Our Facebook post on the decline of corporate campuses has generated some interesting comments. They are below.

But first, here’s a recap for those just jumping into the conversation on the future of the western half of Flower Mound’s Lakeside Business District (hundreds of acres designated for corporate campuses).

Flower Mound's Lakeside Business District, zoned with the expectation of attracting large corporate campuses, sits virtually empty aside from the warehouse district to the east of the area shown above (graphic: Town of Flower Mound).

Word from Chicago suggests that far more corporate campuses are being abandoned than built these days.

Why? According to a May 3, 2011 story in Crains’s Chicago Business (Corporate campuses in twilight), it’s mostly about large employers wanting to be more attractive to employees (i.e., easier commutes, more lunch options, livelier environments after work).

“Empire-building CEOs from the 1970s through the 1990s craved not only cheap real estate but total control of their environments,” the story explained. “They created self-contained corporate villages that cut off employees from outside influences. As the 21st century enters its second decade, many companies are discovering the drawbacks of the isolation they sought.”

In Chicago, companies like Motorola Inc., Allstate Corp. and Sears Roebuck & Co. have turned out the lights on their “fortress-like complexes on the fringes of metropolitan Chicago.”

In DFW, the last corporate campuses were built in Las Colinas and Legacy in the nineties. On January 5, 2012, news came out of Plano that J.C. Penney was entertaining offers from some of North Texas’ top commercial builders on 240 acres that  surround the retailer’s corporate headquarters in Legacy business park (see The Dallas Morning News story).

Could there be a lesson here for Flower Mound as the town seeks ways to attract desirable employers over the next 10 – 20 years?

Is the decline of corporate campuses a trend that suggests Flower Mound should take a serious look at its empty acres (i.e., Lakeside DFW) that have been  zoned campus commercial since the eighties?

What can Flower Mound do to begin positioning itself as a candidate for companies searching for a 21st century home?

Here are comments from our Facebook page:

James Brazos Cole I’m not sure that Flower Mound will embrace genuine urban development.

Richard Myers of Realty Capital responded:

James, I’m not sure of how one defines a “genuine urban development.” Probably each person has a different picture in their mind of what that might be. I don’t think we are planning an urban development. We are thinking that it likely makes sense to develop a mix of uses on the site in a layout similar to other outstanding suburban projects in DFW, like Legacy Town Center in Plano, for example. I know that the hundreds of Flower Mound residents we have spoken to are generally looking for a great place to shop, dine, live, work, and play. Lakeside has the benefit of having access to Lake Grapevine, which may give it an advantage over competing projects in DFW.We hope to have some initial plans created in the upcoming weeks. If you are interested, please stay in touch as we are very interested in obtaining your feedback on the plans. Thank you for your comment!

Chris Noland

I am guessing you guys want to build something like legacy town center… I believe a mixed use would be great. Most people in the town I speak with realize Parker square is a complete failure…anything good closes and the traffic flow at the place is just silly. Good idea, bad implementation. I would be hard pressed to support anything that looks like parker square without some significant investment and vision on it’s value Legacy Town center is great and I would love to see something here in FM. Something that is small and mid size business friendly could change the area a lot. I hope it does not become another warehouse area like the rest of the south side of FM.