FORT WORTH – Despite the U.S. economic slump, Hillwood has recorded its second highest first quarter in two decades at AllianceTexas, a 17,000-acre, mixed-use heavyweight for the North Texas economy.
The first-quarter results show more than 1.2 million sf has been leased, falling just 300,000 sf shy of the record set in 2005. Last year, 710,000 sf of deals were inked in Q1.
In a press release, Hillwood’s team reported the Q1 ’09 deals translated into nearly 600 new jobs for the development. “The value-added services and inherent costs savings at AllianceTexas are appealing to companies, particularly at a time when they are under pressure to trim expenses in a slow economy,” said Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Properties.
As Hillwood tallied up its wins, AllianceTexas’ construction activity was picking up too. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas is building a 250,000-sf data center on 53 acres that it bought last year while New York City-based Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is gearing up to start work on a 750,000-sf learning and leadership development center on a 107-acre tract in the Circle T Ranch section. And earlier this year, locally based Galderma Laboratories LP completed a 50,000-sf office building for its team.
Meanwhile, work is nearing completion on a 168,000-sf shopping center, which will plant a Sam Moon Trading Co. in northeast Tarrant County. The local retailer’s grand opening will be held next month. Also coming this spring is construction on a 35,000-sf store for Rooms To Go in Alliance Town Center.
To date this year, Hillwood has sold 28 new homes in Heritage and 16 in Saratoga. Due to the interest in the neighborhoods, Hillwood is starting lot developments in both, adding 119 in Saratoga and 75 in Heritage.
AllianceTexas contains more than 200 companies, 29 million sf and 28,000 employees. The newcomers to the development will include Q-Edge Corp., a California-based company that’s relocating to Texas and adding a computer assembly plant in 365,440 sf and Alliance Brokers, a local logistics firm that recently leased 292,500 sf for a heavy-load container facility, deals previously reported in Realty News Report.