Huckabee firm is moving to new digs

March 4,2015

After years of having its offices on Hulen Street in southwest Fort Worth, Huckabee architecture and engineering firm will move to downtown this summer.

CEO Christopher Huckabee said the 48-year-old company, which primarily designs and builds educational buildings, is looking forward to the change. Huckabee has leased the fifth and sixth floors in Burnett Plaza at 801 Cherry St. and expects to move by July 1.

The firm was founded in 1967 by Huckabee’s father in Lubbock. When Christopher Huckabee graduated from Texas Tech in 1991, he joined his father but then bought the then-30-employee firm and moved it to Fort Worth. Today, the firm also has offices in Dallas, Waco, Austin and Houston and a project office in Mansfield.

Huckabee has 150 employees in its Fort Worth office and about 200 companywide.

Huckabee started in the Frost Bank Building on Hulen and in 2001 bought the Executive Place building at 4521 S. Hulen St. from renowned pianist Van Cliburn. In 2008, Huckabee sold the building but continued to lease space.

“We take up most of the building now,” Huckabee said. “We’re busting at the seams. We’ve grown into every nook and cranny.”

The firm will have about 50,000 square feet at Burnett Plaza, about 15,000 square feet more than it has now, Huckabee said.

He said that for a year, the firm studied several options before deciding on Burnett Plaza and that employees were involved along the way. The new space will feature desks that will allow employees to sit or stand, video conferencing capabilities and a full-time barista in the lobby, among other things.

For employees, it is especially important to have offices where they can walk to restaurants for lunch and after work, Huckabee said.

Pat McDowell, a broker with Jones Lang LaSalle, represented Huckabee. Jack Clark with Red Oak Realty represented the landlord.