Transforming To Meet The Needs Of A Multidimensional Workday: How HALL Park Is Reinventing The Office Experience

Everyone has their take on what today’s office workers want, ranging from hybrid office schedules to on-site amenities including food, fitness, outdoor spaces and childcare options. 

Dallas-based HALL Group, which is opening several new buildings this year at HALL Park in suburban Frisco, including the 16-story trophy office building The Tower at HALL Park, understands what makes workers content and productive, said Rena Padachy, vice president of leasing at HALL Group. 

The 162-acre mixed-use campus's transformation is tailor-made for the flexibility-seeking workforce, driven by an approach the company has pursued for decades.

“For many, the office environment has changed from the traditional eight-hour workday where people sat at a desk and then went home,” Padachy said. “Today, they want — and expect — multiple opportunities to take breaks during the day to walk outdoors, work out, shop or take care of personal or wellness needs. They want more optionality in their day.” 

Kim Butler, executive vice president of leasing, said those amenities are a critical component of today’s competitive office leasing market that HALL Group works hard to stay on top of at HALL Park. 

“We feel it is important to talk to companies and find out what their employees are asking for, which is why we've added food options in the park and included so many areas for people to get fresh air and sunlight at The Tower, our newest office building,” Butler said. “We always want to know what conveniences people need and then incorporate those into our offerings to make their lives easier.”

Padachy said prospective tenants often tell HALL Group they are seeking an “experience center” rather than a traditional office.

“That has become the new trend in high-end office space,” she said. “To be competitive with clients and to recruit and retain employees, today's companies prioritize the user and guest experience.” 

The office desk is still important, but Butler said HALL Group recognizes it is no longer at the center of many people’s workday. Long before the pandemic, HALL was transforming its pioneering office park into a mixed-use neighborhood. 

Today, HALL Park caters to what Padachy called the new “18-hour day” that combines work with personal fulfillment. 

Its amenities range from healthy restaurants and fitness centers with group classes to a parklike campus with green open spaces filled with public art, encouraging walking and nature breaks to promote health and productivity.

HALL Park also features a car care center, dry cleaning and laundry drop-off and pickup, daycare and even a hair salon, allowing tenants to check off items on their to-do lists throughout the day, Padachy said. Its neighbors include Frisco hot spots like The Star in Frisco and the Stonebriar Centre area.

HALL Park was established more than 25 years ago and includes 15 buildings and 2.2M SF of offices. But it’s what lies just outside those office doors that makes HALL Park stand out, said Brad Gibson, vice president of leasing at HALL Group. 

“As developers, we have to create spaces that people will view as a destination instead of as an obligation, as most office spaces historically were seen,” Gibson said. “Today, the office needs to have a hospitality feel.”

A hospitality feel is exactly what HALL Park is aiming for with its newest additions. These include its 400K SF trophy office tower opening this summer, which will be the tallest office building in Frisco. 

The Tower at HALL Park will feature two outdoor terraces on every floor offering tenants outdoor meeting spaces and great views from their own spaces, Gibson said. The building also features a tenant corporate lounge and an outdoor amenity space with grills, games, fire pits and more.

The Tower will be in good company when it opens, with several other hospitality-oriented buildings in HALL Park also nearing completion. These include a 224-room boutique hotel opening this fall, HALL Park Hotel — Autograph Collection, featuring 20K SF of indoor and outdoor event space.   

Just a couple of blocks away in HALL Park, a new childcare center and parent coworking space, Savanna, will open this summer. 

Meanwhile, The Monarch, a 19-story, 214-unit luxury residential high-rise across the park from The Tower, opened its doors in late 2023. Butler said it has seen interest from prospective residents that run the gamut from office tenants to empty nesters and professionals who want to be in an active, walkable neighborhood.

For tenants, residents and guests, a 10K SF eatery on the ground floor of the building will open next year. It will feature nine distinct food offerings and a full bar that opens up to outdoor seating and a performance stage for evening and weekend entertainment.

Anchoring these new developments will be the city of Frisco’s 5.7-acre Kaleidoscope Park, a multimillion-dollar, highly programmed public park opening this summer. It will not only offer picturesque views but also serve as a place to work throughout the day, with strategically located WiFi pods.

Outside of office hours, tenants and the larger community can take advantage of programmed activities such as workout classes, musical performances and a weekly farmers market.  

The park will also be home to Butterfly Rest Stop, an art installation designed by sculptor and fiber artist Janet Echelman. The sculpture focuses on the role butterflies and other pollinators play in the Earth’s ecosystem, and HALL Park happens to be located along a migration route for monarch butterflies. 

Whether HALL Group founder Craig Hall envisioned migrating butterflies among his tenant mix when he purchased the land for HALL Park in 1989, he has adapted his vision for the campus to meet the changing needs of its users, even through paradigm-shifting events like the pandemic, Gibson said.

“If we were to look at the master plan that Mr. Hall created years ago, it's not far off from what we have now in HALL Park,” he said. “We’ve shifted tactics when needed, but overall, the footprint of what we have, including our amenity base and the green space, have always been something that we wanted to provide to set ourselves apart from other developments.”

Butler said the company’s approach, from the ribbon-cutting of the first HALL Park buildings in the 1990s to the opening of The Tower, has always been to listen carefully to its tenants. 

“We’re always thinking about what’s next and what we need to add that meets the broader needs of the community,” Butler said. “For our tenants, it's all about providing convenience and making sure that we allow them to utilize their day here in the most productive manner for their whole life, not just their work life.”

This article was produced in collaboration between HALL Group and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to [email protected].