Millions of Square Feet of Office, Retail and Homes Planned for Allen Project

A new corporate and mixed-use campus on the way in Allen is being planned with almost a dozen office buildings attract businesses.Houston-based developer Hines is building the high-density project on more than 100 acres at the southwest corner of State Highway 121 and Alma Road on Allen's north side.It's one of a handful of new projects on the way in the S.H. 121 corridor."We think we can do 1.5 million to 2 million square feet of office," said Hines managing director Drew Steffen. "We want to lead with office."The project - called The Strand - will also have apartments, 100,000 square feet of retail and a large greenbelt along Watters Creek.Hines presented plans for the project at Thursday's Allen Economic Development Corp. luncheon."It's going to be a development where you can live, work, play and shop," Steffen said. "We are targeting millennials. We are targeting the office users."We are targeting empty nesters, too."Steffen said Hines, working with architect Gensler, is designing both single and multi-tentnat office buildings up to 12 stories tall."We are designing multi tenant buildings so we are ready to go," he said. "We are going to push for some corporate build to suit deals."But I'm not going with speculative buildings," Steffen said.Hines is also talking to retail tenants about the development.Architectural plans for the project show the kind of mixed-use construction now popping up in West Plano, Frisco, Richardson and Las Colinas.  Continue reading...