By John Jacobs
Executive Vice President

The RealPage project put an exclamation point, or maybe several, on the
first half economic development activity for Richardson’s Telecom Corridor® area.

For those who don’t know
RealPage, the company was founded in 1998 by UT Austin grad Stephen Winn. RealPage
develops software that manages real estate through a subscription (“Software-as-a-Service”)
model. They serve 10,000 customers, including the ten largest multi-family
property management companies in the US, that collectively oversee 9.5 million
residential units and over 200 million square feet of commercial space.

The company has grown through
acquisitions of smaller software companies fueled in part by its 2010 IPO,
which raised $150 million. Most recently, RealPage acquired for $49 million Louisville-based
Indatus, a cloud computing services company. Overall, RealPage has over 4,000
employees with the primary concentration in DFW and another large contingent in
South Carolina. The company has over $400 million in annual
revenues.

A key factor in the
relocation decision was the presence in Richardson of a 400,000-square-foot office space that will
accommodate RealPage’s current 250,000-square-foot occupancy as well as
significant future headcount growth. RealPage plans to make a number of interior
improvements to create an inviting, comfortable and collaborative work
environment that its employees will love.

Additional considerations in
RealPage’s relocation decision were proximity to UT Dallas’ 23,000-student
talent magnet as well as Richardson’s
rich high-tech history and globally recognized technology brand.

Other first half highlights
are:

• TD
  Ameritrade, which reports
  indicate has purchased the 73,000 SF data center facility at 1811 Renner
  developed by Stream Data Centers;
   

• Amerisource-Bergen, which found Fobare Commercial’s repurposed 1225 Alma office building with 8:1000 parking to its
  liking for a customer contact center;  

• Kathrein
  Group, a German telecom company
  that found its way to the Telecom Corridor® area from Medford, Oregon. Amongst other products, the $1 billion+ (sales)
  company makes car mounted mobile antennas, such as the dorsal-fin
  shaped unit on the roof of BMW’s;

• TNT Dental, which is redeveloping the old 500 Lockwood Post
  Office building into a hip, cool workplace that’s within walking distance
  of Alamo Drafthouse, Taco Joint and the other restaurant/retailers that
  make some people refer to the Heights Shopping Center as “Little
  Austin”;   

• Avnet, a large Phoenix-based distributor of technology
  parts and equipment and a long-time Richardson corporate citizen moved its regional sales and
  accounting office within the city