After two decades in Frisco, real estate developer Rex Glendenning is relocating his company’s headquarters to his hometown of Celina. He confirmed the relocation to D CEO, which was initially reported by the Dallas Business Journal.
Glendenning and his firm, REX Real Estate, are responsible for a number of landmark transactions that resulted in significant developments in the region, including The Star in Frisco, Granite Park in Plano, the Gates of Prosper, Legacy Hills in Celina, and Trophy Club.
Glendenning informed D CEO that now is the ideal moment to develop new headquarters up north due to a number of variables. One factor is the Dallas North Tollway’s northward growth.
Construction is underway to extend the main lanes from U.S. 380 in Prosper to Glendenning Parkway in Celina, which is named for his family. While the public documentation state that the project would be completed in spring 2028, Glendenning expects it to be completed closer to late 2027.
“So if we design our building, and it takes six or seven months, and then it takes 18 months to build, I would think you’d be looking at about the fall of 2027 when we would theoretically, hopefully be moving into our new building,” Glendenning, CEO of D, stated.
In addition to the $460 million spent on tollway main lanes, Glendenning notes that the state has budgeted $42.4 million to repair Preston Road within Celina city limits between 2026 and 2029.
“I think that connectivity and that access will allow us to bring the users that I’ve always wanted to bring up—like what I’ve been able to do through the years in Frisco,” Glendenning told the crowd. He cites The Star project as an example, which has since attracted lessors including TIAA and Keurig Dr Pepper.
There are other forces influencing the move as well. This year, REX Real Estate broke construction on The Shawnee Trail, a 166-acre mixed-use complex anchored by Walmart near the northwest corner of Preston Road and the Collin County Outer Loop.
King Place, a 600-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the Dallas North Tollway and Celina Parkway, is also being planned.
Glendenning stated that the latter project is where he is “leaning” toward locating his company’s future headquarters. Currently, the company is undertaking an RFP process.
“We tried to select the top six to eight architectural firms in both our area as well as out of the state, to make presentations to us next month,” Glendenning told D’s chief executive officer. “Then we’re going to—in a ‘beauty pageant’ kind of way—pick a winner and move forward with designing.”
Visions for Mass Timber
With the recent success of Crow Holdings’ Southstone Yards office complex in Frisco, Glendenning is seriously considering the mass timber trend for his next headquarters.
With some architectural companies having a stronger track record with mass timber, Glendenning believes his company will utilize one firm for office development and another for retail. “I don’t intend for our project to be the guinea pig for an architectural firm that has never done one of these before,” according to him.
Whatever the business decides on, it will most certainly be smaller than the 200,000-square-foot Southstone Yards facility that Toyota Financial Services fully leased earlier this year.
Glendenning envisions the new office structure as an extension of the natural resources currently used in the King Place development, which includes Leuders Limestone, agave cactus, and other indigenous species.
“Having the wood and the timber component brought into the structure, to me, gives it a warmer and more inviting feeling,” Glendenning pointed out. “I believe it will be more timeless to integrate that into the overall project.”
Big Picture
Glendenning’s family relocated to Celina from Scotland in 1887. Glendenning’s longhorns have been a pillar of Celina’s culture for four decades, helping the little town keep its rural charm despite tremendous growth.
Glendenning considers bringing his work back to his hometown a full circle moment. He explained that the transfer is intended to be a legacy initiative for both his company and his family.
“In my business, we deal with a lot of merchant builders that want to buy a piece of property, and they want to put some development on it as fast as possible, and then they want to monetize it and sell it on a cap rate,” he told me.
“And they may only possess it for a year or a year and a half—which is also OK. That is what drives the real estate industry forward.
“But we’re thinking of this in a much different mindset,” he told me, “maybe a higher quality, a little slower path, and to make it more of a legacy-type asset that hopefully I can pass along to my children and grandchildren.”
He cites pioneers like Craig Hall, who founded an office park in Frisco long before the city became a boomtown. Glendenning expects that his personal transfer will be viewed as a pioneering venture. “I’d rather be the first to the party than the last,” he told me.
