Dallas should offer tax abatements as an incentive for more companies to construct or retrofit buildings to be more efficient and eco-friendly, real estate developer Ross Perot Jr. suggested Thursday at the Greater Dallas Chamber’s Public Sector Design and Construction Forum.
One Victory Park tower, which is being developed in Dallas’ Uptown area by Mr. Perot’s Hillwood Development, is seeking certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. Hillwood’s long–term goal is for all of its new projects to be LEED certified, Mr. Perot said.
Mr. Perot said public transit and many urban development projects in the Dallas area will attract more companies seeking to relocate to lower their costs.
For example, Mr. Perot said Hillwood’s AllianceTexas inland port in Fort Worth is starting to see more corporate campus activity. “We hope to get a campus or two at Alliance in 2008,” he said.
AllianceTexas spokesman David Pelletier said the company is talking to two prospects about a corporate campus there.
Mr. Perot also said he supports an idea proposed a few years ago by Dallas businessman and longtime transit supporter Walt Humann to link mass transit across North Texas with a regional sales tax increase.