Irving office overlooking Las Colinas completed

Construction is complete on a 106,000-square-foot speculative office building in an Irving overlay district that targets development of high-end projects.

The two-story building southwest of State Highway 161 and Walnut Hill Lane was finished about 90 days behind schedule because of the rainy spring and early summer, said development partner Jim Poynter of Arlington-based Poynter Scifres Cos. But the delay has worked to the company's advantage because leasing has accelerated in the Las Colinas area submarket this fall, he said.

Space in the building will lease for $21.50 a square foot plus electricity. Poynter declined to disclose the project's cost.

Built on a hill overlooking Las Colinas, the project is next to but not inside the 12,000-acre masterplanned development. The building's views are comparable to those in much taller buildings, said Tom Dyer, a longtime Las Colinas area broker with GVA Cawley Realty Services, who handles project leasing.

Tenants in the project, called the Offices @ 161/Walnut Hill, can have major building signage because the location isn't in Las Colinas proper, where such signs aren't allowed, Dyer said. It's also close to retail and restaurants, he added.

"It's a strategic and centralized location that is not lost in a cluster of numerous other office projects," Dyer said. "When you combine all of its features with its hilltop views, you've got a real winner."

Dyer said he hasn't inked any leases, although a 40,000-square-foot prospect has narrowed its search from 15 buildings to three, including the Offices @ 161/Walnut Hill. He said he expects the project to lease quickly because the owners are willing to break up leases for several smaller tenants instead of holding out for a full-building deal. Initially, the building is open to firms looking for 10,000 square feet or more.
Abundant office space

More than 383,000 square feet of new office space had been built in the Las Colinas submarket through the end of the third quarter of this year, bringing the submarket's total stock to 24.4 million square feet before completion of the Offices @ 161/Walnut Hill, according to statistics from real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. An additional 292,000 square feet are under construction.

Year-to-date absorption -- a measure of office space leased less space vacated -- totaled 297,791 square feet through the third quarter, JLL's statistics show. Vacancy in the submarket stands at 21.5%.

Transwestern broker Nora Hogan said the supply of office space in the Las Colinas submarket is high, with about 20 buildings available that can provide 100,000 square feet or more.

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source: bizjournals.com