Las Colinas

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Coordinates: 32°53′30.2″N 96°56′53.9″W / 32.891722°N 96.948306°W / 32.891722; -96.948306

Mustangs at Las Colinas

Mansions on the hills along Four Seasons championship golfcourse

This article is about the town in the Dallas/Forth Worth metro area. For the mountain range in California, see Las Colinas (California).

Las Colinas is a developed area in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. Due to its central location between Dallas and Fort Worth and its proximity to DFW Airport, Las Colinas has been a viable place in the Metroplex for corporate and business relocation. As a planned community, it is synonymous with corporate offices, luxury hotels, landmark office towers on shining lakes, private country clubs, gated executive enclaves and urban lofts.

[edit] History

Originally called El Ranchito de Las Colinas ("the Little Ranch of the Hills"), Las Colinas was developed in 1972 by cattle ranching millionaire Ben H. Carpenter. It was one of the first planned communites in the United States and was once the largest mixed-use development in the Southwest, with a land area of more than 12,000 acres (49 km²).

Urban Center's APT

Urban planners were consulted to lay out the entire town, an undertaking that predated later projects in Plano, Allen and other suburbs.

During the 1980s building boom, Las Colinas became a popular location for relocating companies and office developers, attracting many corporations — including the global headquarters of four Fortune 500 companies and offices of more than 30 others, such as Exxon Mobil Corporation, GTE Telephone (now Verizon), Kimberly Clark and Associates Corp. In 1985, the first sign of financial trouble appeared at Las Colinas due to a real estate market crash.

Las Colinas made something of a comeback. Another 6,500,000 square feet (604,000 m²) of office space were built in the late 1990s boom. Residential real estate prices also rose steadily.

[edit] Las Colinas today

Today, Las Colinas is a prestigious location for business and personal addresses. It remains a planned community home to many corporations despite an increasing problem of debt. However, the area continues to thrive, with golf and country clubs nearby.

With 22,300,000 sq ft (2,070,000 m²) office space, Las Colinas is currently home to more than 2,000 companies including the Fortune 500 global headquarters for Avid Technology, Commercial Metals, ExxonMobil, Fluor Corp. and Kimberly-Clark. Other Las Colinas companies include Abbott Laboratories, AAA-Texas, AT&T, Citigroup, General Motors, Microsoft, NEC America, Nokia, Oracle, Research in Motion, Verizon, Zale Corporation, VHA Corporation, PNM Resources, Inc., First Choice Power, Westwood One, TRT Holdings, Inc. and Flowserve.

Aerial shot of Las Colinas's Urban Center.

Houses on Camino Lago, Las Colinas

Las Colinas also features three private country clubs and four championship golf courses surrounded by gated prestigious communities. The Four Seasons resort and country club at MacArthur Blvd is the only AAA Five-Diamond resort in Texas. The TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas Resort has hosted the HP Byron Nelson Championship of PGA Tour since it opened in 1986. It features tree-lined fairways, large and undulating greens and a number of creeks and ponds, making it difficult to master.

Las Colinas Blvd.

It also contains high-rise office towers, retail centers, upscale residences, apartment complexes, and leisure facilities. Notable attractions include the larger-than-life Mustangs at Las Colinas sculpture and fountain with nine mustangs appear to be splashing through a stream of water; Las Colinas Flower Clock with flowers that are planted eight times a year for picture-perfect color. The complex also features a River Walk-styled canal with electric gondolas, as well as the above-ground Las Colinas APT System. Las Colinas has over 22,300,000 square feet (2,072,000 m²) of office space, 1,300,000 square feet (121,000 m²) of retail, and 3,400 single-family homes. A 40-acre (160,000 m²) tract in Las Colinas is also under development to become the home of the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, which is expected to be completed in November 2010. Plans are also currently in the works to connect the downtown community and the Las Colinas APT System with the DART light rail expansion.

The Las Colinas area is served by Irving Independent School District and Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District.

Las Colinas was briefly referenced as the setting for the movie Office Space by the character Lawrence. The film's writer and director Mike Judge for a time lived and worked in the Dallas area.