Bell signs lease at former American Airlines Credit Union building

Bell Commercial Business Center courtesy Transwestern

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company and leading American aerospace manufacturer, has signed a long-term, 109,187-square-foot lease for the entire Class A, four-story building at 4151 Amon Carter Blvd. in Fort Worth, the former headquarters of American Airlines Federal Credit Union.

Transwestern Real Estate Services (TRS) announced the deal Dec. 1. Transwestern’s Duane Henley and Nathan Durham provide leasing services on behalf the building ownership, Capital Commercial Investments, while property management is led by Transwestern’s Becky Dennis.

Bell increased its office footprint to accommodate its growing operations throughout the DFW region. The opening of the Bell Commercial Business Center (CBC) will house approximately 600 employees including all Commercial Programs, Global Sales, Customer Support and Services as well as supporting business functions, Supply Chain, Information Technology, Human Resources and Finance personnel.

In August, Bell unveiled a new 140,000-square-foot Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) in Fort Worth. Since establishing a footprint in North Texas in 1951, Bell’s facilities have been a hub for new technology in aviation.

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Earlier this year, Transwestern executed the sale of the three-building, 1.39 million-square-foot office campus that previously served as the world headquarters for American Airlines to Austin-based Capital Commercial Investments, which specializes in purchasing undervalued commercial investment properties throughout the United States. The lease by Bell is the first major lease since the sale of the campus. The 40-acre site still includes 6.33 acres of undeveloped land and leasing opportunities for 4333 and 4255 Amon Carter Blvd.

Situated 17 miles between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, 4151 Amon Carter benefits from access to the seven major freeways connecting all regions of the DFW metroplex, DFW International Airport and the Centreport submarket, where the property is located. One of 4151 Amon Carter’s most important attributes is its proximity to the Centreport Railway Station and the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) commuter train.

Capital Commercial Investments renovated the campus entrance lobbies, built out model suites and common areas, and upgraded existing lighting to enhance the tenant experience. The buildings feature irregular dodecagon-shaped floorplates with four wings of office space affording an unrivaled 12 sides of glass windows. Additionally, the property has an underground pedestrian tunnel connecting all three buildings.

“The Mid-Cities submarkets have maintained very low vacancy rates of 6.3% before American Airlines vacated the campus last year,” said Transwestern Research Manager Andrew Matheny. “A central location allows tenants to draw from a labor pool of over 1.1 million educated workers that live anywhere from the Dallas urban core to affluent Tarrant County suburbs like Grapevine and Westlake.”

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According to Transwestern’s Third-Quarter Office Market Report, employment in office-using industries is now flat year over year, after continued hiring in professional services and finance has netted out remaining declines in administrative services and information.

Todd Burnette and Matt Montague with JLL represented Bell Textron in the transaction.