Stream in the News

12:00 AM CDT on Friday, August 24, 2007

With its odd mix of Victorian architecture and high-tech internal systems, Dallas' Infomart has long been a building out of sync with its times.

The Infomart celebrated its 13th anniversary in 1998 by lighting the exterior. The seven-story building was inspired by London's 19th-century Crystal Palace.

Built in the 1980s to showcase the latest in computer gear, the Stemmons Freeway landmark for a long time was considered a huge silver and white elephant.

The computer and electronic firms that were supposed to be tenants in the seven-story, 1.2 million-square-foot behemoth never took to the notion of a regional trade mart.

Later plans to convert the building - patterned after London's 19th-century Crystal Palace - into a data center got off to a slow start. But a California investor who gambled on the one-of-a-kind building has finally wound up with a winner.

DCI Technology acquired the Infomart early last year through foreclosure. And with the recent signing of some big leases, the building is - maybe for the first time ever - practically full.

"It's 98 percent-plus leased," said DCI Technology managing partner Daniel Schryer.

Recent major rentals by Bank of America and Stream Energy have pushed occupancy to near the top at the Infomart.

Stream added 150,000 square feet to its office in the building. And Bank of America has leased 360,000 square feet for a consolidation of operations now located downtown and elsewhere.

After spending more than $100 million on the project, Mr. Schryer is understandably pleased about how things have turned out with his big Dallas deal.

"When we first bought the thing, it could have gone either way," he said.

"We paid a lot, and it was almost 40 percent vacant."

Other potential buyers looked at the Infomart as a pure data center purchase, but Mr. Schryer said he and his partners "never thought that way."

Instead, they sought tenants who needed office space and required the building's high-tech systems and ample parking.

The location just north of Dallas' Victory project and near the entrance to the Dallas North Tollway has also been a plus.

"It's a good real estate story," Mr. Schryer said. "The building has done very well."