The national real estate spotlight continues shining on North Texas, with recent news from CBRE that our region was the top performing office leasing market in the nation, outpacing the second place Los Angeles market by nearly 2 million square feet. I think this comes as no surprise based on the incredible amount of activity we’ve seen taking place across Dallas-Fort Worth and certainly here in the AllianceTexas corridor.
For many years, the Hillwood development team has studied best practices in office development and integrated them into the master plans of our signature projects like AllianceTexas. In fact, Hillwood Commons I at the 950-acre, mixed-use Alliance Town Center was created to meet the increasing demand in the AllianceTexas corridor for highly amenitized Class A office space. And, with this demand surging, we expect to build more than 2 million square feet of office product at Alliance Town Center.
With the recent development of Charles Schwab, and their desire for walkable amenities, adding to the long list of corporate residents throughout AllianceTexas that include Fidelity Investments, Deloitte University, Mercedes Benz Financial Services and TD Ameritrade, among others, it’s clear that demand for office space at AllianceTexas has been strong for quite some time. The success of Hillwood Commons I, which is already 90 percent leased, illustrates that there is pent-up demand in North Fort Worth for quality office environments with direct access to shopping, dining, medical, entertainment, and residential options, particularly.
In the 12 months since opening Hillwood Commons I, nationally known brands have taken residence, including GE Transportation’s Global Services Operations, Title Source, Lockheed Martin, TEKSystems, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WABTEC), Peloton Land Solutions, and Oxford Global Resources, among others. And, to accommodate our own growth, we moved our company office into Hillwood Commons I at the end of last year. In tandem with the 367,000-square-foot FAA Southwest Regional Headquarters, the project has essentially created an entirely new office submarket in the North Fort Worth area.
It’s no secret that employee recruitment is highly competitive, even in areas where there are plenty of skilled workers. This competition means that companies are looking for places with amenities that will help them attract top talent. After all, people want to work in a place that has access to vibrant restaurant concepts, fitness facilities, national and boutique retailers, and entertainment options all within walking distance.
Through the years, our customers and corporate residents have told us that their employees want a place where they can enjoy lunch outdoors, take a midday walk, or go for a run after work. This was the idea behind the creation of Bluestem Park at Alliance Town Center, a 14-acre park that has been restored to its original, native blackland prairie state. The park offers several walking and biking trails, along with access to the Arcadia and Heritage regional park trail systems. Bluestem Park also facilitates health and wellness programming that is in high demand, like the Run in the Dark race that took participants on a scenic 5k course in September 2016 to benefit Community Storehouse. Beginning next month, park guests can also participate in organized fitness activities.
Beyond serving as a path to health and wellness, the parks and open spaces at Alliance Town Center are centerpieces for community engagement—with an array of programmed events and activities that create a sense of place for area residents. For instance, Prairie Vista Park, a 10-acre green space at Alliance Town Center, hosted the development’s first annual tree lighting ceremony in December 2016. Beginning in June 2017, the park will also host Food Truck Fridays with healthy food options. Alternatively, Bluestem Park serves as a living laboratory for students from Keller and Northwest Independent School Districts, where they can learn about the plants and wildlife that inhabit the park. The Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of America have also created merit badge programs tied to the park.
North Fort Worth has long been a single-family residential hub for the region, but in the past few years we’ve been focused on creating residential options at Alliance Town Center that can accommodate every demographic—including young professionals and those in retirement. In addition to our first multifamily project, Monterra Village, we have added Sagestone Village, SageWater Village and SageWood Village, each with direct access to the office buildings and the amenities available at Alliance Town Center. We’ve also added Watercrest at Alliance Town Center—a retirement, independent living community that shares this same proximity.
With a diverse and growing population in place, healthcare has become a focal point for both employees and residents in the corridor. To meet this demand, we’ve partnered with the regional healthcare industry to develop facilities across the spectrum to serve the population. Today, Alliance Town Center is home to two full-service hospitals, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance and HCA’s Medical City Alliance, as well as Cooks Children’s Urgent Care and Specialty Center, Parkway Surgical and Cardiovascular Hospital, and numerous medical offices.
North Fort Worth has seen tremendous growth during the past three decades and with this growth comes a desire for companies to tap into its workforce, as well as a desire for many of them to office closer to where their employees live. Demand for Class A office space in North Fort Worth will continue to grow well into the future, and we believe the best practices implemented at Alliance Town Center will continue to make the project its focal point.
Bill Burton is executive vice president of Hillwood Properties and Hillwood Urban.
