Alliance Data Systems moving from Telecom Corridor to Plano tower

Plano has landed a major corporate office relocation, the latest in a recent string of high-profile business moves to the city.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. is shifting its headquarters from the Telecom Corridor to the new One Legacy Circle office tower on the Dallas North Tollway near Legacy Drive.

More than 230 people will work for Alliance Data in 84,000 square feet of space on the top three floors of the eight-story building, which is in the Legacy Town Center retail, residential and office complex.

The company will also have large signs on top of the building.

"We started in earnest working on this deal over two years ago," said real estate broker Lawrence Gardner of OMS Strategic Advisors, who represents the high-tech firm. "Initially, we were looking at building a two- or three-story campus."

But developer Trammell Crow Co. successfully pitched its new West Plano office tower to the company, Gardner said.

The Alliance Data move next year will take the 214,000-square-foot office building to more than 80 percent leased, said Trammell Crow principal Dave Noble.

"We are seeing a lot of health care, insurance and financial services firms looking for office space in this area," Noble said. "I'm working with two more prospects for this building.

"I wish I had another floor to rent."

Alliance Data officials said the location in Legacy Town Center was a draw.

"We believe this location offers a truly unique environment and with many appealing amenities for our employees," said Alan Utay, general counsel and chief administrative officer.

Plano has landed almost 900,000 square feet of real estate leases this year.

"We are not experiencing the softness other areas are," said Sally Bane, executive director of the Plano Economic Development Board.

The city of Plano plans to provide an economic development grant to help pay for Alliance Data's move.

The company is currently on Waterview Parkway near the University of Texas at Dallas.

"It's a big win for the city of Plano and a great location for Alliance Data," said Cushman & Wakefield's Mike Wyatt, who also worked on the deal. "After 28 months, two code names, two directors of real estate and multiple lives, it's nice to have such a win."

Founded in 1996, Alliance Data provides data, research and marketing services for retailers, banks, hotels and other firms.

Because of the demand for office space in the Legacy project, Trammell Crow is looking at development plans for another building, said Denton Walker, Crow's senior managing director.

"It would probably be a floor or two taller than One Legacy Circle," Walker said, and it would be built at the corner of the tollway and Headquarters Drive.

Real estate brokers say that several large office tenants are looking at buildings and sites along the tollway in Plano.

One of them is Pizza Hut in Addison, which is considering a move farther north.