How Investors See Richardson

In case you missed the news, Pillar Commercial bought Nortel's former campus in Richardson for $43.1 million. The property includes a 16-story office tower and a 3-story research and laboratory building with a total of 800,000 square feet. In other words, as our Vice President might say, it's a big, f*@#ing deal.

D Magazine's Real Points blog posted an article by the president of Pillar Commercial, Manny Ybarra, explaining his company's motivation for investing in Richardson. The whole article is worth a read.

After the jump, a choice paragraph ... and then a stop for barbecue.

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Manny Ybarra, president of Pillar Commercial, on investing in Richardson:

"Choosing the former Nortel campus as our most recent acquisition was partly based on the real estate. But much of our interest in staking a claim in this city has to do with the pro-business philosophy of the city of Richardson. The Mayor, city council, city staff, and Richardson Chamber are led by some of the most dynamic, proactive, and business-oriented minds in the region. A public/private partnership can take many forms. The one we have established with the Richardson team is one based on trust, responsiveness, and confidence. People like city manager Bill Keffler, deputy city manager Dan Johnson, chamber president Bill Sproull, and chamber executive vice president John Jacobs made the decision to invest in their city easier, because we knew we had partners we could lean on and work with in making Richardson the most dynamic and progressive suburban community possible."

Meanwhile, at a smokin' soiree in a local barbecue smokehouse, two Richardson City Council members valiantly "stepped into the frying pan" by agreeing to respond to "intense questions" from the Richardson Tea Party. I compliment Laura Maczka and Steve Mitchell for meeting with voters - anywhere, anytime, any how - even when the audience seems more interested in talking than listening, more interested in asking "tough questions" than in hearing from a new council member expecting to speak to the announced agenda topic of sharing her vision of the future of Richardson. By all means, try to keep the lines of communication open with groups like the Richardson Tea Party, but I advise Mitchell and Maczka to remember that the future prosperity of Richardson will be determined more by the positive efforts of investors like Pillar Commercial than by the complaints "intense questions" of people eating barbecue.