Hines Set to Deliver First Touchless Office Tower in Deep Ellum, Expanding Presence in DFW

Gloria Salinas, Managing Director, Economic Development

International developer Hines continues to expand its innovative offerings with The Stack Deep Ellum, the first Dallas Region office development with touchless access from parking garage to office space. The project is the latest in a series of additions to its Dallas-Fort Worth portfolio, complementing Hines’ residential and industrial developments.

The Stack, a Class AA 16-story creative office development, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021. The building includes 195,000 square feet of office space, 15,000 square feet of retail space, and 641 structured parking spaces.

“The Stack offers a frictionless path from your car into the office,” said Ben Brewer, Hines Managing Director. “The building is equipped with touchless features starting at the garage and into the elevators, all the way to the office space and amenity levels.”

In late April, as concrete was being poured for floors and the pandemic closed offices, Brewer and his team took The Stack back to the drawing board to enhance the building’s touchless offerings.

“It’s really important to have sophisticated capital partners, like Westdale and Ivanhoé Cambridge,” Brewer said. “The Stack is extremely innovative, and it sets a new international standard for office development with a more efficient design.”

With a roll-up door feature in the 10th floor fitness center, the project features five times the amount of natural air required by City of Dallas code.

Hines, founded in 1957, is a privately-owned global real estate investment, management, and development firm with its Dallas Region headquarters in Chase Tower in Downtown Dallas. Hines plans to relocate its headquarters to 10,000 square feet of office at The Stack in 2021.

“The DFW staff could not be more excited about the new space,” Brewer said. “In addition to the office itself, Deep Ellum offers a spirited, creative community for our team to join.”

Hines employees started trickling back into offices in mid-September. Brewer said it has been a challenge for creative teams to produce and brainstorm in a Zoom environment compared to in-person interaction. Hines is betting the Dallas Region market will be a beneficiary of companies in other markets that are looking to return to work in innovative spaces.

“While a company might consolidate different sectors, the office is still a great environment to create long-term company culture,” Brewer said. “Companies have invested a lot in building teams and keeping them effective, so corporate culture nationwide is still really important. Many companies stepped up and made it priority, and they do not want to lose that edge.”

In addition to The Stack, Hines is currently leading an array of projects in Dallas, encompassing single-family communities, multifamily offerings, and industrial projects across the metroplex.

“The distinctive neighborhoods in Dallas’ urban core are constantly evolving, and we are inspired to create spaces that serve these unique communities,” said Corbin Eckel, Hines Dallas-Fort Worth Director. “Our current projects are in some of the core’s most dynamic neighborhoods — Deep Ellum, Uptown, and Victory Park — allowing us to deliver curated real estate and amenities that will elevate the end user’s experience.”

One of these projects is The Victor, located at the southeast corner of Olive Street and Victory Avenue in Victory Park, a luxury 39-story, 347-unit high-rise multifamily project currently under construction. It will include 10,000 square feet of retail space, and the first units for The Victor are slated to open in the first quarter of 2021.

In the mid-2000s, a major acquisition of Las Colinas land launched Hines’ Dallas Region platform for single-family development. Today, the firm currently has more than 6,000 single-family residential spaces underway across the region.

“It is a rewarding experience to work with various municipalities in the DFW metroplex, collaborating to create single-family communities with a balanced mix of price points, features, and amenities,” said Dustin Davidson, Hines Managing Director. “We have made it our goal to bring our best possible practices in planning and development to each project, while actively listening to needs. We are currently seeing an increased demand for single-family rental residences, and we are now in the planning stages and actively looking for more opportunities in that space.”

In the industrial space, Hines is seeing tenants such as Amazon at Southlink leading the way in redefining workspace standards with automation and various workspace technologies.

“We didn’t talk about industrial as much in the last 10 years, but it really took off in the last few years as retail behaviors began to morph with e-commerce, and COVID-19 has only accelerated that trend,” Brewer said.

Foreseeing the changes and associated transformation in e-commerce real estate needs, Hines I-20 Distribution Center, Southlink, was developed in 2018. It was designed and built with all the modern features industrial tenants increasingly demand.

Southlink was the first facility in South Dallas with a 40-foot interior clear height. The 1,044,647 square feet of industrial space also includes a cross-dock format, a thicker-than-typical super flat slab design, ample space in truck courts, and road layouts to ensure efficient truck and car circulation around the facility.

Northlink Alliance Logistics Park in Fort Worth is expected to be completed this fall. Phase one of Northlink will consist of two buildings totaling 1,017,513 square feet of Class A bulk distribution space on 65 acres. One cross-dock building of 754,313 square feet, one front load building of 263,200 square feet, and off-site infrastructure that serves the entire site will be delivered in the initial phase. Phase two of the industrial development will add up to 667,517 square feet and is being marketed to corporate build-to-suit users, many of whom already have a meaningful presence in the area.

The Hines industrial portfolio also includes: DFW East, a 259,555-square-foot logistics park in Irving next to DFW International Airport; and Inwood Design Center, acquired in late 2019. Inwood Design Center is an urban infill logistics park consisting of 738,198 square feet across 14 buildings, three miles from Downtown Dallas. Inwood serves as an example of the growing convergence of industrial and retail, with tenants ranging from traditional retailers, to logistics users selling out of their storefronts while also handling shipping and receiving for orders placed online.

“One thing I’m really proud of is our presence across all product types, giving us the ability to cross-pollinate and think creatively for new projects,” Brewer said. “Equipped with this level of producers, we are excited and opportunistic about 2021 in DFW.”