Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) has been hailed the anchor to one of the most successful mixed-use real estate projects in Texas, which has so far generated $38.5 billion for the region, a new report states.
In an economic impact study for the City of Fort Worth, DFW, was singled out as having played a key role in the success of AllianceTexas, a 6,879 mixed industrial, office and retail development to the west of the airport.
Bucking a national trend in declining retail site selection, Alliance Town Center has become home to several retail brands, including Rooms to Go, Olive Garden, JoS. A. Bank, Kroger Marketplace and Chick-fil-A during the past year. This is in addition to an already impressive list that includes anchor stores like JCPenney, Best Buy, Belk and Sam Moon, among others, which count their Alliance Town Center locations as top national performers, according to the report, which was produced by Insight Research Corporation.
Alliance Town Center has grown from a taxable base of approximately $1.28 million in 2003 to a value of more than $162 million in 2010. The mixed-use growth center also has generated an estimated annual $2.9 million in sales tax revenues for the City of Fort Worth and has funded regional transportation improvements through TIF 7, including North Tarrant Parkway and North Riverside Drive.
Much of the success at Alliance Town Center can be attributed to the exponential population growth of the surrounding residential area - a direct result of AllianceTexas maturing into a world-class community. According to the Gadberry Group, an Arkansas-based intelligence service and data collection firm, the Haslet and north Fort Worth area is now the second-fastest growing area in the nation, experiencing a 735% growth from 2000 to 2010.
Keller, another city located in the AllianceTexas corridor, placed third in the study - growing by more than 226% during the same period. Together, both areas brought more than 35,000 households to the AllianceTexas region between 2000 and 2010.
In addition to the success at Alliance Town Center, Hillwood completed nearly three million square feet in lease transactions during 2010, including a significant expansion by General Mills, renewals from anchor industrial tenants Texas Instruments/Exel Logistics and LG Electronics, and new leases from companies like Motorola.
A significant Class A office project currently underway is Deloitte University, a 750,000sqft training centre that will employ nearly 500 workers at Circle T Ranch and provide guest accommodations for 800 (to be completed in 2011). Also under construction is the 262,000sqft Texas Health Resources Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance and a 10,500sqft HCA Emergency Care Center.
"In the midst of a historic recession, the momentum that we have built during the past two decades has made AllianceTexas' success an anomaly among the nation's leading master-planned real estate developments," said Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Properties. "There are many reasons why we've been successful during the worst economic times in a generation, but the single biggest factor is being located in the most business-friendly sector in the nation. Substantial credit goes to our public partners for creating this environment."
