Old buildings meeting new demand

JUAN GARCIA/DMN

Koll Development's John Brownlee (left) and Steve Van Amburgh are working to convert a former EDS building into new office space.

Steve Van Amburgh is in the middle of the ultimate recycling job.

His Koll Development Co. is turning more than 1 million square feet of former corporate space in Plano into a multi-tenant office campus.

"It took us three months just to figure out what we were going to do," said Mr. Van Amburgh, whose company bought the Plano buildings last year from EDS. "We've been surprised how much interest there is in the space now that we've begun the remodeling."

Finding new uses for surplus corporate office and commercial space is a challenge for developers. But in projects all over North Texas, builders are revamping business facilities to meet new market demand.