ALLEN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has committed to be the lead tenant for the $26 million first phase of AllenPlace, a master-planned, 22.5-acre, 700,000 SF, five-building Class A office park being developed by Houston-based Sentinel Capital, LLC, in partnership with Centra Partners, LLC and Triad Real Estate, along North Central Expressway’s east side between West Bethany and West McDermott Drives in Allen, TX.
KONE, which currently leases office space in Allen and a testing facility in nearby McKinney, will occupy all of the first building at AllenPlace and a portion of the second building in the first phase of development where they will house their supply operations, research and development department and other product and installation support functions.
“KONE has been growing our capabilities in Allen in order to support our elevator and escalator business in North America,” said Ron Bagwill, Vice President and Director of Supply Operations for KONE Americas. “This new location, with the additional office space and improved testing facilities, will allow us to continue this trend.”
Jeff Patman, Senior Vice President with Site Selection Group, handled all economic incentive and lease negotiations for KONE. Ben Appleby, Partner with Dallas-based Paladin Partners (formerly with Houston-based PM Realty Group), represented Sentinel Capital on the KONE transaction and will handle the leasing at AllenPlace moving forward.
KONE’s lease will kick off a 102,000 SF Class A office building that will contain 77,000 SF of vacant, contiguous spec office space for other tenants, according to Appleby.
“The Allen Economic Development Corporation has worked in partnership with Sentinel on the project, and incentivized both the real estate transaction and KONE’s expansion,” said Dan Bowman, Allen Economic Development Corporation Interim Executive Director. “This project exemplifies Allen’s track record for competitive incentives and will create additional spec office space close to premier shopping and dining destinations.”
“Allen is a highly sought after municipality for corporate-users looking to relocate their operations to North Texas. The problem that we have run into recently is a lack of available product for users looking for over 20,000 SF,” said Appleby. “With this first phase of AllenPlace underway, we will be able to provide a grossly underserved product to larger office users looking at Allen, TX.”
“AllenPlace allows us to continue to be responsive to the needs of larger corporate tenants requiring Class A office space,” said Allen Mayor Stephen Terrell.
Construction will be underway this year on the seven-acre first phase of development, and KONE is expected to take occupancy in the first half of 2015, according to Greg Nelson of Sentinel Capital. The AllenPlace complex is being designed by the architecture firm Goulas + Associates, Inc.
ABOUT KONE
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. KONE's objective is to offer the best People Flow® experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. KONE provides industry-leading elevators, escalators, automatic building doors and integrated solutions to enhance the People Flow in and between buildings. KONE's services cover the entire lifetime of a building, from the design phase to maintenance, repairs and modernization solutions. In 2013, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 6.9 billion and at the end of the year over 43,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.
ABOUT SENTINEL CAPITAL, LLC
Houston-based Sentinel Capital, LLC, is owned by Dusty Wolf COO of Centra Partners and Greg Nelson of Triad Real Estate Consulting Group. Centra, one of only 700 Accredited Management Organizations in the United States, manages over 7,700 apartment units, approximately 1.5 million square feet of commercial office, 500,000 square feet of industrial and 200,000 square feet of retail. Its services include management operations, leasing, accounting, construction services, investment brokerage and asset management. Triad has provided consulting underwriting analysis on over $1 billion of commercial investment during the past 10 years. Triad’s services include brokerage and investment analysis, acquisitions, developing client specific investment plans, marketing strategies for commercial assets, and site selection.
ABOUT PALADIN PARTNERS
Paladin Partners is a full-service commercial real estate brokerage services firm based in Dallas, TX. Paladin Partners is focused on providing the highest level of service to our clients. We commit to be ethical and conscientious in all that we do, to bring humility to our daily approach, to be experts in our disciplines and to provide an unmatched work ethic in the representation of our clients.
ABOUT SITE SELECTION GROUP
Site Selection Group is a leading location advisory and economic incentive firm providing solutions to corporations across the world. We provide four core services to our customers that include location advisory, economic incentive services, real estate services and economic development consulting. Through the utilization of cutting-edge databases and analytical tools, our experts can maximize the efficiencies of location decisions for corporations and communities.
http://www.siteselectiongroup.com
ABOUT ALLEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
In 1992, the citizens of Allen passed a citywide half-cent sales tax in support of an economic development corporation. Since its inception, the Allen Economic Development Corporation has been charged with facilitating company relocations and assisting the expansion of existing businesses, which creates jobs and additional tax revenue to the community. Since 1992, the AEDC has recruited over 95 new businesses and industries to Allen that have contributed to increasing Allen's total ad valorem tax base from $729 million in 1992 to over $8.5 billion in 2013. The AEDC Board of Directors, appointed by the Allen City Council, governs the corporation's operations. These individuals represent a diverse spectrum of interests and expertise, which is invaluable to making prudent decisions with regard to the quality of Allen's economic development.