Office workers returning to one of Dallas-Fort Worth’s largest business towns will be surprised to work from home during COVID-19.
Over the past year, the terraces of more than 1 million square feet of State Highway 114 Solana offices have been completely remodeled, adding ample outdoor space and luxurious indoor amenities.
Investors Glenstar Properties and Singerman Real Estate bought the largest part of the Solana project in Westlake in 2019. They spent much of 2020 on renovating buildings built in the 1980s.
This investment has paid off. They have kept most of the office tenants on campus, while attracting new businesses.
“This project has surpassed everything else in our portfolio during COVID in terms of new leases, tenant renewals and growth,” said Matt Omundson, director of Glenstar Properties. “Since COVID, we have leased 177,000 square feet and extended 205,000 square feet. We have more leasing business here than we could have predicted.
The Solana office complex has added offices to California-based Robinhood Financial, Core-Mark Holding Co., and expanded its space to Goosehead Insurance.
Campus occupancy has risen from about 45% when Glenstar bought it to 75% rented.
“We currently have two potential tenants on file to reach 80%,” Omundson said.
Omundson said the State Highway 114 corridor through Westlake and Southlake continues to attract financial companies. The main employment centers in the area are Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade and Deloitte.
“Insurance and financial services companies are really drawn into the Westlake Corridor,” Omundson said. “It simply came to our notice then. Employers who try to leave the area can hire more efficiently and at a better cost.
Omundson said Solana is easy to drive to inexpensive new neighborhoods in North Tarrant County and Denton County.
“One of the huge advantages we have in terms of manpower is that Planos and Friscos have skilled workers, but living there is very expensive,” he said. “Corridor 114 between Las Colinas and the Alliance in North Fort Worth has a much lower cost of living than the Far North Dallas area.”
To equip the Solana project with this workforce, Glenstar has increased the convenience of campus staff and transformed its entire public space.
New outdoor lounges and meeting rooms, dining terraces and a variety of seating options have made the campus’ spacious outdoor spaces more humane.
“We have 75 acres, so there’s plenty of open space,” Omundson said. “We wanted to make it more usable. We made an entertaining room for the tenants with music, a campfire and bistro lights and sun loungers.
“We see people doing job interviews here,” he said.
The outdoor assembly areas and rooms between the eight buildings are a big selling point for workers who are tired of the pandemic and want a place to get some fresh air.
Most of the changes are inside the seven buildings – the comfort center, which includes a large catering company, tenant rest areas and a conference center.
The large new fitness center has an outdoor terrace that can be used for yoga classes and entertainment.
1/10 Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office in Westlake. An update was added to the bar and lounge.
2/10 Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office in Westlake. During the reconstruction, a new lawn for outdoor exercises and events was added.
3/10 Developer Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office in Westlake. The update was added outside the rest and dining areas.
4/10 Developer Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office in Westlake. The update was added outside the rest and dining areas.
5/10 Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office in Westlake. A new catering area was added during the reconstruction.
6/10 Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office campus in Westlake. A new catering area was added during the reconstruction.
7/10 Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office campus in Westlake. During the reconstruction, a new tenant’s lounge and meeting rooms were added.
8/10 Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office campus in Westlake. A fitness center was added during the reconstruction.
9/10 Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office in Westlake. The renovation added a new outdoor tenants’ lounge and meeting rooms.
10 / 10Glenstar Properties has completed the multi-million dollar renovation of the terraces of the Solana office campus in Westlake. During the reconstruction, a new tenant’s lounge and meeting rooms were added.
Omundson said the campus’s new features are designed to attract a young workforce.
“The average age at Gosehead Insurance is 26,” he said. “The average age of our campus employees is less than 30. In planning this, we wanted to accommodate those employees and help [companies] recruit.”
Glenstar officials said they were careful that Solana’s transformation would not be too difficult.
The Solana offices, designed by award-winning Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, were originally built to accommodate thousands of IBM employees.
“We were very sensitive to what was happening here,” Omundson said. “We didn’t want to blow up all the stuff Legorreta and the original builders did.”
Dallas architect BOKA Powell and Des Moines-based landscape designer Confluence led the rebuilding of the campus.
The Terraces at Solana is the second major redevelopment of Glenstar’s North Texas office town.
A Chicago-based commercial real estate company recently completed a $ 50 million renovation of the North Central Expressway Dallas Energy Square office complex near Lovers Lane.
“Every time we do one of them, we learn from it and make the next one better than the last,” Omundson said.