Parliament Group acquires 220-acre land parcel on DART light rail line in Richardson

by PegNews wire

RICHARDSON — Interests of the late Hassie Hunt today announced their sale of a 220-acre land tract in north Richardson to a group led by the Dallas-based Parliament Group. The property is located at the southeast quadrant of the President George Bush Turnpike (S.H 190) and Central Expressway (U.S. 75), bounded on the west by the DART rail line and DART’s Bush Turnpike Station, on the north by the Turnpike, on the east by The Shire mixed-use development and on the south by Renner Road.

After completing the all-cash transaction, the new owners have begun exploring options for the property. They anticipate a six-month to one-year study to examine plans and options for a transit-oriented development (TOD) project on the western 57 acres of the property adjoining the light rail station, and for a mixed-use development on the remaining portion of the site, including office, retail, commercial, and residential elements. On top of its premier location, the site is expected to be attractive to datacenter, telecom, and other high-tech users due to the availability of a redundant, on-grid power supply and ready access to multiple sources of fiber-optic cable.

“Not very often does one have the opportunity to acquire such premium, undeveloped land, located in a city with the vision and ‘can do’ attitude that the City of Richardson offers,” said Joe Altemore, partner in the Parliament Group. “If you’re lucky, you have one or two shots at such an ‘A’ site in an ‘A’ city over your career. We have had several meetings with the leaders of Richardson, and come away each time more convinced that this will be a team approach to a development of which we can all be proud. The City of Richardson was instrumental in our decision to acquire this property and to be a part of creating a cutting-edge development to benefit the surrounding area and city.”

The area in the vicinity of the site has become home to many leading companies, including Bank of America, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Cisco Systems, Texas Instruments, AT&T, Verizon, Nortel, Samsung, Fujitsu, Fossil. and many others, creating the second-largest employment center in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Our stewardship of the land has been diligent since the early days of planning for the President George Bush Turnpike, preparing and positioning this land for future development,” said Galatyn Park Corporation President Don Dillard. “We are impressed with the Parliament Group’s plans. Having worked with them through the due diligence process, we feel they will take the property to the next level in a timely manner. We will assist and support them in any way necessary to achieve a quality development of the property.”

Source: Parliament Group