Among
Richardson’s most significant economic development accomplishments in 2016 has
been the creation and operation by the Richardson Economic Development
Partnership (REDP) of the East Arapaho
Task Force, a consortium of major property owners, employers and other
stakeholders in the core of Richardson’s Telecom Corridor whose mission is to
identify the priorities for enhancing economic vitality in the area. The
approximately 1,000-acre district, located on the east side of Central
Expressway and bounded on the north by Campbell Road, on the south by Apollo
Road, on the west by Greenville Avenue and on the east by Plano Road, is
characterized by single-story, office/showroom (or just “flex” for short)
buildings. In fact, about 75% of all of Richardson’s flex space is located in
the district, and when the Telecom Corridor slumped in 2001-2004, the vacancy
rate in those flex buildings soared to almost 40%.

Today,
vacancy has resided to nearer its historic 8-10% range at just over 13%, but
there are still challenges in readapting and redeveloping a number of
properties to meet current market demands. To jump start that goal, REDP has
been successful in attracting a couple of outstanding, technology-centric
companies to the East Arapaho district:

Most
recently, Applied Concepts, Inc.
purchased the 40,088-SF flex building (formerly Stratmark) at 855 E. Collins
with plans to move its entire 135-employee operation there in the 3^rd
quarter of 2017 as their Plano lease expires.

Founded
in Richardson in 1977 by electrical engineer Alan Mead, the company has become
the premier supplier of radar guns
(“Stalker” brand) for both traffic and sport applications. In the traffic
control area, ACI holds the majority of the US market, serving over 5,000 law
enforcement agencies. In baseball and other sports, ACI is the overwhelmingly
dominant market player. ACI introduced its auto radar business in 1990 with the
first TI-built DSP chip-enabled police radar gun. The company holds 29 patents
in radar gun technology that enable the tracking of any projectile at speeds up
to 900 mph.

Earlier
in the year, REDP was successful in securing the relocation of the corporate HQ
and operations of Aprima Medical Software, a 320-employee technology
company from Carrollton. Founded in the early 1990s, under the name Millbrook
Medical Software, Aprima has grown over the years to now support 2,000
physician practices in 47 US states, Puerto Rico and Guam. With its 2011
acquisition of DFW-based Healthcare Strategies, Aprima is now able to add a
revenue cycle management (RCM) offering to its clinical software product. Aprima
just recently occupied 55,000 SF in the 3-story office building at 1010 E. Arapaho,
which is owned by Momentum Realty, a locally-based property owner.

A
complete list of significant 2016 non-retail business expansions and
relocations follows.