New owners who are redoing an old Irving office campus are opening the project this month.
Coppell-based Varidesk is remodeling the former Zale Corp. headquarters on State Highway 114 in Las Colinas. And the company has acquired another building in Southlake.
Varidesk bought the three-building Zale campus in Las Colinas in January. In June, it announced that it had signed 65,000 square feet in leases with office tenants RumbleOn and Akili. The two deals take the 305,000-square-foot property to 22% leased.
Varidesk is marketing the revamped property as flexible office space called Varispace.
The business complex, which was built in the 1980s, has one of the largest blocks of empty office space in Las Colinas.
"Companies are seeking both long- and short-term lease flexibility and a simple alternative to buying furniture and funding tenant improvement overages," Jason McCann, co-founder and CEO of Varidesk, said in a statement. "We've worked with tens of thousands of companies to create workspaces that attract and retain the people they need to grow their businesses, and we've learned a lot.
"We're bringing that expertise to buildings and tenants to redefine the future of office space."
Upgrades to the project include a 7,000-square-foot café, 1-acre outdoor courtyard area, a 200-seat training and conference center and a 10,000-square-foot fitness center.
Dallas architect Corgan did the redesign of the buildings.
Varidesk is working on another 200,000-square-foot office lease that would take the project to 90% leased, but the owner won't release details of that transaction.
"New office leasing activity is far exceeding our expectations," said Johnny Johnson, executive managing director of Cushman & Wakefield. "Our offering at Varispace Las Colinas is meeting a unique need for vibrant, fast-growing companies desiring a flexible office solution in a quality environment."
Johnson and Cushman & Wakefield's Chris Taylor are leasing the project.
The former Zales headquarters was left empty after the jewelry retailer moved its main office to a new building in the Cypress Waters development in 2018.
At one time, the offices housed almost 3,000 Zales workers.
Varidesk officials say that they have also acquired the Vista building in the Solana business park on State Highway 114 in Southlake for another VariSpace location. The 380,000-square-foot building is at 1 Kirkwood Blvd.
