Atmos Energy Corporation Donates Downtown Dallas Harwood Complex For Central Business District Revitalization.

DALLAS -- Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO), the country's largest pure natural gas utility, said it is donating a 2.6-acre downtown Dallas tract, containing five buildings having 401,300 gross square feet of floor space, for the city's revitalization efforts of the central business district.

The property, bounded by Harwood, Wood, St. Paul and Jackson Streets, was the headquarters for TXU Gas Company and its predecessor, Lone Star Gas Company. The buildings were constructed over a 55-year period beginning in 1924. A landmark of the complex is the Art-Deco-style Lone Star Gas Company Building at 301 S. Harwood, completed in 1931.

At a news conference Wednesday at City Hall, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and members of the City Council announced the gift from Atmos Energy. The mayor said the Harwood complex will be a significant addition to the downtown revitalization effort.

"We are honored to contribute this property to support the City of Dallas in its downtown revitalization plans," said Robert W. Best, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Atmos Energy Corporation. "This gift reflects Atmos Energy's commitment to the economic development and betterment of the communities we serve."

Atmos Energy acquired the Harwood complex as part of its purchase of the gas distribution and intrastate pipeline operations of TXU Gas on Oct. 1, 2004. Atmos Energy delivers natural gas to approximately 1.5 million utility customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and the 550 other Texas communities formerly served by TXU Gas. It also serves 310,000 customers in West Texas and operates one of the state's largest intrastate natural gas pipelines.

"These buildings were constructed as a corporate headquarters for a different era," Best said. "They accommodated levels of management and a workforce more than twice the size of the staff we employ in Dallas," he said.

"Atmos Energy has had virtually the same size corporate staff in the same corporate offices in Dallas for the past 19 years," Best said. "Using advanced information and telecommunications technologies, we have become one of the most efficient leaders in the utility industry.

"Therefore, we concluded it would be inefficient for us to relocate our offices and to maintain the Harwood complex when the property can be better used to support Dallas' future growth," he said. "Redeveloping this area of downtown with new residential, multi-family, retail, offices and parks can expand the local tax base and stimulate further development programs."

The Harwood complex contains

--the original gas company building at 1915 Wood Street designed by Lang & Witchell, one of Dallas' most distinguished architectural firms. Originally constructed in 1924, it was expanded later to 10 floors with 66,272 square feet.

--the 13-story Lone Star Gas Company Building at 301 S. Harwood, having 86,586 square feet. Also designed by Lang & Witchell, it was completed in 1931 and represented one of the city's best examples of Art Deco style.

--a 10,875 square foot storage building at 1801 Young Street, constructed in 1952.

--an eight-story, 114,790-square-foot annex constructed in 1966 at 1815 Wood Street, known as the West building.

--the 12-story Enserch Plaza building, having 122,777 square feet at 1900 Jackson Street. It was built in 1979 as the corporate headquarters of Enserch Corporation, parent company at that time of Lone Star Gas.

The tract is located within the Harwood Historic District, a commercial center on the east end of downtown Dallas. The district contains a range of commercial architectural styles from the 1880s to the 1950s, including Italianate, Beaux-arts, Sullivanesque, Neo-classical Revival, Renaissance Revival, Art Moderne and Art Deco. A number of structures in the district are listed as Texas Archaeological Landmarks or on the National Register of Historic Places.

During the 1920s, the Film Exchange Building stood directly across from the Lone Star Gas building. Built in 1923, it housed the local offices of Metro Pictures, United Artists and other studios. The location became well known as "Film Row" because of the theatrical producers, booking agents and theatrical-equipment suppliers that were located along Harwood Street.

"Dallas developed from its frontier roots to a true city in this area," said Dr. Michael V. Hazel, a city historian and university professor. "Many major institutions of culture, government, religion and commerce located in this area of the city during the 1910s and 1920s and formed the heart of the business district by the 1930s."

Atmos Energy Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, is the largest natural-gas-only distributor in the United States, serving about 3.2 million utility customers. Atmos Energy's utility operations serve more than 1,500 communities in 12 states from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the East to the Rocky Mountains in the West. Atmos Energy's nonutility operations, organized under Atmos Energy Holdings, Inc., operate in 18 states. They provide natural gas marketing and procurement services to industrial, commercial and municipal customers and manage company-owned natural gas storage and pipeline assets, including one of the largest intrastate natural gas pipelines in Texas. For more information, visit www.atmosenergy.com.