My name is Michael Thomas. I’m the executive director for My Possibilities. We’re a nonprofit organization for adults with cognitive disabilities. We’re a continued education center. We pick up where the school system leaves off. My Possibilities. Each HIPster (Hugely Important Person – the acronym we use for our adults) have a wide variety of different cognitive disabilities. They can range from autism to Down’s Syndrome and cerebral palsy. We have adults who have traumatic brain injuries and really everything in between. Regardless of … (0 comments)
plano: Office Beat
- 05/07/13 01:24 AM
As a former landlord and current tenant broker, it’s impossible not to have a strong admiration for great buildings. Some have architecture and personality that draw you in and excite you while others just leave you flat and bored. John Alvarado approaches buildings in an interesting way- by giving them musical styles. Read his blog here to see what I mean. So here are my questions: What’s the musical style of your office? Does the “musical style” of your office follow the beat of your business? … (0 comments)
plano: Construction Starts in (One of) My Favorite Parks!
- 04/17/13 05:27 AM
One of my favorite office parks, Granite Park at the Tollway and Highway 121, broke ground on a new building. The Granite Park development team shared concept drawings for the upcoming 300,000 SF office building and adjacent conference hotel. Looks like a pretty stylish, modern place to do business. Granite Park IV is scheduled to be finished with construction in the mid-2014. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished and possibly negotiate some leases for the building’s first tenants. Check out the Dallas Business Journal’s article and slideshow of the building designs here. … (0 comments)
plano: REATA Client Profile: Blu Age
- 04/11/13 01:13 AM
REATA sat down with Frédéric Vermenouze of Blu Age to talk about international business and breaking into the American market. It's tough enough to start a new location for your business, it's even harder from another country! Having an experienced, local expert on your side can make all the difference!
Blu Age Corporation is a software editor. We have a software that helps us modernize legacy applications, legacy code like COBOL to new technologies, web technologies like G2E and dot net structure. We are based out of Paris, France where we have a major part of our staff. We are also … (1 comments)
plano: Shopping in a Landlord's Market
- 04/02/13 01:10 AM
On the cusp of job growth and economic stimulation, tenant incentives fly out of the window. Curious about just how dramatic the changes have already been so far? Check out Bill Cawlely’s blog post “Pendulum Shifting in Landlord’s Favor” What can tenants do about suddenly becoming the underdog? Make sure you have representation on your side. Tenant Reps are one of the most effective ways to shift power on your side of lease negotiations in a growing landlord market.
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plano: Forbe's List of America's Fastest Growing Cities
- 03/05/13 12:38 AM
Texas dominates the top three fastest growing cities in America according to Forbes. Behind Austin and Houston, Dallas boasts an impressive 2.1% growth rate and 5.7% unemployment. Not too shabby, Dallas. What does this mean for businesses already operating in Dallas? We’ve talked before about how more growth equals more business and opportunity for everyone, but this kind of growth also requires tenant to lease more space which brings a healthy sense of competition. This creates demand which can then drive rate increases. REATA specializes in connecting clients to the right office. Your office space should work for your business, your … (1 comments)
plano: REATA Client Profile: Total Class Solutions
- 02/20/13 12:37 AM
REATA sat down with Tim Taylor from Total Class Solutions to learn about class actions and how their office space works for them.
Total Class Solutions is a national class action administrator that specializes predominantly in construction defect issues, although we are currently expanding to other issues during 2012. It is often thought of as an insurance company-related business. It is not. It’s handling class actions and working specifically with both defendant and plaintiff attorneys who are settling or about to settle cases. The management team of Total Class Solutions has been handling class actions for over 15 … (0 comments)
plano: Office Leasing Booms in Third Quarter
- 09/27/12 08:13 AM
According to the latest stats from Cushman & Wakefield as reported by D Real Points, net absorption of office space n the DFW area for the third quarter alone is a positive 2 million square feet. That's incredible. Net absorption is the net change in occupied space. If the total occupied space goes from 300 million square feet to 302 million square feet, that would represent 2 million square feet of positive absorption. This is the best indication of market demand for office space. Overall leasing activity (total leases signed) was over 10 miilion square feet, but much of that was renewals … (0 comments)
plano: Speculative Construction is Back in Plano...despite area vacancy
- 09/17/12 01:47 AM
Crains are popping up on the skyline of Plano again. And this time it's for construction of new office buildings instead of bridges. There are currently 7 office buildings under construction in Plano totaling 959,591 square feet (SF). All of these buildings are in west Plano where we have seen rental rates rise dramatically in the last year. That is also the area where it is increasingly difficult to find large blocks of space available. Interestingly, it's also hard to find small space under 5,000 SF. Three of the buildings are build-to-suits for large users - Encana Oil & Gas, Tyler … (1 comments)
plano: Will Technology Replace Tenant Rep Brokers?
- 08/29/12 02:34 AM
That's the basic question being asked in a Wall Street Journal article yesterday. It's an interesting idea and one that has been asked many times before. In fact, the question has been asked for virtually every industry in the last 200 years. I am a tenant rep in the Dallas area focused on Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Addison, and Far North Dallas. So it's important that you know that up front - full disclosure. I am a little biased. Technology usually works best when applied to a series of repetitive tasks or the collection of data. It's great at increasing the speed at … (2 comments)
plano: The Emerging Workplace
- 08/27/12 04:40 AM
Last week I attended a presentation on The Emerging Workplace. It was a presentation by Miller Office Interiors, Access Business Centers and Interprise Design. It was interesting to hear how the workplace is changing largely due to technology and the preferred work environment of younger workers. Office layouts are getting more open and collaborative. An open space with gathering areas stimulates greater creativity than putting everyone in separate offices and cubes where they can’t see or talk to each other. Open space is more inviting and attractive to workers who are used to spending a lot of their time in … (0 comments)
plano: Knowledge is POWER!
- 08/15/12 01:01 AM
The more imbalanced the knowledge in a negotiation, the more the side with greater knowledge can take advantage of the other side. So many times in life we try to do something ourselves because we're too cheap to pay an expert. That's why the floor tile is crooked in my bathroom and the faucet at the kitchen sink is loose. Sure I can do it, but can I do it well and without a lot of education and practice. It's the same in business. What am I doing myself that I should be paying someone else to do? Website? Marketing? … (0 comments)
plano: Specialist or Generalist? What is Your Agent?
- 08/13/12 06:24 AM
Several years ago I was talking to a friend in Austin and mentioned that I had sold my house in Dallas as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO). He was surprised that it was possible to buy or sell a house without a residential real estate agent. I was shocked that he didn't know he could trade real estate without a broker - however ill-advised that might be. Brokers can only negotiate the sale or purchase of a house, right? Aren't they all the same since they have access to the MLS? Even though I've been in the commercial real estate … (1 comments)
plano: Tenant Rep Advantage - Information
- 07/16/12 12:23 AM
One of the most important things that a tenant representative can provide is information. Unlike residential real estate which uses the MLS (multiple listing service), commercial real estate uses several databases including Costar, Xceligent, LoopNet, CityFeet, CommercialSource, and others. Some of these are best for finding space for lease while others are better when buying a property. Some are available only in certain cities. Knowing where to find information that is appropriate to a particular client's needs and then how to analyze that information is the real value of an experienced tenant representative or Corporate Real Estate Advisor. The information in … (0 comments)
plano: Help! I’m Running Out of Space
- 07/09/12 11:46 AM
You’d be amazed at the number of commercial tenants that run out of space well before their lease term runs out. There are few things that are more chaotic to a business operation than having to work out of multiple locations because of poor planning. That’s why it’s vital that you plan for your growth before you start looking for space. There are three keys to ensuring that you don’t run out of space before you run out of lease term. The first key is to conduct a comprehensive needs analysis. And while this might seem obvious, the real question … (0 comments)
plano: Confessions of a Recovering Landlord - My UVP
- 04/26/12 02:06 AM
The name of my blog has changed. It used to be called The REATA BizBlog because that name combined the name of my company with the fact that it's a blog about business. Makes sense. But then I was at a networking function a few months ago and I opened my introduction with "Hi my name is Bob and I'm a recovering landlord" clearly spoofing Alcoholics Anonymous. There was no intent to make fun of AA, of course. But it seemed to really spark a reaction in people. They seemed to chuckle and then pay more attention to what I said … (0 comments)
plano: Dallas Ft. Worth Still Creating Jobs & Attracting In-migration
- 04/16/12 01:06 AM
I recently heard Steve Brown, real estate reporter for the Dallas Morning News, speak at Collin County Day. He had some interesting statistics that I thought I should share. 1. DFW created 63,700 jobs in the last 12 months. An additional 100,000 jobs are forecast for the next 12 months. These jobs are heavily concentrated in the major cities, of course. 2. Texas continues to be a favorite destination for people relocating within the United States. Here is the largest contributing states: California (68,909 people), Louisiana (31,149), Florida (26,608), Oklahoma and Illinois (no numbers for these last two). I believe these … (6 comments)
plano: Rates are Going Up
- 03/22/12 07:44 AM
While searching for office space in west Plano on behalf of a software development company, I noticed that rental rates have gone up considerably. Class A office buildings are now quoting rates in the upper half of the $20’s plus electric. My favorite office building is Granite Park III which is quoting a whopping $29.50 plus electric. Many others are in the $26.00 range. Most class B buildings are over $20.00 plus electric. So while the media is still sounding the alarm about how bad the economy is, landlords are quietly raising rental rates, reducing the amount of free rent … (1 comments)
plano: DFW Office Market on Fire - Okay, Relatively Speaking
- 02/15/12 10:58 AM
The DFW office market is getting really hot as reported by BISNOW's commercial real estate newsletter. In 2011, the DFW market absorbed 2.4 million square feet (SF) of office space. That's the highest since 2005 and triple 2010's absorption. The 2005 number was 3.4 million SF. Absorption is the best measure of demand for space. It is the net change in occupied space from one period to the next. For example, if 250 million SF were occupied on 12/31 and 253 million SF were occupied at 12/31 of the next year, there was 3 million SF of positive absorption that year. If less … (0 comments)
plano: Direct Mail - Contrarian Marketing?
- 02/07/12 02:23 AM
I am somewhat of contrarian. If everyone agrees on something, I'm usually the one to take the opposing view. If I'm talking to my politically right-wing family, for example, I tend to bait them with the obvious benefits of universal health care, legalization of drugs and illegal immigration. If I'm with a bunch of left-wingers, on the other hand, I've been known to advocate the death penalty, abolition of the entitlement programs which keep the poor in their place, and deregulation of business. It's healthy to have an opposing thought occasionally just to make sure you aren't falling into the trap … (4 comments)
Anything and everything related to corporate real estate - a company's use of real estate. This is usually a company's lease or purchase of office, warehouse or retail space.
REATA talks with Michael Thomas from My Possibilities exciting future in their new building! 
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