© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Candice Carlisle of the Dallas Business Journal
(Jan.26) – Bell Nunnally & Martin decided to relocate its Dallas office to the top two floors of KPMG Plaza at Hall Arts in the Arts District by the end of the summer.
The law firm signed a long-term lease for about 42,000 square feet at 2323 Ross Ave. in downtown Dallas, which will move the company from its longtime office along McKinney Avenue in Uptown.
Bell Nunnally’s new office will help the firm better serve clients and continue to attract and retain top legal talent, said managing partner Jim Skochdopole.
“After experiencing tremendous growth in all facets of the firm during our 30 years in Uptown Dallas, we decided to move to the prestigious Dallas Arts District,” he added.
In the last five years, Bell Nunnally has added 33 attorneys, including nine partners, and expanded into several new practice areas, such as white collar crime, regulatory defense and cryptocurrency, or bitcoin, law.
The firm plans to move into its new space on the 18th and 19th floor of KPMG Plaza by July. Gensler is the interior architect on the project and Scott+Reid is the project’s general contractor.
CBRE’s Jeff Ellerman represented Bell Nunnally in its real estate search. Kim Butler of Dallas-based Hall Group represented the landlord in the deal. CBRE’s Scott Eldredge, Kris Hopson, Lynn Lem and Darcy Pinham are overseeing the project management of the firm’s relocation.
Ellerman, a vice chairman at CBRE, said the law firm searched the entire downtown and Uptown Dallas submarkets before deciding on the top two floors of KPMG Plaza. The high ceilings and expansive views were some of the reasons for the decision on the Arts District tower, he said.
“They had been in One McKinney Plaza for over 25 years at the top of the building,” Ellerman told the Dallas Business Journal. “They had nice space, but they wanted a different image and the firm had grown considerably. They looked at a lot of the newer buildings in Uptown and the Arts District and this space is spectacular.
“This new space will be comparable to what other top firms have in the city,” he added. “This will be a nice environment to retain top talent and recruit new talent.”
With this lease, KPMG Plaza is 93 percent leased. Bell Nunnally will join KPMG, Jackson Walker LLP, UMB Bank, Teknion and Serendipity Labs in the office tower. KPMG Plaza is the first phase of the three-phase Hall Arts development.
The Hall Arts second phase, which includes the Hall Arts Hotel and Residences, is currently under construction.
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