Koll, Pru Betting $200M More on Intellicenters

DALLAS-Koll Development Co. and Prudential Real Estate Investors are ready to roll out a second $200-million tranche for their LEED-certified Intellicenter development program. The JV, with six class A spec office buildings in various stages, is planning to build six to eight more within 12 months.

“For the corporate users who have toured these buildings, the response has been overwhelming,” says Tobin C. Grove, president of Dallas-based Koll. The JV’s LEED-certified program was the first one of its size in the nation when it launched in October 2005. “The design has remained constant,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “It’s been very gratifying to know we’ve designed the right type of product.”

To date, Koll has put nearly 1.2 million sf of Intellicenter space on the ground. The second phase is penciled to equal the first, holding fast to the 150,000-sf to 200,000-sf prototype designs. There will be Intellicenters in 20 US cities when the two phases draw to an end. Grove says the cities to watch in phase two will be suburban Washington, DC and Phoenix plus key markets in Northern and Southern California, Florida and the East Coast.

And like the first construction wave, Koll will build one-offs or bundle two or three as it’s planning for Tampa, which gets the last four-story 200,000-sf Intellicenter in phase one and a spot in line for the second phase. The Tampa Telecom Park project will break ground in August at 12653 Telecom Dr., with delivery slated for September 2008. A construction start for the park’s second Intellicenter has yet to be set.

Grove says the second tranche, though, most likely won’t kick off in Tampa. He won’t tip his hand about the location, but did say the decision will soon be made.

In wrapping up the first phase, Koll broke ground two days ago on a three-story, 150,000-sf Intellicenter at 14350 Meridian Pkwy. in Meridian Business Park in Riverside, CA, and a week ago on another 150,000-sf spec at the corner of Interstate 77 and Gold Hill Road in Charlotte, NC. It’s also under construction in Houston on a 150,000-sf Intellicenter at 4650 Westway Park Blvd., which has been leased to Minnesota-based St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc. and completed LEED-branded buildings in Dallas and Atlanta. Natalie Bazarevitsch and David Waggoner with CB Richard Ellis are the leasing brokers for the Riverside project; James Garvey and Lara McGinty of CLW Real Estate Services Group are handling Tampa; and Jessica Brown and Anne Vulcano, also with CBRE, are tasked with filling Intellicenter-Charlotte.

“Ultimately, you will see all development go this way,” Grove stresses. “Many large corporations will not even consider a building that isn’t LEED-certified. That is the way of the future.”