DALLAS – (By Dale King, Realty News Report) – As remote work gains prominence during the coronavirus era, Integrity Marketing Group, a leading independent distributor of life and health insurance products, is opening a new downtown Dallas headquarters designed to foster collaboration and innovation.
Integrity Marketing Group has started relocating its corporate headquarters—renamed a “shared service center”—to the 58-story Fountain Place tower in Dallas’s Arts District. The company will also move hundreds of highly skilled professionals from its suburban Coppell offices into the downtown high-rise.
The company will initially occupy six floors, approximately 100,000 square feet, of the iconic Dallas tower. “We are now there in a temporary capacity as we build out the rest of the floors,” said Bryan W. Adams, co-founder and CEO of Integrity. “We will be in by next spring.”
Adams emphasized that the office design is intended to encourage employees to collaborate on new ideas and improve customer service. “Integrity is an insurtech company powered by highly skilled people who work better when they can collaborate and innovate together in person,” he said.
“Now is an important time to provide our teams with a dynamic office environment that reflects our focus on innovation, our commitment to employees, and the changes we’re driving in the industry,” Adams added. “We are thrilled to begin the next chapter of our journey together in downtown Dallas.”
Architecture by I.M. Pei, Harry Cobb, Dan Kiley
The renovated glass-prism building was designed by noted architects I.M. Pei, Harry Cobb and landscape architect Dan Kiley. Integrity’s move will bring hundreds of specialized professionals downtown, with plans to accommodate the company’s continued rapid expansion.
Adams noted that the decision runs counter to a recent trend of tech companies leaving urban centers for the suburbs or reducing office footprints in response to COVID-19. “As market leaders in our industry, we have been experiencing tremendous growth,” he said. “Even with the pandemic, Integrity grew more than 110 percent in 2020 and we are focused on continued expansion. Fountain Place offers world-class space for us to continue to grow and thrive.”
He also confirmed that Integrity maintains a process for employees who want to work remotely, while adding that the majority of staff are eager to return to the collaborative environment of an office.
Vice President of People & Culture: “A Vertical Campus”
Rachelle McReynolds, vice president of People & Culture and CHRO at Integrity, described the new location as a “one-of-a-kind vertical campus” that will support collaboration and celebration within an architecturally distinctive setting, offering robust employee amenities and conveniences.
CBRE brokers represented both sides of the transaction: Josh White and Ryan Buchanan represented Integrity, while Fletcher Cordell, Dennis Barnes and Jackie Marshall represented Fountain Place owner Goddard Investment Group. The architectural firm Corgan was chosen to design a custom office space aligned with Integrity’s culture and growth.
The First Big Suburban-to-Downtown Move
Josh White, executive vice president at CBRE, said this relocation marks a notable shift: “This is the first deal of this size moving from a suburban location into downtown Dallas, when the trend has been the reverse over the past decade. We are excited to help Integrity find a new and iconic home at Fountain Place where they can further develop their business and enhance their reputation as the market leader in their industry.”
Goddard’s $75 Million Redo
Goddard Investment Group completed a $75 million renovation of Fountain Place that included a 10-story parking garage, retail and restaurant space, and a tenant lounge and conference center. The redesign restores Pei’s original vision by opening the lobby to the exterior plaza and the fountains, honoring Dan Kiley’s landscape design. The tower shares the plaza with AMLI Fountain Place, a 45-story residential tower that opened recently.
Adams said Integrity’s previous suburban offices were too small given the company’s projected growth. Together with Chief Financial Officer Steven Sigrist, he noted that the company conducted an exhaustive search across the Dallas–Fort Worth region before selecting Fountain Place.
“After an exhaustive review of real estate options across the DFW metroplex, we found downtown Dallas not only provided us with attractive economics, but also a location that can accommodate our growth and expansion needs,” Sigrist said. “The concentration of talented professionals living near downtown was also an important factor.”
How to Grow Fast in a Pandemic
Integrity has experienced rapid growth, expanding to more than 100 platform partner offices nationwide. Since the start of 2021, the company’s workforce has swelled from roughly 1,700 to nearly 5,500 employees.
Despite the pandemic, Integrity acquired 40 agencies across the United States in the prior year and aimed to double that number in 2021. The firm uses proprietary technology and data analytics to simplify and streamline the healthcare and insurance experience for agents and consumers.
Integrity partners with more than 450 insurance carriers and develops exclusive products to meet diverse consumer needs. Its network of 370,000 agents serves more than eight million clients, and the company anticipates generating over $7 billion in sales this year.
Adams said moving into “the most iconic building in Dallas” will provide the space and capacity Integrity needs to serve more agents and consumers and to expand partner support services. “Bringing our talented employees to this inspiring landmark will not only allow us to expand our teams and partner support services, but also enhance our ability to transform the industry,” he said.
June 23, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
For more about Texas real estate, check out the book Houston 2020: America’s Boom Town – An Extreme Close Up by Ralph Bivins.
Image Courtesy Integrity
File: Leaving Burbs for Downtown