Cordish Cos. leader confident in office project at Texas Live!
With its central location between Dallas and Fort Worth and proximity to DFW International Airport, Arlington has yet to become the office hub and corporate relocation center that some think it could be. However, the developer behind Arlington's Texas Live! thinks the area is primed for a corporate relocation, and has plans to build 200,000 square feet of office space on top of Globe Life Park.
The Cordish Cos., a Baltimore-based development company, along with its partners Loews Corp. (NYSE: L), the City of Arlington and the Texas Rangers received TIRZ approval Tuesday to proceed with plans for an $810 million second phase at the entertainment district.
The new phase of Texas Live! will include the 200,000 square feet of office space, an 888-room convention hotel with 150,000 square feet of meeting space, 100,000 square feet of additional restaurant and retail space, 280 apartments and nearly 2,000 more parking spaces.
The second phase of the development is part of a larger $4 billion master plan for the area, which The Cordish Cos. first envisioned five years ago, before the first phase of Texas Live! kicked off.
Cordish Principal and Partner Reed Cordish says the master plan was envisioned as a 15-year plan, but says things have moved at a lightning pace since the first phase.
Cordish is hopeful that even more is on the way, but did not say what else is planned for the later phases of development.
As far as the proposed office, Cordish says similar space has been well-received and well-leased in other markets the company is in, such as St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.
"It's clearly going to be an iconic tower and many companies will be attracted to its location in the heart of Texas Live! What we've found is that companies are really drawn to entertainment areas like this because they become recruitment and retention tools for employees," Cordish said.
He pointed to the company's other Live! projects as examples.
"We built some office space (at Kansas City Live!) that became H&R Block’s world headquarters. With our Cardinals project in St. Louis, PWC became the anchor tenant at that office building," Cordish said. "We know that they make great homes for corporations. We have a lot of confidence that this one will be no different."
Cordish has not yet selected a broker to lease the office space.
Another unique feature of the new development will be the addition of 40,000 square feet of co-working space through Cordish's Spark brand. Located within the planned Ballpark Lofts apartment complex next to Globe Life Field, it will provide key incubator space for entrepreneurs and small businesses, Cordish says. The company has already launched the concept in Baltimore and Kansas City.
The hotel and convention center at Texas Live! are expected to break ground in January and could be delivered by 2023. The retail and housing portion of the project will break ground later in 2020 and would also be expected to be completed by 2023. Once an anchor is secured, the office portion of the project is expected to take 36 months to complete.