Tenet Healthcare, one of only a handful of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in downtown Dallas, is headed to the suburbs with a huge office lease on the Dallas North Tollway.

The health care firm has rented almost 400,000 square feet for its headquarters in Farmers Branch in the 13-story International Plaza I building, north of the Dallas Galleria.

Tenet, the third largest investor-owned hospital company in the country, has been the biggest office tenant in downtown Dallas' landmark Fountain Place skyscraper on Ross Avenue. It also has divisions in Frisco and Addison.

Months ago, Tenet began looking for locations where it could consolidate its Dallas-area operations as part of a cost-cutting move. Company executives said they were reevaluating office needs as part of a $200 million expense reduction plan.

"We are so pleased to be moving to International Plaza to support our efforts to bring more of our teams together and deepen integration and collaboration," Tenet CEO and executive chairman Ronald A. Rittenmeyer said in a statement.

Tenet is leasing the office tower from New York-based Taconic Capital Advisors, which last year acquired two high-rises in the International Plaza development. The buildings previously housed regional offices for JPMorgan Chase, which have been relocated to Plano's Legacy West development.

Taconic Capital is doing a multimillion-dollar makeover of the International Plaza towers, with renovations expected to be completed late this year. The upgrades include a full service cafeteria, a fitness center and a tenant lounge. The 3-building campus has a promenade and pond and there are plans to construct an outdoor space with seating.

"The new environment being created through the renovations of International Plaza was very important to Tenet Healthcare," Cushman & Wakefield's Chris Taylor said. "Taconic Capital was already well into their renovation planning for the International Plaza campus, and they have been committed since day one with making the significant capital investment to create one of the most unique and interactive office campuses in D-FW."

Tenet Healthcare has been located in downtown's Fountain Place tower for the last decade. (File Photo / Staff)

Taylor negotiated the new lease along with Cushman & Wakefield's Trey Smith, Matt Schendle and Lauren Napper and Moody Younger and Kathy Permenter of Younger Partners.

The Tenet transaction is one of the largest office deals in North Texas this year. It had about 500 employees on nine floors of the 60-story Fountain Place tower in downtown Dallas.

The company operates 65 hospitals and 160 outpatient centers in nine states. It also runs 330 ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care centers, imaging centers and surgical hospitals.

Tenet moved its headquarters from near the Galleria to downtown in 2009. The company still has about five years left on its lease in the 1.2 million square foot Fountain Place, which is undergoing a major renovation.