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Perot Jr. Says New Museum Has Room to Expand

Glenn Hunter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:42:08 +0000

Does Ross Perot Jr. know something we don’t? Speaking at today’s groundbreaking for the new Museum of Nature & Science at Dallas’ struggling Victory Park, which he helped develop, Perot said, “Mr. Mayor! Where is the mayor?!” before pointing to City Councilmember Dwaine Caraway, sitting in the audience down front. Mayor Pro Tem Caraway (pictured at far left with Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano and Perot) is not quite the mayor yet, but he’ll be well-positioned if Tom Leppert ever steps down to run for the Senate. Leppert, who’s in China, nonetheless made a video appearance at today’s bash for the museum, a $185 million project that got a jump-start when Ross Jr. and his siblings donated $50 million in honor of their parents, Margot and Ross Perot Sr. The 14-story edifice on 4.7 acres can’t hurt the Victory project, which has been attempting lately to attract a better tenant/demographic mix. And, Ross Jr. said, “What people don’t understand is there’s enough room here for the museum to double in size.”

Commercial Realty Honcho: No Recovery Til 2012

Glenn Hunter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:35:12 +0000

About 400 commercial real estate types turned up at the Belo Mansion last night for NTCAR’s annual Stemmons Service Award dinner. That was 150 more than showed up last year. But the bigger turnout may not indicate market optimism, one attendee said, so much as the fact that the brokers had time on their hands and needed something to do. Indeed, bigwig Lee Halford Jr.–who leads a firm founded by the Stemmons family, for whom the prestigious award is named–said the industry is facing rough sledding and won’t fully recover until, gulp, 2012. At the podium, though, Halford tried to buck up the crowd: “If Mr. [John] Stemmons were here tonight, he’d tell all of you to keep on plugging.” The Stemmons firm started in 1928, Halford noted, the year before the big stock market crash, and “it wasn’t until 1946 that anything of significance took place. So perseverance was important.” Then Halford announced this year’s Stemmons winner: Steve Lieberman (pictured) of The Retail Connection.

Southlake Developer: Downtown Dallas Has No Soul

Jason Heid — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:14:13 +0000

Frank Bliss is executive vice president of Cooper & Stebbins, which developed the phenomenally successful Southlake Town Square. Even as large as that project already is — the size of downtown Fort Worth in terms of acreage — Bliss said they’re still only about 35% finished with their vision. In particular, they have more office and residential offerings in mind.

When I asked his thoughts about Downtown Dallas, he was quick to answer: “Downtown Dallas has no soul … Dallas never planned for a soul.”

To reclaim its soul it needs a true center. As do many others, he cites the construction of the tunnels years ago as one major mistake, sucking away the street life.

He thinks the Woodall Rogers Deck Park, along with the Arts District, has a real chance to become the city’s center by uniting what we now think of separately as Downtown and Uptown into one neighborhood. He praised much about Uptown, but criticized Victory Park for not creating any housing for “regular folks.”

Bliss is also skeptical about the prospects for development around Cowboys Stadium. “It’s never been proven,” he says, that sports stadiums jump-start development the way that city leaders hope they will when they vote to fund these buildings with tax dollars. “The people who come here” — he said, referring to the Cowboys Stadium in which we sat — “They aren’t the ones who want to stroll the neighborhood shops and restaurants.”

WSJ Takes a Look at Perot Family, Ctd.

Josh Hixson — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:22:03 +0000

Just wanted to add a little fuel to the fire sale: A little over a week ago it came to our attention that Ross Perot Jr., had likely bought a sizable Highland Park lot that was once the spot of Bum Bright’s home. The land was purchased in June and is valued at $9,388,790 by DCAD. It’s a beautiful piece of land in a gorgeous neighborhood. No signs of construction yet, but I’m guessing that’s only a matter of time now.

Staubach To Property Pros: Keep Your Chins Up

Glenn Hunter — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:16:24 +0000

At a commercial real estate forum hosted here today by Jones Lang LaSalle, most everyone said this continues to be a “challenging” time for the property business. According to a JLL report rents are down, loans can’t be refinanced and most properties purchased in 2005-07 have no equity left. So it was left to Roger Staubach–the company’s executive chairman, Americas–to give everyone a pep talk. The former Dallas Cowboys QB likened the current climate to the 1971 season, when the ‘Boys sputtered to a 4-3 start because the team hadn’t jelled yet. They were driving Tom Landry crazy, Staubach said, until they suddenly began working together as a team, then proceeded to win 10 games in a row–including the Super Bowl. “When you get the right people in the right places, miracles happen,” Staubach told the crowd of about 300. “Challenges bring out the best in all of us.” He’s right, of course. And it may take a miracle to work through this fix.

Fry Street Still Draws Denton’s Finest

Jason Heid — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:29:40 +0000

Via Pegasus, we have this video produced by the University of North Texas student newspaper that brings us another dose of Denton nostalgia. The lot where the Tomato once stood sits empty. I’m not sure whether its vacancy makes my heart ache more or less than if it had become the CVS that was originally planned for the corner.

But, seriously, NT Daily, did you put out another casting call for Denton stereotypes? “General studies major?” “A CVS is a drug store, isn’t it?” A neo-hippie girl with dirty hair? I smell a mockumentary in the offing.

Woodall Rodgers Park: Where Will Children Play?

Tim Rogers — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:33:14 +0000

Over on Renegade Bus, Peter Simek compares the Woodall Rodgers Park with Millennium Park in Chicago (a comparison the Woodall boosters themselves have made) and asks some good questions. Worth a read.

Cowboys, Not Rangers, Built Arlington’s Field of Dreams

Jason Heid — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:04:41 +0000

The Ballpark in Arlington opened in 1994. Part of the sales pitch to voters funding its construction was the fantastic new developments that would spring up around it — restaurants, retail, hotels. We know how that story has turned out.

When the same voters approved $325 million for The Colossus at Arlington next door, a similar vision was presented. But, so far, nothing. Is Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck at all concerned that 15 years from now we’ll be talking about the development around Cowboys Stadium just as we talk about the Ballpark’s failed plans? Of course not, he told me this afternoon. Why not? “Because it’s the Cowboys.”

We (North Texas) don’t love the Texas Rangers the way we love the Cowboys. That’s an indisputable fact. (I say that as someone who much prefers the national pastime to “violence punctuated by committee meetings.”) But do we hold America’s Team in such high esteem that developers — and the retail, restaurants, and hotels they hope to accommodate –will rush to be associated with the big blue star in a way that they’ve never been compelled to join with the Rangers’ grand ambitions?

If the near-reverence in Cluck’s voice is any indication, the answer is yes. I’m hearing echoes of James Earl Jones: People will come, Jerry. People will most definitely come.

Lead Battle: Morning News vs. Preston Hollow People

Jason Heid — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:02:10 +0000

In this corner we have Preston Hollow People’s August 21 story about the fight over creating a conservation district in the Disney Streets:

There will be no happy ending for many residents of the Disney Streets.

And over here we have the Sept. 6 story in The Dallas Morning News on the same subject:

The Disney Streets are not, just now, the happiest place on earth.

Both writers employed similar ideas. I’m going to call it a draw.

Leppert: Companies Targeting Dallas for Relocation

Glenn Hunter — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:54:08 +0000

At a commercial real estate symposium presented by the North Texas CCIM chapter today, Mayor Tom Leppert said Dallas and Texas are poised to benefit from other states’ economic woes. Touting our low taxes and favorable regulatory climate, Leppert said he just got a letter from the head of a big New Jersey company who said “we’re looking more and more at relocation.” The mayor said he also thinks another large company on the East Coast will move to Dallas, as will a 400-employee company now based in California. Dallas is holding on to companies as well, Leppert said, pointing to one firm that recently considered leaving downtown for the ‘burbs, but decided in the end to stay put. “They need good young people,” he said, “and young people want to live downtown.”