Aperian, an Austin-based based Internet broadband and Web site hosting provider, has signed a five-year lease for 25,000 sf in the 102,000-sf One Hickory Centre. An identical sister building, Two Hickory Centre, is now 60% leased, Wayne B. Swearingen, a principal in Vector Project Services LLC, told GlobeSt.com.
The announcement comes as plans are afoot to break ground in the spring on another 102,000-sf building, Four Hickory Centre. Meanwhile, Swearingen, the project's leasing agent, has just started courting prospective tenants for Three Hickory Centre, a 221,000-sf office building that had broken ground last month and will deliver in the fall.
Erik Fulkerson of Crest Commercial Real Estate Services has represented Aperian in the lease. The properties carry average lease rates of $21.50 per sf plus electric while Three Hickory Centre will be commanding $24 per sf plus electric. Swearingen expects more high-tech companies will be drawn to Mercer Crossing as more buildings go in the ground.
Swearingen says Dallas-based American Realty Trust, in the past month, has quietly acquired 200 acres abutting its original 650-acre tract for the project, which ultimately could include a hotel and 20-story buildings as the development snakes toward the LBJ Freeway. The present wave of buildings, ranging from four to eight stories, are being constructed on the north side of Valley View.
American Realty Trust has been acquiring the land for the past 10 years, the bulk of which is located in Farmers Branch. The property is ideally positioned to Interstate 635 or LBJ Freeway and Interstate 35, commonly known as Stemmons Freeway, in North Dallas. Jim Gwin of Houston has designed the first three Hickory Centres, with Dallas-based Constructors handling the general contracting work. American Realty Trust is sharing the development duties as the project evolves. Wayne Starr of Aspen, CO is building Three Hickory Centre and will be developing Four Hickory Centre.
Swearingen says American Realty Trust may, in fact, be looking for more developers to help build out the acreage. To date, all buildings have been spec projects. "We've got our work cut out for us for the next 10 years," says the veteran commercial real estate broker, who partners with Cliff Bogart in the two-year-old Vector Project Services LLC.
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