Build-to-suit (BTS) commercial sites are popular across Texas as developers seek to compete in an increasingly tight real estate market. With high demand in suburban, master-planned communities like The Woodlands, BTS developers offer tenants an attractive, long-term leasing option while retaining significant input into design and construction features. Premier locations help employers attract top talent with ideal communities that combine top-tier housing, education, shopping and entertainment venues convenient to their workplaces.

Working with architect PGAL, M2L Associates provided landscape architectural services for the Howard Hughes Corp.-developed, four-story, 180,000-sq-ft BTS project for long-term occupant Alight Solutions, a technology-enabled, workforce solution provider relocating from a nearby complex to gain additional space. The 15-acre site is anchored by a lovely lake and center fountain surrounded by natural plantings and ornamental grasses that complement the strict, master-planned environmental elements showcased in The Woodlands.

To that end, the landscape design focuses on site preservation and restoration, incorporating native plantings that are characteristic of the region. The existing pond was expanded and enhanced with the addition of wetlands and shore grasses. A winding aggregate trail surrounds the wetlands pond and the preserved and restored forest area, enhancing the views and providing outdoor recreational opportunities for building tenants. Additionally, Alight required significant parking  — nearly 800 spaces — unusual for a building of this size. To address this need, the architects designed a multi-level parking garage that features landscaping around its perimeter, with native plantings that will grow and gradually integrate the structure into the surrounding landscape.