| Notes |
Two years ago, Kneeland Youngblood, founder of a successful private-equity firm in Dallas, called his longtime friend Harlan Crow and told him that he wanted to integrate Old Parkland.
The 62-year-old chairman of Pharos Capital Group and the first black member of the Dallas Country Club was being lighthearted but also serious.
Old Parkland was once the home of Dallas’ first public hospital. Now it’s joined The Crescent as an address of choice for power players in Big D’s quiet-money world of finance and private investments.
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“This is where the action is,” Youngblood says in his suite of offices. “It’s important to be in the room, to have a voice and a presence.”
Youngblood had never stepped foot on the property when he made his call to Crow.
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All he knew was that many business people at The Crescent — where he’d had his offices for 15 years — had moved into the repurposed medical complex at Maple and Oak Lawn avenues.
Old Parkland was fully leased, but Crow immediately moved Youngblood to the top of his waiting list.
“Kneeland’s a terrific guy,” says the 67-year-old chairman of Crow Holdings. “So when he said he was interested in coming here, I was thrilled.”
Kneeland Youngblood (left), managing partner at Pharos Capitol Group, and Harlan Crow, chairman of Crow Holdings, pose in the Debate Chamber at Old Parkland.
Kneeland Youngblood (left), managing partner at Pharos Capitol Group, and Harlan Crow, chairman of Crow Holdings, pose in the Debate Chamber at Old Parkland. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
A few months later, Youngblood was happily ensconced in a prime office suite that had become available when the previous tenant died before he could occupy it.
Youngblood didn’t ask what the rent would be.
“I frankly didn’t care,” he says. “I knew I had to be here. I considered it an investment that would pay dividends. And it has.”
If you drive along the Dallas North Tollway, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the Jeffersonesque red-brick, columned buildings — one with a huge copper dome — going up one after another.
The landmark complex currently consists of two converted historic medical buildings and seven office buildings built since 2011. The 10th and final building is under construction and is nearly fully leased. |