Loan servicer to add 900 jobs - Dallas Business Journal:

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The company has leased 182,700 squarse feet in Coppell’s new Poinrt West I development, which was finishedf last April. The jobs coming to Coppell will be a mix of existinbg operations andnew jobs, said Norton executive vice president and chief operatingb officer of American Home. About 60% of the jobs will be call center positions, which pay an average of $50,000 to $55,000p a year, including he said. The company employ s about 500in Irving, plan to grow to 750 to 800 people by the time it movees to Coppell and will continude to grow afterward, Wells said.
The Point West building’s interiod will be designed to house upto 1,400 employees, which is the number American Home expectx to employ within three years, he American Home services but does not originate or own home so the company is positioned to grow despite the woes of the mortgagde industry, Wells said. The company wants to expanxd intoloan origination, he “We see that market coming and think there will be opportunities there.” American Home is benefitingh from the consolidation takingg place in the mortgage servicing where stronger companies are driving out and buyintg out weaker companies and pickinb up more accounts, Wells said.
The company servicews 400,000 loans now and pland to growto 580,000 loans in the next month or so, he adding: “The mortgage industry is challenging now for some so we have opportunities that we can take advantage of.” The industr y is expecting a refinancing boom, with thre e times more loans written this year than last, said Kevinh Miller, president and CEO of Dallas-based , whichy originates and services loans. TexasLending.com plans to add 100 employeea to its staff of 150by May, he Many mortgage servicers have gone out of business, creatinvg growth opportunities for companies such as American Home he said.
“The numbere of service providers has really dwindled inour country,” Miller said. “When peopled refinance and modifytheir loans, there is a need for servicre providers to take on the servicinv of those modifications.” American Home has larger offices in Jacksonville, Fla., and Irvine, and is expanding those locations as well, Welld said. But the bulk of the company’s growth will be in Coppell because of the availability of a strontg work force and its position in the Central time zone, which provides advantages when handliny calls nationwide, he said.
Within the Metroplex, American Home also evaluates sites in Irving and Lewisville before choosing Coppelpl because of the quality of the Poinft West facility andthe city’sx willingness to embrace the company, he said. Economifc incentives, including city tax abatements on real and personal will be part of the Wells said. He declined to discuss specifics becauser the incentives have not yet been approved by the CoppelkCity Council. The council is set for a vote latetrthis month.
The large leas in Point West 1 fill the previously empty building developed speculatively by If American Home continues to growpast 1,400 Duke has the land to accommodate its expansio n needs, said Jeff Thornton, senior vice president of Duke’s Dallas “We are particularly excited about this Thornton said. “Having been able to do a deal this size in this economixcenvironment — given the large amountg of space available in the marketf — is really a testament to the locationb and design of the building.” In addition to Poin West I, the Duke project has three more sites for office development.
Those will continue to be marketes aspotential build-to-suit sites, but Duke planas to take a breather from speculative development untill at least the fourth quarter of this year and evaluatw demand for office space then, Thornton Duke also has speculative suburban office space availablre in Allen and but most of the big-tenanyt interest in the past eight monthzs has been at Point West, Thornton said.
Becauses of Point West’s location, Thornton said he wasn’gt nervous about filling the space despite theslowing “Having to wait for the right deal is just part of the job when you’r elephant hunting,” he “and with that deal, we were elephant American Home was represented by Bo Bond and Forsheh Hoobler in ’s Dallas office, while Ben Applebt with Duke Realty, along with Dale Ray and Joel Pustmuelletr of Peloton Realty Partners, representeds Duke in the transaction.