‘True Mixed-Use’: How HALL Park Is Transforming Itself To Anticipate Tenants' Changing Needs
Today’s business climate has many commercial real estate players hunkered down and putting projects on hold until they see clear signs of normalcy returning in the office market.
Texas-based HALL Group, however, is a company that prefers not to hunker. The CRE owner, manager, lender and developer is in the first phase of the rollout of a master plan that will transform its signature 162-acre office park in Frisco, Texas, into a community that will serve the changing ways many people work, play and live.
“We're transforming from a 25-year-old office park into a true mixed-use, outdoors-inspired environment, which is what the companies and residents of today want,” HALL Executive Vice President of Leasing Kim Butler said.
“Everyone wants to have convenience, entertainment and lifestyle amenities at their fingertips, and we want to make sure that HALL Park continues to be vibrant for the next 25 years.”
Butler said that long-term thinking is nothing new for Chairman and CEO Craig Hall and the company he founded more than five decades ago. In fact, when Hall was assembling land and erecting the first properties at the park, some scratched their heads over what he hoped to accomplish in a small North Texas town that at the time might have been home to more cows than people.
“A lot of people were saying, ‘Who would develop that far north of the city?’” Butler said. “But he had a vision of where the growth was going to occur along the Dallas North Tollway and State Highway 121, which connects to DFW International. It took a while to come to fruition, but he correctly foresaw the opportunity.”
No one is questioning that vision today, with the population of Frisco having grown more than 500% in the two decades since HALL Park officially opened in the late 1990s, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in America.
HALL Park now includes 15 completed buildings that encompass 2.2M SF of office, retail and parking. One-third of the property is dedicated to green space, which also features the Texas Sculpture Garden, the largest private collection of contemporary sculpture by Texas artists open to the public.
But the company is not resting on its laurels and instead is updating its vision with a clear-eyed look at market realities.
“Craig Hall’s mission at the time was to build the very best office park in the country,” Butler said. “Well, many pure office parks are becoming what some suburban malls are becoming, and that's obsolete.”
To avoid that fate, the $500M first phase of HALL Park’s master plan calls for adding approximately 1M SF of buildings to the property. Construction is scheduled to be substantially complete by the end of 2023 on the additions that include a 16-story Class-AAA office tower; HALL Park Hotel, a 224-room boutique hotel that will be the first Autograph Collection Hotel in Frisco; and The Monarch, a 19-story luxury residential tower with 214 apartments. The additions make room for more retail and restaurants on-site, including a 10K SF chef-curated “eatery” at the base of The Monarch, scheduled to open in 2024.
“We are building more than just a mixed-use development — we are creating a community where people can live, work and play for many years to come,” HALL Group Chairman and CEO Craig Hall said. “From the luxury high-rise apartments to the boutique hotel and programmed, art-focused park, the first phase of our new master plan is not only focused on the workplace but also the larger Frisco community.”
The jewel of the revamped HALL Park is the city of Frisco's 5.7-acre Kaleidoscope Park, designed by OJB, the firm that created Dallas’ popular Klyde Warren Park. Located on land donated by HALL Group, the new community park will host year-round public programming including cultural and wellness events, and be home to a children’s park, a dog park and connections to existing HALL Park jogging trails.
New HALL Park features, such as extensive outdoor terraces on the new office building, meet workers' expectations for improved walkability, access to fresh air and opportunities to meet outdoors for employees who don’t want to spend their entire day behind a desk.
Chad Sterling, CEO of Altair Global, a HALL Park tenant since 2018, said he looks forward to the addition of Kaleidoscope Park and the new development. Employees at Altair Global’s world headquarters already make extensive use of amenities at HALL Park, he said.
“The open, collaborative outdoor and indoor spaces here are invaluable,” Sterling said. “Many of our team members, including myself, use the fitness center, and the restaurants are within walking distance, which makes for a well-needed break midday. HALL Park has given us something we’ve never experienced before: the feeling of being part of a community.”
Although the first phase of HALL Park’s master plan is expected to be fully operational by 2024, the company’s long-range planning will continue, Butler said. She added that because HALL Group is a privately held company, it doesn’t have outside investors and therefore can make long-term decisions based on what's going to make a better environment for the companies, residents and visitors.
“In 10 years, the density may change and there could be demand for something new and different that we haven't even thought of yet,” Butler said. “We can continually evolve to add more uses and features to enrich people's lives here.”
This article was produced in collaboration between HALL Group and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.
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