Koll Heads East to Seek Texas Deals

For years, Texas developers fanned out over the rest of the country, at first flush with success from building Texas-size projects in the state’s big cities and later--after the crash in oil prices--looking for markets with sound local economies.

Now Koll Co., a big Newport Beach developer, is heading in the other direction. Koll said Wednesday that it was opening a Texas division in Dallas and named Lucien B. Crosland, formerly chairman of Dallas’ Crosland Investment Properties, as president of the division.

Expects Rebound

The office will probably start with a couple dozen people, a spokesman said, and grow from there.

Koll said it wanted to get in on the ground floor when the Texas economy rebounds, which the company said it anticipates soon.

The company said it would be seeking to buy offices, factories, warehouses, shopping centers and apartment complexes, many of which have been selling at dirt-cheap prices since the Texas economy crashed in the early 1980s. It won’t be doing any development or construction at first.

Crosland’s old company will continue to buy and develop property under the Crosland name in the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions.

Most of Koll’s operations are on the West Coast, and Texas will be the furthest east the company has put an office.