Legal Eagles Are Flying High in D-FW's Office Market
North Texas has the greatest law firm office leasing in the U.S.
One of the fastest-growing office sectors in North Texas isn’t tech or finance. It’s legal firms that are gobbling up more offices in Dallas-Fort Worth than in any other metro area in the country, according to a new report from commercial property firm CBRE. Law firms have leased more than 707,000 square feet of D-FW office space between third quarter of 2018 and second quarter 2019, CBRE found. Almost 430,000 square feet of the leasing was by new firms expanding to North Texas.
Of the total North Texas leases, 79% were in downtown and Uptown Dallas — 805 transactions. “Never in my real estate career have I seen so many of the law companies setting up shop in Dallas that have not previously been here,” Phil Puckett, vice chairman of CBRE, said in the new report. “We are seeing a majority of these firms setting up their offices in Uptown or on the north side of downtown.”
More than 40% of the law firm leases were relocations; the rest were renewals or new transactions. About 64% of the leases represented space expansions.
“Law firms have zeroed in on Uptown and the north side of Downtown because of the amount of quality buildings along with the amenities to help recruit and retain attorneys,” said Harlan Davis, CBRE senior vice president. “These areas have become true live, work and play environments where law firms thrive.”
Along with being the top market for office leasing, the D-FW area was among the metro areas with the largest gains in legal firm employment. Between 2016 and 2018, legal services employment in the D-FW area expanded more than 5% — the fifth highest percentage in the country. Nationwide, law firm staffing rose just 1.6% in the same period...
