Originally posted by Candace Carlisle, CoStar News
Alternative investment firm NexPoint has unveiled plans to develop a 200-acre life science hub at an aging office campus in Dallas-Fort Worth that once was home to self-made billionaire H. Ross Perot’s Electronic Data Systems.
Dallas-based NexPoint said the four-phase project in Plano, Texas, is expected to eventually include more than 4 million square feet of lab, office and therapeutic production space about 20 miles north of downtown Dallas. The project, which is being called TxS District, a shortened moniker meant to signify “Technology x Science,” is being designed to foster innovation and collaboration among companies and institutions across the life science sector, officials said.
An affiliate of NexPoint bought the former EDS campus, which comprises 91 acres, in December 2018 and the company acquired an additional 109 acres since then. The former EDS campus was built in the early 1990s as one of the first corporate campuses in Plano’s Legacy Business Park, which is home to major companies such as Toyota North America, Boeing Global Services and NTT Data.
NexPoint has begun working with the city of Plano on a potential public-private partnership for TxS District. Plano’s economic development director did not immediately respond to a media request from CoStar News on the potential partnership.
“Not only would this project be a major economic catalyst for the region, but it would also establish North Texas as a leader in life sciences,” said James Dondero, NexPoint founder and principal, in a statement.
The first and second phase of the project is designed to transform two existing buildings on the main campus into 970,000 square feet of lab and office space, as well as 120,000 square feet of amenity space for would-be tenants. Other initial plans include adding a public park, amphitheater and connectivity to the nearby retail center known as The Shops at Legacy.
A construction timeline was not immediately available.
Dondero founded and led Highland Capital Management, a Dallas-based investment powerhouse that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2019. Last September, Highland Capital Management Fund Advisers LP changed its name to NexPoint Asset Management LP, according to a statement. NexPoint has been involved in several life science deals, including its investment in IQHQ, a life science real estate investment trust operating in life science clusters on the East and West coasts. In all, NexPoint has $13.4 billion of real estate assets under management.
In addition to its investments in life science real estate, NexPoint is also making direct investments in biotech companies and other public and private healthcare companies through its corporate credit and equities group.
Frank Zaccanelli, president of NexPoint Development Co., the development arm of NexPoint’s real estate platform, said Plano is the “ideal location” for the project to transform the aging real estate into “a thriving life science district.”
NexPoint is collaborating with CRB, an engineering, architecture, construction and consulting firm catering to the life science industry, on the TxS District project. NexPoint has also hired JLL to oversee the leasing of the project.
Matt Daniels, an executive managing director for JLL, said he expects Plano to become a top choice for companies seeking expansion and solutions with this campus positioned to support life sciences companies “at any point in the process” from discovery to early-stage development to commercialization.