Kubota HQ Moves to Grapevine, Texas

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Kubota Tractor Corp.’s relocation from California to the Lone Star State moves forward as the company prepares to break ground on its  new 193,000-square-foot headquarters in Grapevine, Texas.

Bob Farley, City of Grapevine

It’s a long way from California to Texas, but it will be a good trip for Kubota.  “Kubota has an awful lot of growth plans and a lot of it involves states at the center of the U.S., so the location made a lot of business sense,” Bob Farley, director of economic development with the City of Grapevine, told Commercial Property Executive.

The company’s finance business, Kubota Credit Corp., will also make the move to Grapevine. Kubota looked at other centrally located states that would put it closer to its top markets and manufacturing and distribution facilities in Georgia and Kansas, but it was the Grapevine location that stood out–for a few reasons.

“It’s a good strategic fit based on the proximity to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, the location at the center of their market and the fact that the City of Grapevine does own the property they’re located on, so we have the ability to work with them to customize the land; they can negotiate directly with us,” Farley noted. “Also, Grapevine started out as an agrarian community, and some of that appealed to Kubota.”

Grapevine is roughly 25 miles northwest of Dallas, so existing Class A office space is certainly available in the area, but Kubota had other ideas.

“Constructing our own facility from the ground up allows us to build to our exact specifications, enabling us to fully accommodate our needs now and into the future,” David Sutton, president, Kubota Credit, told CPE. “We intend to establish roots for long-term growth, and this new state-of-art facility will allow us to incorporate structural installations and technological innovations to run our business more efficiently.”

Designed by Corgan Architects, Kubota’s new home will consist of a three-story, 125,000-square-foot office building and a 68,000-square-foot research and development facility. The headquarters will sit on 27 acres of the city’s 184-acre property. “I know everybody says it about their site,” Farley acknowledged, “but this is a really nice site.” He notes that the creek running through the property, for example, will help create a corporate campus that is appealing inside and out.

Kubota’s new environmentally-friendly, cutting-edge digs will accommodate 400 employees, but that’s just for starters, as the location provides Kubota the opportunity to expand and create more elbowroom. Kubota, City officials and others involved with the headquarters development will gather for a private groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 20. Construction is on target to reach completion in the first quarter of 2017, with commercial real estate services firm CBRE Inc. aboard as project manager.

And eventually, Kubota will have neighbors at the sprawling development site, which the city acquired in 2013.

“We have some early-stage master plans. Additional corporate use might make some sense but there will probably be a mix of uses,” Farley said.

Already, there’s another multinational company that is eyeing the 50-acre parcel just north of the creek.