Highland Capital Pushes Class A Lease to 110,800 SF

DALLAS-Trying to keep pace with fast-paced growth in investment circles, the 12-year-old Highland Capital Management LP is ready to execute its second expansion in two months. When the deal’s done, the long-time headquarters tenant will be filling 110,800 sf in the class A Galleria II.

Highland has dibs on the sixth floor of the 430,045-sf, 24-story tower at 13455 Noel Rd. In late August, it re-upped 47,500 sf and rolled in two floors to get another 39,370 sf. With that finish-out under way, the executive team took a second look and grabbed its fifth full floor. “They realized they had outgrown it before they moved in,” Robert Deptula, principal with NAI Stoneleigh Huff Brous McDowell, tells GlobeSt.com.

Highland Capital gets keys to the seventh and eighth floors in mid-December and will turn on lights on the 23,930-sf sixth floor in February, according to Deptula, who teamed with NAI principal Nora Hogan to fine-tune the deal, which naturally runs for the long term. Chicago-based Trizec Properties Inc.’s leasing team is quoting $24 per sf plus electric.

Highland Capital started out with 7,200 sf a decade ago. Now, it’s the tower’s largest tenant by roughly 60,000 sf, Deptula says. The company manages more than $15 billion in leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, structured products and other assets for a deep-pocketed investment mix from banks to high net-worth individuals.

A week before the last expansion, Highland launched a new investment team with seasoned pros from the Henry S. Miller Commercial camp. And, the hiring has continued, with the team pushing nearly 50 professionals covering 44 industries with investments in more than 800 companies. “It’s a very dynamic atmosphere,” stresses Terry Gwin, senior managing partner for Highland Capital Real Estate Advisors.

Deptula says Highland’s five-digit expansion mirrors the mindset of other class A tenants in the marketplace. “It’s the first time that we’re seeing and hearing things like this,” he says. “They’re not expanding by 2,000 sf any more; they’re expanding by 23,000 sf.”