Initially named
Hackberry Creek Ranch, the land that gave rise to Las Colinas was first owned by businessman
John W. Carpenter. His wife Flossie Gardner Carpenter renamed it
El Ranchito de las Colinas ("the Little Ranch of the Hills"); his son,
cattle ranching millionaire Ben H. Carpenter developed the former ranch in 1972. It was one of the first
planned communities in the United States and was once the largest mixed-use development in the South, with a land area of more than . Urban planners were consulted to lay out the entire town, an undertaking that predated later projects in
Plano,
Allen, and other Dallas suburbs. During the 1980s building boom, Las Colinas became a popular location for relocating companies and office developers, attracting many corporations, including the global headquarters of four
Fortune 500 companies and offices of more than 30 others, such as
ExxonMobil, GTE Telephone (now
Verizon),
Kimberly-Clark and
Associates Corp. In 1985, the first sign of financial trouble appeared at Las Colinas after a real estate market crash. However, another of office space was built in the late 1990s boom.
Recent With of office space, nearly equivalent to the Dallas CBD, Las Colinas is home to more than 2,000 companies, including the Fortune 500 global headquarters for
Caterpillar Inc.,
Commercial Metals,
ExxonMobil,
Fluor, Celanese and
Kimberly-Clark. Other companies with headquarters in Las Colinas include
Mission Foods,
Trend Micro and
La Quinta Inns and Suites. In 1999. La Quinta announced it would move its headquarters from
San Antonio, It is also the home to
The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show and ESPN Dallas.
FOX News also tapes from the FOX News Texas Studios in Las Colinas. Other companies and organizations with headquarters or major offices in Las Colinas include
Abbott Laboratories,
Accenture,
AAA-Texas,
AT&T,
BlackBerry, The
Big 12 Conference and
Conference USA Headquarters,
TheBlaze,
Boy Scouts of America,
Citigroup, Cortland Partners, First Choice Power,
Christus Health,
Flowserve,
General Motors Financial,
Tenaska,
Infor,
Microsoft,
NEC America,
Nexstar Media Group,
Nokia,
Nokia Siemens Networks,
Oracle,
Paycom,
PLH Group, PNM Resources, Inc.,
Stellar, TRT Holdings, Inc.,
Verizon, Vizient, Inc.,
Westwood One, and
Zale Corporation. In 2008
TXU Energy moved offices into the former
TM Advertising headquarters in Las Colinas. Las Colinas also features three private country clubs, including the Las Colinas Country Club owned by
ClubCorp, Hackberry Creek Country Club and four championship golf courses surrounded by gated communities. The
TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas Resort has hosted the
HP Byron Nelson Championship of
PGA Tour since it opened in 1986. It features tree-lined fairways, large greens and a number of creeks and ponds. However, as the Four Seasons works to develop a high rise in Uptown, it will cease operations at the course, and the TPC will come under new hotel and course management by the end of 2022. It also contains high-rise office towers, retail centers, upscale residences, apartment complexes, and leisure facilities. Notable attractions include the
Mustangs at Las Colinas sculpture and fountain and Las Colinas Flower Clock. The Mustangs of Las Colinas are featured in the courtyard of the Towers at Williams Square, where another ClubCorp Property, La Cima Club, is located. The complex also features a
River Walk-styled canal offering gondola cruises, as well as the above-ground
Las Colinas APT System. Las Colinas has over of office space, of retail, and 3,400 single-family homes. A tract in Las Colinas is also home to the
Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas.
Glenn Beck's independent news and entertainment television network,
TheBlaze, has its largest studio complex based in Las Colinas. The live music venue, originally known as the Irving Music Factory, was renamed the
Toyota Music Factory and opened in September 2017. Additionally, the Live Nation concert venue, The Pavilion, was renamed The Pavilion at
Toyota Music Factory, and the VIP Lounge was renamed the Toyota Lounge. The grounds of the Toyota Music Factory feature in total approximately 16 restaurants and bars. In January 2022, ExxonMobil stated that it was consolidating and restructuring certain elements of its business, the most prominent being the consolidation of its chemical and refinery sectors. ExxonMobil additionally formalized the creation of a new low-carbon sector, which will handle the company's biofuel and carbon capture ventures. Concurrently, the company announced it would be closing its headquarters in Las Colinas, and moving to its recently opened campus in the
Houston suburb of
Spring. The company released its 2021 Q4 Earnings early the next day on February 1, recording a 3-month profit of $8.9 Billion USD, jumping over 80%. ExxonMobil that day additionally announced that both its total debt was now around pre-pandemic levels, and it would begin buying back some of its shares. ==Geography==