Texas Job Coup

Plano poaches Toyota marketing headquarters from Southern California

Toyota is leaving Southern California for suburban Dallas in a move that will bring an estimated 5,000 sales and marketing jobs to Plano. The plan has not been officially confirmed by Toyota, though sources familiar with the automaker have already leaked the news to a number of media outlets.

The move is expected to begin in August and will create a new North American headquarters for the Japanese automaker, which already boasts an assembly plant in San Antonio. Reuters reports that Toyota hopes to completely move operations from Torrance, California, to Plano by the end of 2016.

Although it isn't clear if Texas Gov. Rick Perry had any direct influence on Toyota's decision to relocate, Perry has been campaigning for California businesses to move to Texas for years. He claims more than 50 Golden State companies have made plans to move to Texas since his efforts began.

According to the real estate website Trulia.com, the Lone Star State is the most popular destination for defecting Californians, with 183 residents moving to Texas for every 100 Texans who went west. Sure, sunny CA has the mountains and miles and miles of white sand beaches, but Texas' value is more quantifiable.

In addition to having a lower unemployment rate (6.1 percent compared to 9.8 percent) and a lower tax burden (9 percent compared to 11 percent), Texas homes are much cheaper than comparable casas in California. In 2012, the median home price per square foot in California was $229; the same piece of dirt in Texas would cost $84 per square foot.

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Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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