From a results perspective, the Richardson Economic Development Partnership concluded one of the most successful years in its history in 2012. REDP logged 49 expansions/relocations, 5,512 new or retained Richardson jobs and 1.9 million square feet of non-retail commercial space occupied.

The previous 5-year averages and the percentage increases in 2012 are:

28 projects (+ 75%)

3,171 jobs (+74%)

0.9 million SF occupied (+ 111%)

Those results do not include the December announcement by KDC and State Farm that a 1.5 million-square-foot office campus will be built in north Richardson over the next couple of years.

When Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Texas built its new 1.5 million-square-foot campus in Richardson in 2009, one had to go back to the history books to conclude that the project was the largest office campus built in DFW since J.C. Penney’s at Legacy Business Park circa 1987. Now, more research will be needed to see if there has ever been a single-phase office campus in excess of 1.5 million square feet built in North Texas.

Dirt has been moving already up on the Bush Turnpike for State Farm, and an official groundbreaking will likely be held sometime in the spring.   

Outside that blockbuster announcement, 2012’s economic development highlights were Safety-Kleen’s HQ relocation, globally-prominent business process management company Genpact’s selection of Richardson for its first non-acquired US operation, innovative medical device company Inogen’s relocation from California, data center additions by Digital Realty and Stream Data Centers, and, of course, the lease of an entire 291,000-square-foot building by State Farm Insurance as a precursor to their campus announcement.

All that economic activity and more helped push the City’s property tax base to a record $10.1 billion in 2012 with an enviable 64% of it being commercial property. And that has impressed the bond rating agencies – Richardson is one of only 5 Texas cities ( others being Austin, San Antonio, Plano and Irving)  that have the top AAA/Aaa credit rating from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.   

There’s no reason to expect that the economic pace will slow in 2013. In fact, there is an expectation that activity will become even more intense as Richardson continues to benefit from the decades-long foresight, leadership, transportation and infrastructure and public and private institutions that make it one of the finest environments for business in America.