December 1, 2015
The movers and shakers in Texas that build our homes, business parks and industrial sites are sitting up and taking notice about freight and passenger rail and how important it is in their economic plans.
Three stories this week paint a picture of how important it is to have a connection to move people and goods by rail.
#1 - The Dallas Morning News reported that telecom giant Verizon is working on plans for a huge corporate development in Las Colinas (Irving) that would cover 3.5 million square feet with offices, houses, a hotel and retail space. The plans for the 157 acre complex would also include a new commuter rail station to connect with DFW Airport and downtown Dallas. The Morning News reported that “The vision is a corporate office campus, surrounding a vibrant, mixed-use village extending from a new DART rail station,” Eric Wilkens said in an email. “Verizon will be the master developer for the project and will partner with local developers on individual elements."
#2 - The Dallas Business Journal reported that a 460-acre freight rail-served 460-acre industrial park with the ability to house up to 7 million square feet of build-to-suit industrial properties in Ennis has landed on the market. A Phoenix-based investment group hired Colliers International to market the property in 20 acre parcels. The Business Journal reported that the whole idea was to brand the land as a park and market it for build-to-suit and other users, according to a quote by an executive vice president at Colliers International."We have had a lot of build-to-suit activity in Dallas and this land is rail served, which offers users a lot of flexibility."
#3 - The recent sale of a 146-key Marriott-flagged select service hotel located at 2930 Forest Lane in Dallas was helped by the fact that it is located close to the DART rail line that connects to Dallas Love Field and DFW Airport. Chris Gomes, vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Dallas office, and Allan Miller, vice president investments in the firm’s San Antonio office, represented the seller of The Courtyard Dallas-LBJ at Josey and procured the buyer. “The Texas economy is still growing at a solid pace and travel volume remains elevated, supporting high hotel occupancy and respectable improvement in revenue measures,” said Gomes in a prepared statement. “The Dallas hospitality property market is well positioned for further gains in all key performance metrics in the foreseeable future.”
Three stories on the same day. All with a rail connection. All considered by developers who make rail a key ingredient in their economic decisions on how and where to build. A couple of decades ago moving goods or people by rail would not have been as important in planning large infrastructure deals. But the times have changed, haven't they?
The movers and shakers in Texas that build our homes, business parks and industrial sites are sitting up and taking notice about freight and passenger rail and how important it is in their economic plans.
Three stories this week paint a picture of how important it is to have a connection to move people and goods by rail.
#1 - The Dallas Morning News reported that telecom giant Verizon is working on plans for a huge corporate development in Las Colinas (Irving) that would cover 3.5 million square feet with offices, houses, a hotel and retail space. The plans for the 157 acre complex would also include a new commuter rail station to connect with DFW Airport and downtown Dallas. The Morning News reported that “The vision is a corporate office campus, surrounding a vibrant, mixed-use village extending from a new DART rail station,” Eric Wilkens said in an email. “Verizon will be the master developer for the project and will partner with local developers on individual elements."
#2 - The Dallas Business Journal reported that a 460-acre freight rail-served 460-acre industrial park with the ability to house up to 7 million square feet of build-to-suit industrial properties in Ennis has landed on the market. A Phoenix-based investment group hired Colliers International to market the property in 20 acre parcels. The Business Journal reported that the whole idea was to brand the land as a park and market it for build-to-suit and other users, according to a quote by an executive vice president at Colliers International."We have had a lot of build-to-suit activity in Dallas and this land is rail served, which offers users a lot of flexibility."
#3 - The recent sale of a 146-key Marriott-flagged select service hotel located at 2930 Forest Lane in Dallas was helped by the fact that it is located close to the DART rail line that connects to Dallas Love Field and DFW Airport. Chris Gomes, vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Dallas office, and Allan Miller, vice president investments in the firm’s San Antonio office, represented the seller of The Courtyard Dallas-LBJ at Josey and procured the buyer. “The Texas economy is still growing at a solid pace and travel volume remains elevated, supporting high hotel occupancy and respectable improvement in revenue measures,” said Gomes in a prepared statement. “The Dallas hospitality property market is well positioned for further gains in all key performance metrics in the foreseeable future.”
Three stories on the same day. All with a rail connection. All considered by developers who make rail a key ingredient in their economic decisions on how and where to build. A couple of decades ago moving goods or people by rail would not have been as important in planning large infrastructure deals. But the times have changed, haven't they?