DALLAS — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners at the Dallas Business Journal
The cost to rent an office along the popular Knox Street corridor is now higher than any other street in Dallas and most others nationally, a new report shows.
Knox Street ranks No. 12 among the most expensive streets to rent an office on in the U.S., according to a recent study from commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle based on year-end 2023 data. The average asking rent for office space on Knox is $79.25 per square foot and the highest on the street is $108, according to JLL.
Renting offices in the buzzing urban environment with shops and restaurants along the Katy Trail comes at a significant premium. It was more than double the Dallas-area office market's average asking rent of about $34 per square foot as of the end of 2023, per JLL data.
This is the street's first appearance on the list, published five times since 2005. Pearl Street and Crescent Court, which JLL includes in its Uptown/Oak Lawn submarket, rank just behind Knox.
The top 10 most expensive streets in the city are largely in the Uptown area. Olive Street was the most expensive in the company's previous studies in 2015 and 2019. Before then, Crescent Court took the lead in 2005 and 2010.
Knox Street's average price is about the same as Fourth Street in downtown Austin, which has been bucking the trend of office market woes in the city's central business district, Austin Business Journal reported.
The main properties influencing Knox's place on the ranks included Knox Village, Weir's Plaza and the nine-story office building part of the massive development underway abutting the Katy Trail by a project team including Trammell Crow Co., BDT & MSD Partners, The Retail Connection and Highland Park Village Associates.
Developer Four Rivers Capital's 12-story Weir's Plaza leased up immediately when it opened in 2022, according to the Dallas Morning News. The company reimagined an existing Knox Street property Weir’s Furniture has occupied for more than 70 years, adding retail, dining and office space as well as preserving the facade of the Highland Park Soda Fountain.
Mixed-use communities with a diversity of commercial, residential and entertainment uses have especially thrived in the post-pandemic leasing environment, recovering more quickly than office-centric cores, JLL said. Knox Street is no exception, set to add even more more shops, restaurants and a luxury hotel through the new development.
“It’s not surprising to see emerging submarkets become more dominant," stated Jacob Rowden, a research manager at JLL. “These neighborhoods outside the CBD tend to be in the middle of the action and offer tenants everything they’re looking for — from dining and shopping to entertainment amenities and fitness centers.”
Many of the streets that appeared in the study are in what JLL calls prime office corridors that have been largely immune to the challenges facing the broader office market over the past four years. Leasing space on one of these renowned thoroughfares can enhance a firm's brand, the report said.
“U.S. office assets in prime corridors have shown resiliency over the past four years as companies recognize the value in high-quality offices, not just as a means to motivate return-to-office strategies, but also as a recruitment and retention tool,” stated Jeff Eckert, president of agency leasing in the Americas for JLL. “The best buildings in the best locations will continue to shine.”
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