Balfour Beatty Construction is finishing up One Arts Plaza, a 24-floor mixed-use facility in Dallas, which includes a parking garage, offices and condominiums.

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Downtown Dallas is getting a big dose of the arts. A new arts district is emerging on the city’s north side, and One Arts Plaza is a major catalyst. Balfour Beatty Construction is finishing up the 24-floor mixed-use facility, which includes a parking garage, offices and condominiums. Project Manager John Gardiner says the $100 million-plus project is the first high rise to be built in downtown Dallas since the 1980s.

The complex encompasses 1 million square feet, including 60 luxury condominium units, most of them two bedrooms and range between 2,400 and 2,600 square feet. The three penthouse units range from 3,500 to 4,000 square feet each.

“This building is the entrance to the arts district,” Gardiner says. “Right now, there is a lot going on in the arts district, and we started that trend. The owner, Lucy Billingsley, owns this 10-acre property on the north side of downtown. We’re building the first of a three-building phase. When we got the project started, a lot of other projects were planned for the district, but she got in first.”

The nearby Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the Dallas Black Dance Theater are going through a renovation and a new opera house is halfway complete, he adds. The Winspear Opera House is located on the north side of the Morton E. Myerson Symphony Center with the Dee and Charles Wyly Theater on the opposite side. “[One Arts Plaza] really caters to the arts-type folks,” Gardiner says. “When complete in 2009, Dallas will have one of the country’s largest arts districts.  We get a lot of people interested in this project because of that connection.”

One Arts Plaza includes a 2,000-square-foot, recessed fountain near the front entrance which features sections of glass tiles, lighted water jets and basalt logs with absolute black granite perimeter stone bands.  Three multi-colored concrete pavers surround the perimeter of the fountain and create the 27,000 square foot circular plaza.

“At the front of the building, we have three [two-story] structures that come off the front of the building on the north and south sides,” Gardiner says. “We will have a wine bar and other restaurants coming in, including a sushi bar, Italian and Mexican food restaurants, catering to the outdoor dining experience. It’s going to be really great- people will be sitting outdoors with a view of downtown Dallas. By the first quarter of 2008, there should be a lot of outdoor dining going on in the plaza.”

Work on Two Arts Plaza is expected to begin in 2008, and Balfour Beatty hopes to be involved in that project, as well.

Tight Schedule
The anchor office tenant at One Arts Plaza is 7-11, which houses its new corporate headquarters on floors 7 through 13. Gardiner says it was a challenge to get 7-11 in on a tight schedule.

“We started the job in July 2005 and moved 7-11 in this past April,” he says. “We had to work on the structure 24/7 to make that deadline, so the schedule was a challenge.”

Balfour Beatty is used to taking on tough schedules and large projects. Its past work has included the $350 million Gaylord Texan Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, the nearby original Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and numerous projects in the healthcare, casino, military housing, retail, transportation and education sectors.

“We’ve done a lot of work for the University of Texas – we dive into whatever makes sense for the company,” he notes. Most of the company’s projects are valued at more than $25 million, he adds.

Global Force
Balfour Beatty was founded in England in 1909 by George Balfour, a Scottish mechanical engineer, and Andrew Beatty, an English chartered accountant. The company described itself as “general and electrical engineers, contractors, operating managers for tramways, railways and lighting properties.” Its global headquarters are located in London.

The company entered the U.S. market in 1986 with the acquisition of Atlanta-based Heery International. In March 2007, Balfour Beatty completed its largest acquisition to date, the purchase of national commercial construction leader, Centex Construction. Centex Construction was previously the commercial construction division of the leading U.S. homebuilder, Centex Homes. The company now operates under the name Balfour Beatty Construction and is headquartered in Dallas.

Balfour Beatty Construction completes more than $2.2 billion each year in revenue with more than 1,600 full-time, salaried employees.  

Along with its sister companies in the United States – Heery, Balfour Beatty Rail, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, and Balfour Beatty Capital – the company completes more than $3.5 billion in construction revenue annually. Balfour Beatty plc has an annual volume of $13 billion worldwide and a total of 28,000 employees.

In Dallas, where Balfour Beatty Construction is headquartered in the United States, the company’s community efforts are “an extremely important part of our business culture, and one of the reasons I enjoy working here,” Gardiner says. “People really care.”