Warren Buffett company to build $1.5 billion dollar mixed use complex in the Dallas suburb of The Colony
by Candace Carlisle, Staff Writer, Dallas Business Journal
Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 5:38pm CST
Nebraska Furniture Mart Inc.'s planned $1.5 billion, 433-acre complex in The Colony has the furniture retailer seeking developing partners for a theme park, hotels, and additional retail and restaurants.
The Omaha-based furniture retailer, which is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK), also is looking for partners, such as Dallas-Fort Worth area construction companies and architects.
The complex, which is planned south of State Highway 121 between Plano Parkway and West Spring Creek Parkway, would be anchored by a 1.8 million-square-foot retail and distribution center for the retailer.
The 1.8 million-square-foot retail and distribution center would include 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space, a 546,000-square-foot showroom, and 25,000 square feet of regional corporate office space.
If plans move forward, construction could finish by the end of 2015. By that time, Nebraska Furniture Mart plans to hire 1,700 employees.
"We will be the mainstay of the whole development," said Bob Batt, executive vice president of Nebraska Furniture Mart. "The development will include other retail shops, hotels, convention centers, restaurants...it's going to be a brand new design."
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He has studied the area for years for a Nebraska Furniture Mart location and was struck by North Texas' ease of highway systems that could aid ease of access to The Colony and help the retailer gain visibility.
The city is in the growth pattern of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and is an outstanding location for a retail-anchored development, Batt said.
Nebraska Furniture Mart expects to bring in 8 million customers a year and $600 million in sales from throughout the southwest region.
The Colony City Council is considering a plan to form a tax increment reinvestment zone. Although Batt would not say the development could hinge on the approval of the plan, he said the development would be a partnership between the city and the company.
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The retailer has three other locations in the United States, including Omaha, Neb., Kansas City, Kan., and Des Moines, Iowa.
In Kansas City, the retailer's development spurred further development, including a NASCAR racetrack, a minor league baseball park, nine hotels, a million square feet of office space and other major retailers, Batt said.
Batt says he feels similar synergies could happen in North Texas.
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