Earlier this week, demolition began on a four-decade-old office in Plano. Plans are to convert the property into two industrial buildings.
The office building, once used by Iowa-based insurance company Transamerica, is located at 2700 W. Plano Pkwy. Demolition began demolition on October 15 by Georgia-based contractor Conlan Company, reported the Dallas Business Journal.
Orlando-based developer Foundry Commercial purchased the property and 22 acres adjacent on October 7.
Foundry plans to replace the 275,000-square-foot office building with two industrial buildings totaling 332,932 square feet.
The first building will be almost 227,000 square feet, costing an estimated $10.6 million. The second building will be less than half as large at 96,000 square feet, costing roughly $5.3 million.
The project marks Foundry’s seventh office-to-industrial conversion and its second in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The firm is also converting Horizon Landing, a 287,000-square-foot office building they acquired last year. Once redeveloped, the site will include three rear-load warehouses totaling 337,000 square feet. It will also include 70 trailer parking stalls or outside storage on additional acreage.
For the latest project, Plano City Council will provide Foundry with a $750,000 grant to demolish the obsolete building and redevelop the property.
The project is intended to help address the lack of sufficient industrial space in North Texas. During the third quarter of 2024, industrial vacancy rates were 9.8%. For comparison, vacant office space in the region rose to 26.7% during that same period. This trend has prompted a surge of office-to-industrial conversion, like those undertaken by Foundry.
“This project meets a critical need for industrial space in Plano, where zoning for light industrial is rare. We are grateful to the City of Plano for their invaluable support in bringing this project to life,” said Jim Traynor, principal of development and investments for Foundry in Dallas.
GSR Andrade Architects from Dallas will design the new industrial buildings. Completion is slated for the first quarter of 2026.