100K SF HQ Relocation Lands In Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas has landed a sizable corporate relocation, as Integrity Marketing Group has elected to move its headquarters to the Fountain Place tower.
Integrity will occupy 100K SF across six floors and has said it plans to grow that significantly in the near future. The firm, which bills itself as the nation’s largest independent distributor of life and health insurance products, grew more than 110% in 2020, CEO and co-founder Bryan Adams said in a press release. In 2021 alone, it has gone from 1,700 employees to more than 5,500 across the U.S. It acquired 40 agencies last year and is on track to double that this year.
Fountain Place is a 58-story tower with an iconic design by I.M. Pei, Henry Cobb and Dan Kiley. It is owned by Goddard Investment Group, which just completed $75M worth of renovations on the building, which sits just outside of the Dallas Arts District.
Integrity is relocating into Downtown from the suburbs, and executives involved in the deal say it is proof that urban office hubs are not dead, despite a years-long trend in Dallas of companies moving out to suburban campuses and despite forecasts that the coronavirus pandemic may have made suburban office more appealing nationwide. DFW has led the nation in suburban office development over the past decade.
“This is the first deal of this size moving from a suburban location into downtown Dallas, when the trend has been the reverse over the past decade,” Josh White, a CBRE executive vice president on the team that represented Integrity in the lease, said in a statement.
“This move comes at a time when many companies are evaluating the needs and wants of their employees and their business plan,” Goddard Chief Investment Officer Quito Anderson said. “This bellwether move further entrenches the understanding that the downtown Arts District is a very special place to work. You can’t replicate a building or environment like this in today’s world, let alone in suburbia.”
Integrity Chief Financial Officer Steven Sigrist said the firm explored options across the Metroplex but decided Downtown has “some of the most attractive economics” and is convenient for its employees, a vast number of whom live in or near Downtown.
The deal also is being touted as a mark in favor of working in an office at all. What the future of the workplace will be is a major question right now, as the pandemic showed working from home can be highly productive, and survey after survey has shown a large percentage of employees want to retain that flexibility at least part time. Some employers have also started to embrace remote options permanently. Integrity is among those saying the value of in-person work hasn't gone away.
“Integrity is an insurtech company powered by highly skilled people who work better when they can collaborate and innovate together in person,” Adams said. “We believe now is an important time to provide our teams with a dynamic office environment that reflects our focus on innovation, our commitment to our employees and the important changes we’re making to the industry.”
Integrity Vice President of People and Culture Rachelle McReynolds added the firm’s culture is one of the most important drivers of the company’s rapid growth and that being together in an office helps build that culture.
CBRE’s Josh White and Ryan Buchanan represented Integrity in the transaction, while CBRE’s Fletcher Cordell, Dennis Barnes and Jackie Marshall represented Goddard. Corgan architectural firm is handling interior design.
CORRECTION, JUNE 17, 10:48 A.M. CT: An earlier version of this story said the building is in the Dallas Arts District. It is just outside of the official boundaries of the district. The story has been updated.
