Las Colinas, Irving, Texas
Las Colinas is a developed area in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. Due to its central location between Dallas and Fort Worth, its proximity to DFW airport,Las Colinas has been a favoraite place in the Metroplex for corporate and business relocation. As a planned community, it is synonymous with corporation offices, luxury hotels, landmark office towers on shining lakes, private country clubs, gated executive enclaves and urban lofts.
History
Las Colinas was founded in 1972 by cattle ranching millionaire Ben H. Carpenter. His vision of a secure, aesthetically-pleasing business and living center was realised after much private and public expenditure. He envisioned that Irving's sprawling Las Colinas community would be full of futuristic skyscrapers that rivaled downtown Dallas. Las Colinas was once the largest mixed-use development in the Southwest with more than 12,000 acres.
This mammoth real estate project started out as a cattle ranch owned by Dallas businessman Ben H. Carpenter and his family. Called El Ranchito de Las Colinas – the Little Ranch of the Hills – the river-bottom farmland was a weekend getaway for the Carpenter family, which owned one of the state's largest insurance companies. With construction of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport almost at their doorstep, the Carpenters decided the family farm was better suited for business than bovines. Some of the country's top urban planners were consulted to lay out an entire town – an unprecedented undertaking that predated later projects in Plano, Allen and other suburbs. The Carpenters carved the prairie into office parks and hotel sites and built miles of roads, artificial lakes and country clubs. During the early years, commuters on State Highway 114 saw a surreal landscape of excavation and paving. During the 1980s building boom, Las Colinas became the favored location of relocating companies and office developers, attracted some of the world's most respected corporations -- including the global headquarters of four Fortune 500 companies and offices of more than 30 others, such as Exxon Corp., GTE Telephone (now Verizon), Kimberly Clark and Associates Corp. In 1985, the first sign of financial trouble appeared at Las Colinas due to a real estate market crash. [1] Carpenter was evicted from Las Colinas after a lengthy legal battle.
Las Colinas made something of a comeback.Another 6.5 million square feet of office space were built in the most recent [late 1990s] boom.
Las Colinas today
Today, Las Colinas is a prestigious location for business and personal addresses. It remains a planned community home to many corporations despite an increasing problem of debt. However, the area continues to thrive, with golf and country clubs and a movie studio, the "Studios at Las Colinas".
With 22.3 million sq. ft office space, Las Colina is currently home to more than 2,000 companies include Fortune 500 global headquarters for Commercial Metals, ExxonMobil, Fluor and Kimberly-Clark. Other Las Colinas companies include AAA-Texas, AT&T, Citigroup, General Motors, Microsoft, NEC America, Nokia, Oracle,Verizon and Zales.
Las Colinas also features three private country clubs and four championship golf courses surrounded by gated prestigious communities.The Four seasons resort and country club at McArthur Blvd is the only AAA Five-Diamond resort in Texas. The TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas Resort has hosted the EDS Byron Nelson Championship of PGA tour since it opened in 1986. It features tree-lined fairways, large and undulating greens and is further complicated by a number of creeks and ponds, making it difficult to overpower.
It also contains high-rise office towers, retail centers, upscale residences and apartment complexes, and leisure facilities. Notable attractions include the larger-than-life Mustangs at Las Colinas sculpture and fountain with nine mustangs appear to be splashing through a stream of water; Las Colinas Flower Clock with flowers that are planted eight times a year for picture-perfect color. The complex also feature River Walk-styled canal with electric gondolas. Las Colinas has over 22.3 million square feet (1,858,000 m²) of office space, 1.3 million sq. ft retail and 3,400 Single-family homes. Te community is served by a 5.5 mile long monorail system called the Las Colinas APT System,which will soon be connected with DART light rail expansion.
The Las Colinas area is served by Irving Independent School District and Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District.
Many people will recognize Las Colinas as referenced by Lawrence (of Office Space fame), who awoke early in the morning to erect the drywall at the new McDonald's.
References
- ^ Bourland, Gary N. "Inside Las Colinas" Back Cover
- ^ [2] Lee Powell (The Dallas Morning News) "Ranch to riches: A city's tale - Las Colinas' growth marked by foresight, careful planning"
External links
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