CBRE Postpones Plans for Dallas HQ Tower

CBRE confirmed this week that it has temporarily shelved plans to build a new 27-story headquarters tower in Dallas.

After moving to Dallas from California in 2020, CBRE was planning to build a global headquarters at the corner of McKinney and Maple Avenues, within walking distance of its current offices in 2100 McKinney.

At least in the short term, the firm has scaled down its office plans: the company is moving its execs into 67K SF in the Park District building in Uptown Dallas, a space that was built out in 2019 for CBRE’s Hana coworking operation.

CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic issued a statement indicating that the company eventually will proceed with its plans for an HQ tower on a site currently occupied by Truluck’s restaurant at 2401 McKinney Avenue.

“We still believe it’s one of the best office sites in America, and that site is going to get built. It’s a 700K SF office building and it doesn’t make sense right now. But we still need to have a global headquarters.” Sulentic told the Dallas Morning News.

CBRE’s original plan—for Trammell Crow to build a new tower at 2401 that will be the home of CBRE’s global HQ, its advisory and global workplace solutions divisions and Trammell Crow—is still in place but will be delayed from its original 2024 delivery date, the company said.

“Trammell Crow Company will develop that site when office market conditions are right,” CBRE said, in a statement. “It is likely that our global headquarters and much of our Dallas area operations will be housed at 2401 McKinney in the future, as it will take several years to develop the building once a decision is made to break ground.”

Under a 2021 incentives agreement with the state and the city of Dallas, CBRE agreed to maintain its headquarters in Uptown Dallas and add jobs there.

As they try to keep developers on track with planned projects as interest rates rise and new construction slows, many economic development agencies are waiving specific job-creation performance requirements that were standard clauses in pre-pandemic incentives packages.

A mega-project for which Hunt Realty received an $18M incentive package—including property tax abatements and grants from the city—continues to move forward in Dallas’ North End, which has been increasingly attracting investment as a “bridge” between Downtown and the Uptown neighborhood where CBRE is located.

Hunt is planning a $500M mixed-use development around an 80-story tower that will be anchored by an 800K SF office leased by Goldman Sachs. The Wall Street investment giant has agreed to occupy the space by the end of 2027, with a minimum 15-year lease, according to a report in the Dallas Business Journal.

Hunt’s 3.7M SF mixed-use development will rise on an 11-acre site bordered by North Field Street, Houston Street and Nowitzki Way in Big D.

According to the development proposal, Hunt will make a minimum $390M investment in construction of the core and shell of the project by the end of 2027. Goldman is committing to invest a minimum of $90M in leasehold improvements, fixtures and equipment by the end of 2028, DBJ reported.