TexAmericas Center is busier than ever while emerging from the shutdown. It is moving forward quickly on two fronts: Making its resources useful for business clients and gathering clients who want to move in and set up shop.
"When we did shut for COVID-19, we were concerned about prospects," said Scott Norton, executive director and CEO. "We had been making lots of progress up to that point and we were worried about a slowdown. As it turns out, the opposite happened."
TexAmericas - established more than 20 years ago to re-purpose former military land into a private industrial park - closely tracks activity and prospects on its footprint and the data they now have show they are in a good position moving forward.
"Our prospect activity numbers, in fact, are higher than before the COVID shutdown," Norton said.
Before the shutdown took place in March, TexAmericas Center officials had attracted so much business to the campuses they manage, that finding available space was becoming a challenge.
"Up to this point, we've been settling our clients into building space that was formerly occupied by Red River (Army Depot)," Norton said. "We refurbished the buildings as needed, improved the infrastructure. But we've reached the point that our most readily available space is almost completely occupied. So now we've not only been looking at the buildings that need more work, we've begun the process of building new space."
During the shutdown, TexAmericas officials not only continued to work on asset improvement, they began design work on new spaces for more clients.
"We continued the work on building this 'spec space,' preparing this project for eventual completion by summer of 2021," Norton said. "Also, during the shutdown, we continued the work of infrastructure building and working on more of our already available space."
Norton uses "vigorous" to describe TexAmericas' marketing campaign. And potential occupants, he says, "have been paying attention."