Parliament acquires Richardson tract from Hunt Family Trust
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-09-03 11:10:05 | Word Count: 881
Parliament acquires Richardson tract from Hunt Family Trust
Interests of the late Hassie Hunt have sold 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.
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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.”
During the Hunt family’s 35 years of owning this property, a pair of public-private partnerships resulted in significant improvements to the area. The Hunt family and its property management group, Galatyn Park Corporation, worked with the Cities of Richardson and Plano, Collin County, the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Turnpike Authority to orchestrate development of the President George Bush Turnpike through the northern edge of the land.
Galatyn Park Corporation engineered a second private-public partnership between the Hunt family, adjacent property owners, DART and the City of Richardson to secure DART’s Bush Turnpike Station. The light rail station provides for future transportation needs that will sustain development of the site in anticipation of higher energy costs in the future. 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 Metroplex.
“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.”
The all-cash purchase will allow the Parliament Group to wait until the market is right, before it embarks on its plans.
“It is not a matter of if, but when,” said Altemore. “We are just a group of old real estate guys in the fourth quarter of our careers looking to do really great deals. This one definitely fit the box.”
City officials expect the development of the site to be transformative, and to reinforce Richardson’s legacy as a progressive, early adopter of light rail transportation and transit-oriented development, as well as a regional and global leader in high-tech and telecommunications.
“We are extremely excited to see the development of this prime site take shape,” said Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel. “The Hunt family has been a tremendous steward of this land and a strategic leader in much of the successful development of the surrounding area. The Parliament Group will no doubt continue the visionary leadership established by the Hunt Family, and we look forward to being an active and supportive partner with Parliament. The development of this truly remarkable site will further enhance the strengths of the Telecom Corridor® area, positioning us for continued success."
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