Sinacola Cos.' land bank has roughly 120 developable acres. Based on a 30% coverage formula, the dirt could support nearly 1.6 million sf of office, flex, showroom and light-industrial space at the crossroads of Frisco Street and Research Road. Frisco Center includes a 35-acre tract to create a medical technology corridor, which will be anchored by the $11-million BTS for the Frisco EDC as the headquarters for a city-backed, non-profit business accelerator.
"It's a flagship building and a dynamic use. Everyone is really excited about the potential that this ground is going to add," says Stephen Scott, Sinacola's vice president. "You really can't get any better backing and it's been a team effort."
Frisco Center's first ground-up space was Sinacola's 35,000-sf, two-story headquarters building built in 2001. About 2.5 years ago, the five-year-old North Texas Enterprise Center for Medical Technology or NTEC Inc. team started to search for a larger office. The nonprofit provides space and facilities to emerging tech companies until they can graduate to self-sustaining levels. It's been operating out of 11,000 sf at 2611 Internet Blvd. in Hall Office Park.
When the search for existing space proved futile, the Frisco EDC decided it had to build, opening talks with Sinacola for a 4.5-acre tract at 6170 Research Rd. "We had to turn away companies due to space," says James Gandy, president of Frisco EDC. "Our only alternative to go forward was to build a new building." [IMGCAP(2)]NTEC has signed a 23-year lease with the Frisco EDC to jump-start the HQ project, which breaks ground Wednesday and delivers right before its Hall Office Park lease expires in 2008.
Meanwhile, Sinacola has gotten NTEC's first graduate, OxySure Systems Inc., as its first tenant, leasing 16,500 sf of its headquarters building at 10950 Research Rd. to the young company. The hope is other graduates will lease space in Frisco Center too.
"You do have to be patient because these companies don't get formed and products created overnight," Gandy says. NTEC's HQ building will be outfitted with wet-lab facilities, a perk that Gandy says isn't commonly found in accelerator space. The building is designed to accommodate up to 35 medical device and technology-based companies.
Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. senior vice president Tom Kuhlmann and vice president Michael Peinado have been hired to market Sinacola's spec space and build-to-suit sites. The buildings are designed with 40,000 sf, 73,600 sf and 33,000 sf with clear heights of 14 foot, 24 foot and 18 foot, respectively. Croft Architectural Consortium of Plano designed Frisco Center and Sinacola is the general contractor.
"We're not just going to go for any deal for a piece of dirt," Scott tells GlobeSt.com. "We're going to keep the uses to their intended levels."
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