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Dallas:
Steady Growth In All Sectors

From blue-chip financial companies to fast-rising IT firms, Dallas is continually adding to its robust economy. With a population of 1 million, "Big D" is the largest community in the sprawling Metroplex that surrounds DFW Airport.

For the past decade, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has led the nation in corporate relocations and expansions. One recent arrival is Chase Manhattan Bank's Global Investor Services Division, which is relocating from Manhattan to the Farmer's Branch community north of Dallas, bringing more than 1,400 new jobs.

In June, SBC Communications, Southwestern Bell's parent company, announced that it will be developing a new 150,000-sq.-ft. (13,935-sq.-m.) office facility in Dallas for 1,000 workers, with potential for a second building of similar size. "This is a significant development for southern Dallas, which is an underutilized sector of the city," says Reid Rector, executive vice president for economic development, Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce. "It adds to our region's strength in the telecommunications industry."

Dallas is attracting a good mix of manufacturing and service jobs, adds Rector. "We're seeing a steady level of activity in terms of the number of projects coming through this office. Our economy mirrors the nation's, and job growth remains healthy."

Altogether, the 11-county Dallas metro area added 80,000 new jobs in 1999, compared with 100,000 in 1998 and 128,000 in 1997 -- the region's high-water mark. Although unemployment rates are low, Rector says, companies benefit from state and local training programs and find it easy to recruit employees from other markets. "That's a function of our high quality of life and low cost of living," he adds.

International trade through DFW-- the second-busiest airport in the world -- and the region's rail and expressway connections is helping to spur Dallas' economic growth. In addition, the strong telecommunications infrastructure throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is attracting e-commerce investment. "We have major manufacturers and their suppliers, along with universities that support the telecom industry," Rector says. "The venture capital base is here, and we've seen a number of successful startups. Dallas provides these new companies with tremendous market access."

Traditional industries like defense-related manufacturing, oil and gas, and banking are also doing well, adds Jerry Fults, executive managing director of the Kennedy-Wilson real estate firm in Dallas. "Our office market is about 85 percent occupied, rental rates are stable and about half of our new spec construction is already leased." Fults says value buildings -- two- and three-story facilities with large floor plates and no frills -- have dominated recent multitenant office construction, attracting technology and service companies.

Supply and demand are keeping pace with each other in the Metroplex industrial market. "We've had 10 million to 15 million sq. ft. (929,030 to 1.4 million sq. m.) of new industrial product built annually for the last six years and almost an identical amount of absorption," Fults says. "This is mostly bulk distributor and warehouse space for firms taking advantage of the area's central location."