Although Hillwood, a Perot company, is consistently ranked among the top developers in the country by national trade publications and has received awards from several prestigious real estate trade organizations, the company is best known for its large, signature projects that have made a significant impact on the community and become premier places for its residents and customers to live and conduct business.
The best evidence of Hillwood’s ability to develop a tremendous business environment is that close to 90 companies from either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private Companies have chosen to locate in Hillwood’s developments.
These companies represent a wide range of industries, including automotive (General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Daimler, Hyundai, BridgestoneFirestone, Pep Boys), pharmaceutical/medical suppliers (Medline, AmerisourceBergen, Teleflex Medical, U.S. Oncology, Cardinal Health), retailers (Best Buy, Michaels, Home Depot, Garden Ridge, J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, Safeway, Stater Bros.), consumer products (General Mills, Conair, Helen of Troy, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Behr Paints, Premium Waters, Benjamin Moore, Mattel), 3rd party logistics (Ryder, UPS, Exel, DSC Logistics, CEVA Logistics, Shippers Warehouse, Keuhne + Nagel), telecommunications/electronics (AT&T, ATC Logistics & Electonics, Motorola, LG Electronics, Q-Edge) and financial services/insurance (TDAmeritrade, AIG, Citigroup, Fidelity Investments).
In its residential communities, Hillwood also has worked with top homebuilders, including Centex, D.R.Horton, Pulte, Lennar, Hovnanian Enterprises, Toll Brothers and Beazer Homes.
As a developer, owner and property manager, Hillwood has introduced services that have added value and helped save costs for the companies and homeowners within its developments. These include Foreign Trade Zone expertise, employment and job training services, customs facilitation, advanced technology, customer group meetings to share human resources/facility management/security knowledge, livestock management, extensive landscaping and maintenance services, transportation initiatives, government relations, community Intranet, and Triple Freeport.
In 2004 when it began its Hillwood Energy division, the company was one of the first to select its drilling sites based on future use of the land and current needs of its customers and residents. Hillwood Energy now does oil and gas exploration across the country and internationally in Russia and Kurdistan.
Hillwood’s public partners also have realized a significant return. At its founding project, AllianceTexas, Hillwood has attracted 220 companies that have created 28,000 jobs and built more than 31 million square feet since 1990. An initial public investment of approximately $100 million from the city of Fort Worth, the state of Texas and the Federal Aviation Administration has already yielded $6.8 billion in private investment and more than $730 million in property tax revenue, including an annual total of $105 million in property taxes in 2008.
In 2000 Hillwood was named the master developer of the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. At that time the project had seen no significant development since 1994, when the Air Force turned the base over to the city. In less than a year, Hillwood was able to attract a 600,000 square-foot distribution center for Kohl’s Department Stores to the development, which is now known as AllianceCalifornia. New major facilities for global leading companies Mattel, Pep Boys, Stater Bros., Kohler, Pactiv and Medline soon followed.
Hillwood has expertise with as diverse a product type as any real estate company in the world.
Environmentally Friendly Facilities - Hillwood has incorporated environmentally friendly measures into its projects since the company began in the late 1980s. Most recently five Hillwood-developed buildings totaling more than 1.2 million square feet at Interchange Business Center in San Bernardino, Calif. received LEED Silver certification. At the time of its certification, the project was the largest speculative industrial project in the country and one of the largest projects in California to receive LEED certification. In addition Hillwood's 300-acre Alliance Town Center is part of the U.S. Green Building Council's pilot program to create standards for its new LEED for Neighborhood Development category. Since 2005 Hillwood has used 100% renewable energy for its electricity needs at its projects in North Texas. The company also was recognized by the EPA and received the distinguished Phoenix Award for its remediation of the Victory site. For more than two decades, Hillwood has utilized extensive tree planting and transplanting programs, trail systems, and retention ponds for irrigation.
Office - Hillwood has developed and manages offices for some of the world’s most recognized companies. These include Daimler, Aviall, Galderma, Textron, DynCorp International, Bell Helicopter, Chrysler and the FAA. Since 2006, more than 2 million square feet of office space have been added at Hillwood’s AllianceTexas development. This includes the 600,000 square-foot building that Fidelity Investments recently added at its 300-acre corporate campus at Circle T Ranch, where Deloitte recently began construction on its $300 million learning and leadership development center. In addition Hillwood developed the 20-story One Victory Park, which houses Ernst & Young, Haynes & Boone and Plains Capital Bank. It is the first registered multi-tenant LEED office building in Dallas.
Logistics Hubs - Beginning with the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, which has become the prototype for inland port logistics hubs, Hillwood is a leading developer of import-related distribution centers across the country. These markets include Charleston, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Southaven, Mississippi near Memphis; and the Inland Empire in Southern California. These hubs capitalize on multiple forms of transportation to provide customers with the optimal means to distribute imported goods.
Airports - In the late 1980s, Hillwood led the effort in a public-private partnership to design, fund and develop Fort Worth Alliance Airport, the world’s first industrial airport. Based on that project, the Federal Aviation Administration created a category for industrial airports, which were defined as a Class A airport dedicated to air cargo and aerospace manufacturing and training with no commercial passenger traffic. The airport was constructed in an unprecedented 18 months and is the centerpiece of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas development that has attracted more than $6.8 billion in private investment.
Intermodal Facilities - In the early 1990s, Hillwood worked with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to develop one of the largest intermodal facilities ever built from a greenfield site. The BNSF Intermodal Facility at Alliance handles approximately 600,000 containers per year and has become the model for inland port logistics hubs built around an intermodal yard.
Remediation/Brownfield Development - In 1998 Hillwood began a year-long remediation of a blighted 75-acre urban tract near downtown Dallas. The site formerly held a rail yard, a power generating plant, a landfill, several dilapidated warehouses and a grain silo. It is now called Victory, a new district for the downtown area. Hillwood’s AllianceCalifornia project, which is the redevelopment of the former Norton Air Force Base, also required a significant amount of remediation. The site of Interchange Business Center in San Bernardino, Calif. also required extensive remediation due to former manufacturing uses. That cleanup was a big factor in the project receiving LEED Silver Certification.
Data Centers - Hillwood has helped meet the increasing demand for data centers as companies create redundancies for their IT and essential operations. Hillwood has developed multi-user data centers, a data center for AIG, and worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield on the development of a data center. Citigroup also has a data center in Hillwood’s AllianceTexas development.
Call Centers - Hillwood has developed some of the most sophisticated call centers for industry leading companies, such as AT&T, TD Ameritrade, Ryder and Lockheed Martin. The Ryder facility is its North American Transportation Management Center and features massive video screens to track shipments, weather and other pertinent information across the continent. The Lockheed Martin facility is its Automated Flight Services Station, where the company provides critical information for pilots across the country.
Industrial - Hillwood is one of the leading owners and developers of industrial product in the United States. Its AllianceTexas project now houses more than 31 million square feet. At its projects in California’s Inland Empire, more than 10 million square feet since 2000. The company’s other major industrial hubs across the country include Central Pennsylvania; Jacksonville, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; and Southaven, Mississippi in the Memphis market.
Single-Family Residential - Hillwood has been an innovator in the development of single-family communities since the late 1980s. The company has introduced several marketing, management and quality of life features that have distinguished its residential developments. Hillwood currently is developing communities in North Texas, Houston, Austin, Hawaii, Wyoming and Costa Rica.
Mixed-Use - Hillwood has significant experience in the extensive planning and complex coordination required in mixed-use development. In an urban environment, Hillwood developed the 75-are Victory mixed-use district near downtown Dallas. An example of the company’s suburban mixed-use development is its 300-acre Alliance Town Center in north Fort Worth, Texas.
Multifamily - In addition to the urban high-rise apartment homes and condominiums at Victory, Hillwood has experience developing multifamily product in suburban areas. The finest example of the quality of Hillwood’s multifamily product is Monterra Village, which is the first 100% smoke-free luxury apartment home community in North Texas and features a 45-acre greenbelt and 6,500 square-foot clubhouse.
Air Facilities/Hangars - Hillwood has developed a wide range of airport-related product, including air cargo facilities, Fixed Base Operation terminals and combination hangar/office facilities. These include a 177,000 square-foot facility that houses Bell Helicopter’s hangars, offices and training operation for its Customer Care Center, and the 83,000 square-foot Alliance Fixed Base Operation that Hillwood owns and operates and has received top customer service awards from ExxonMobil for an unprecedented 14 straight years. Hillwood also was involved in the development of the 1.6 million square-foot American Airlines Maintenance Base, the FedEx Southwest Sorting Hub and developed a 58,000 square-foot hangar/office for Peregrine Point, a passenger and cargo air charter service.
Arenas - In 2001 Hillwood completed development of the $420 million American Airlines Center, which serves as the home for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association and the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League. Hillwood also led the effort to form the public-private partnership that was vital to the arena being built. American Airlines Center is the centerpiece of Victory, the 75-acre master-planned district near downtown Dallas.
High-Rise Hotel/Residences - Hillwood developed the W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences, which is the first high-rise hotel with condominium residences under the W Hotel flag. Hillwood also is involved in a partnership that developed the Hotel Palomar - Atlanta.
Golf Courses/Communities - Hillwood has partnered with several leading golf course developers and operators to create some of the country's top golf courses and golf course communities. Hillwood and Discovery Land Company are partners in Spanish Oaks near Austin. The two companies also worked together at Circle T Ranch to develop Vaquero, which has been ranked as the top golf course in Texas by the Dallas Morning News. Hillwood's Lost Canyons Golf Club in Simi Valley, California is managed by Landmark National. Hillwood also is a joint venture partner with Heritage Golf Group in Meadowbrook Farms in Houston.