Quiz03
10 November 2003, 01:46 PM
Developer Monte Anderson, president and CEO of Options Real Estate Investments Inc., is taking a cue from larger real estate developers and projects like Mockingbird Station and West Village.
He is investing in projects that bring together office, retail and residential -- but, unlike the big boys, he is bringing the concept to South Dallas and beyond.
"There are some builders in Dallas doing (mixed-use developments), but no one is really doing it on a smaller scale in the suburbs like we are," Anderson said. "What I'm trying to do is downsize (the concept) for the type of financing we have available on this side of the river."
Options specializes in leasing, sales, management and development of industrial, office and retail in South Dallas and southern Dallas County.
The company handles business worth about $50 million every year, and Anderson is consistently ranked one of the top industrial leasing brokers in the Metroplex in the Dallas Business Journal's Heavy Hitters list.
The leasing side of the company continues to be steady.
"It never gets that good, so it never gets that bad," Anderson said. "It's off by a small percentage -- it's not like it was two years ago."
Options' most recent project is a $2.8 million mixed-use development, Main Station in Duncanville, which includes retail, loft apartments and restaurant space. The company collaborated on the project with the Duncanville Community and Economic Development Corp., which has 30% ownership of the development.
Anderson, a native of Oak Cliff, says there is as big an appetite for mixed-use developments in the suburbs as there is in other parts of the Metroplex.
"A suburbanite doesn't want to have to drive all the way to North Dallas to go to a good quality restaurant or to work," he said. "You may do it a little different in the suburbs, but it's the same principle," he said.
There have been challenges to bringing this type of development into South Dallas, a racially mixed area close to Fair Park, that is generally characterized as less prosperous than its northern neighbors.
"The big challenge is that it's still hard to get financing here," Anderson said. "People perceive us as low-income because we are racially mixed. Banks still look at us differently -- and sometimes rightfully so -- because our rental rates are lower and you have to take that into consideration. But the perception is that, if you have minority mix areas, it's not a good area for investment or you can't make money in that area. And that is totally untrue. The buying power in the minority community is huge."
The struggle for financing is becoming easier for Anderson as banks and investors take note of the success of his other projects, such as Thorntree Country Club Estates in DeSoto and Enclave at Thorntree. The developments include townhomes, garden homes and office space. The office space is 100% occupied, and 90% of the residential lots that have been developed are already sold.
Now, the Main Station development appears to be garnering a good response as well. Its two restaurant spaces are pre-leased, as well as half of the 14 lofts in the project. About 70% of the retail space has also been pre-leased.
Options already is planning its next mixed-use development on about 8 acres on the corner of Fort Worth Avenue near Sylvan Avenueoff Interstate 30.
The project, called Skyview, lies between downtown Dallas and Pinnacle Park and has been largely ignored by developers. Anderson is hoping his entrance into the area will jump-start other mixed-use developments along Fort Worth Avenue in Dallas.
Skyview will be on a scale similar to Duncanville's Main Street Station. It may start construction as early as January, and will include 10,000 square feet of both office and retail, a boutique hotel, as well as 40 apartment and townhome units. The townhomes will range in price from $165,000 to $400,000.
"If I build small, unique properties, what I've found is that the demand is higher than the supply," Anderson said.
As chairman of Operation Clean Sweep, Southern Dallas County, Anderson also is making a point of tying green, sustainable building concepts into his developments. Main Street, for example, was built next to an abandoned railroad track in the hope that Dallas Area Rapid Transit's light rail network may one day extend to the development.
"Our company's mission is to make this area better for our kids and our grandkids," Anderson said. "We are not going to be very effective unless we can make money and do projects.
"But the No. 1 goal is the people and how it affects the people who live here."
Contact DBJ writer Sandra Zaragoza at szaragoza@bizjournals.com or (214) 706-7113
He is investing in projects that bring together office, retail and residential -- but, unlike the big boys, he is bringing the concept to South Dallas and beyond.
"There are some builders in Dallas doing (mixed-use developments), but no one is really doing it on a smaller scale in the suburbs like we are," Anderson said. "What I'm trying to do is downsize (the concept) for the type of financing we have available on this side of the river."
Options specializes in leasing, sales, management and development of industrial, office and retail in South Dallas and southern Dallas County.
The company handles business worth about $50 million every year, and Anderson is consistently ranked one of the top industrial leasing brokers in the Metroplex in the Dallas Business Journal's Heavy Hitters list.
The leasing side of the company continues to be steady.
"It never gets that good, so it never gets that bad," Anderson said. "It's off by a small percentage -- it's not like it was two years ago."
Options' most recent project is a $2.8 million mixed-use development, Main Station in Duncanville, which includes retail, loft apartments and restaurant space. The company collaborated on the project with the Duncanville Community and Economic Development Corp., which has 30% ownership of the development.
Anderson, a native of Oak Cliff, says there is as big an appetite for mixed-use developments in the suburbs as there is in other parts of the Metroplex.
"A suburbanite doesn't want to have to drive all the way to North Dallas to go to a good quality restaurant or to work," he said. "You may do it a little different in the suburbs, but it's the same principle," he said.
There have been challenges to bringing this type of development into South Dallas, a racially mixed area close to Fair Park, that is generally characterized as less prosperous than its northern neighbors.
"The big challenge is that it's still hard to get financing here," Anderson said. "People perceive us as low-income because we are racially mixed. Banks still look at us differently -- and sometimes rightfully so -- because our rental rates are lower and you have to take that into consideration. But the perception is that, if you have minority mix areas, it's not a good area for investment or you can't make money in that area. And that is totally untrue. The buying power in the minority community is huge."
The struggle for financing is becoming easier for Anderson as banks and investors take note of the success of his other projects, such as Thorntree Country Club Estates in DeSoto and Enclave at Thorntree. The developments include townhomes, garden homes and office space. The office space is 100% occupied, and 90% of the residential lots that have been developed are already sold.
Now, the Main Station development appears to be garnering a good response as well. Its two restaurant spaces are pre-leased, as well as half of the 14 lofts in the project. About 70% of the retail space has also been pre-leased.
Options already is planning its next mixed-use development on about 8 acres on the corner of Fort Worth Avenue near Sylvan Avenueoff Interstate 30.
The project, called Skyview, lies between downtown Dallas and Pinnacle Park and has been largely ignored by developers. Anderson is hoping his entrance into the area will jump-start other mixed-use developments along Fort Worth Avenue in Dallas.
Skyview will be on a scale similar to Duncanville's Main Street Station. It may start construction as early as January, and will include 10,000 square feet of both office and retail, a boutique hotel, as well as 40 apartment and townhome units. The townhomes will range in price from $165,000 to $400,000.
"If I build small, unique properties, what I've found is that the demand is higher than the supply," Anderson said.
As chairman of Operation Clean Sweep, Southern Dallas County, Anderson also is making a point of tying green, sustainable building concepts into his developments. Main Street, for example, was built next to an abandoned railroad track in the hope that Dallas Area Rapid Transit's light rail network may one day extend to the development.
"Our company's mission is to make this area better for our kids and our grandkids," Anderson said. "We are not going to be very effective unless we can make money and do projects.
"But the No. 1 goal is the people and how it affects the people who live here."
Contact DBJ writer Sandra Zaragoza at szaragoza@bizjournals.com or (214) 706-7113