Gardere Moves to New Dallas Office as Largest Tenant at McKinney & Olive
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, one of the most venerable law firms in Dallas, has moved to one of the city’s most iconic new buildings, McKinney & Olive, located in the vibrant heart of Uptown Dallas. The Firm is the building’s anchor tenant, occupying 115,000 square feet across four floors.
The office houses Gardere’s 287 Dallas-based attorneys and legal professionals. With the interior design guided by acclaimed design firm Gensler, the light-filled, state-of-the-art interior spaces reflect the Firm’s emphasis on innovation and collaboration.
“Our new home was conceived almost four years ago to reflect the dynamic evolution of our 100+ year old Firm,” says Holland N. O’Neil, Chair of the Board of Directors. “The excitement about our new Dallas office is infectious. It is an ideal environment for our lawyers and our staff to thrive and is an inviting space for our clients.”
Natural light permeates the entire office. The work areas – featuring a combination of pods, counter-height tables, both dedicated and flex space, as well as individual offices with glass walls – are all designed to maximize easy, open communication. Practice areas are clustered to facilitate collaboration. Conference rooms can be adjusted for larger or smaller meetings with demountable walls.
Gardere is capitalizing on myriad efficiencies with this move. Archives are now stored electronically, so the Firm can allocate more space for multi-purpose meeting rooms instead of extensive onsite storage capabilities. The legal library, a long-time fixture of law offices, is similarly evolving into a digital library that is virtually accessible.
Kevin L. Kelley, partner and chair of Gardere’s real estate practice group, led the Firm’s space planning committee and worked closely with its real estate brokers, Jeff Ellerman and Phil Puckett with CBRE, to select the space and negotiate the long-term lease. “McKinney & Olive represents the very best Dallas has to offer, and at the same time allows us to take a quantum leap in terms of efficient use of space and incorporation of technology, after having been in the same building for over 25 years,” says Mr. Kelley.