailer. The 1,900-acre Austin Ranch project will add more than 12 million sf of office space to the market. Its master plan calls for corporate campuses, commercial, multifamily and retail uses.