Shula’s, a great substitute for the classroom

6/26/10

So, this day started out ominous.  I got to class and the building had been struck by lightning, taking out the internet and more importantly, the AC.  After a little deliberation, Forgey decided to move the class to Shula’s at the Sheraton.  It was close enough to let speakers know ahead of time or to escort them to our temporary classroom.  At Shula’s we basically rented out the conference room, by purchasing breakfast and lunch.

What started out as ominous turned into a pretty good day.  We had 3 people, from different backgrounds in real estate come to speak to our class.  The first was Owen Haney, a gentleman with a background in architecture and business, who ventured into advertising.  He had dabbled in real estate with his company a while back and recently started to get back into it.  They renovated and redeveloped the Awalt and Landmark buildings in Dallas.  The Awalt Building was brought back to life and renovated to historic preservation’s high standards, where Mr. Hanley’s company earned, but didn’t sell tax credits. 

Mr. Haney had a few recommendations for us when pursuing historic preservation or just rehabilitation.  Try to find as many historic photos of the building as possible and select only the ones that help sell your idea to those in power.  Tax credits, can be used as part of the equity.  He shares similar views as I do about modern construction methods versus traditional looking architecture.  If the element of the building is new, make obvious that it is new.  Don’t “fake old.”  The new and old make for a nice juxtaposition.

Speaking of juxtaposition, our second guest speaker, Leslie Houston, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo overlapped well with our first guest.  Their insight was a nice juxtaposition, they both recommended micro-lenders.  Ms. Houston also suggested to those of us who are just starting out, that we speak to “the SBA guys” and to look into CDFI’s, Commercial Development Financial Institutions Fund, for funding for our projects.  Of course she also stated the mandatory personal guarantee for all new loans.

Our final guest speaker was Deputy Director over Planning for the City of Fort Worth, Dana Burghdoff.  She was extremely knowledgeable and when she couldn’t answer our questions, gave us the name of the person who could. 

One of our biggest concerns that we expressed to her, was the different Certificates of Occupancy.  We all wanted to know if there was a way to have a certificate of occupancy (C of O) for each function that our building was capable of providing.  For instance, could we receive a C of O for residential, office, and retail all at once, so that we don’t have to go back to the city every time a tenant wants to use our flexible space for something other than what the C of O states.  She wasn’t able to answer the question directly, but pointed us to David Hall, Assistant Director over Development, who could.  Mrs. Burghdoff did say that we would probably have to meet the strictest of the building code standards for retail, office, or residential if there is such a thing.

She gave us a few other recommendations for the development process, like Predevelopment Conferences with the city.  A predevelopment conference is where a developer/owner meets with all the city entities that have some say in a project’s life at once.  This meeting basically troubleshoots any issues that could arise during the life of a project, from the regulatory side anyway.  Mrs. Burghdoff reminded us that projects in the Neighborhood Empowerment Zone don’t have to pay city development and permitting fees, among other incentives.  Regrettably for 1612 Park Place, we are not covered by the Near Southside N.E.Z.

When Scott and I asked about using the alley way for parking as a compromise for implementing the master plan for Park Place, she said that we would need an encroachment agreement with the city.  It’s nice to know what the agreement is called when approaching those who have the authority to make this decision.

I probably could say a lot more about what each speaker brought to the table for us, but anyone who is going to actually read my blog was in the room and heard the whole thing for themselves.  I do, however, really appreciate each one of our guests taking time out of their weekend to come speak to us.  I realize it was a sacrifice on their part, but one that benefitted us greatly.  So thank you Owen, Leslie, and Dana!