News
DON WILLIAMS: ESCAPE
March 26, 2010
| Former Trammell Crow CEO Don Williams rode the ups and downs of commercial real estate with the acumen of a rodeo cowboy for more than 20 years. He talked about the good and bad at the North Texas CCIM luncheon Thursday at the Park Cities Club. | ||||
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| In the '70s, he says many thought it was the end of civilization; people in Highland Park were hoarding food and water: "They were buying guns and ammo. Does any of that sound familiar? Real estate is a lagging indicator; it was the end of our hopes and dreams. Those who got into trouble felt a sense of shame." But he advises the tough times should help put things into perspective. | ||||
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| Work continued to be important, he says, but not his sole identity. Don’s advice: escape from real estate for a time, read a novel or stay physically fit. His five children took priority, from fishing and hunting trips to coaching their teams. As adults, “they look back onthose moments as the most important, not that we had a nice house in Highland Park . . . It’s important to not become monomaniacal—we know what happened to Captain Ahab in the end.” (For those who only skimmed: His 250k SF mixed-use project fell through.) | ||||
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| ViewPoint Bank CRE VP Ross Lyle, Grubb & Ellis SVP Scot Farber, and Mark Five CRE partner Mike McCartan. Ross tells us ViewPoint Bank's just closed and approved financing of two note purchases totaling $11.5M at 65% of the note purchase price and 50% of the underlying collateral for the notes consisting of 80% occupied multi-tenant office and industrial properties. | ||||
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| How did we get so lucky? We shared a table with Old Republic Title sales VP Lolette May, Wells Fargo biz dev wiz Mike Shillingburg, Economy Signs’ Yvette Medrano, and the Junior League of Plano’s Beccy Alldredge. Lolette says she is seeing more activity recently (not referring to our eating etiquette, we hope), with a lot of interest in pad sites, particularly in the outlying areas of the Metroplex like Forney and Sachse. She's also working on a large land deal. | ||||
