What Beck Ventures Is Looking For In 2020
Beck Ventures took the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex by storm in 2019.
Not only did the development firm break ground on the Dallas Midtown project designed to revamp the old Valley View Mall area into a bustling mixed-use development, Beck Ventures also put some of the finishing touches on Trophy Club, a master-planned community under the company's wings for 27 years.
The company just completed Trophy Club Town Center, which will open by the end of Q1 2020, according to CEO and President Scott Beck, one of several developers scheduled to speak at Bisnow's DFW 2020 Forecast event Dec. 17. Tenant move-ins are beginning across the retail and restaurant space, and 250 apartment units and 39 townhomes are opening to residents. Capping it off will be the opening of an Aloft hotel.
The next phase is another 45K SF of retail/medical office at Trophy Club, with construction set to start in the second quarter of 2020, Beck said.
Heading into 2020, the company is shifting its focus more toward its Dallas Midtown project, where the new year will bring construction of the Life Time Villages, complete with residential units, 60K SF of retail, 50K SF of office and a 110K SF fitness facility, Beck said.
"It was just announced that we partnered with Toll Brothers, and we are building two apartment buildings with Toll Brothers in Midtown," Beck added. "We also will be building a hotel in Midtown which will have 200 keys, or 200 rooms, and 40 condos, and then we are building a new office building with a brand new AMC Theatre in that office building."
Beck Ventures prefers long real estate plays that offer opportunities for years to come. The company is shopping for the next big deal, but Beck said plays like these are hard to find.
"We are continuing to keep our eye out for deals that could be the next Midtown," Beck said. "Those are the type of deals that we like to get involved in, but those are few and far between because the market is so hot right now. So, there are not a lot of opportunities to go in and buy a drastically underperforming asset that can be turned into a new mixed-use community or a land deal in the path of development."
What Beck his eyes on might be a bit surprising, considering some of the pain in the sector of late.
"We are starting in 2020 to look at income-producing strip center real estate in urban core areas focused on service," Beck said. "Not that we are going to purchase them right now, but we want to understand where those areas are, so at some point, when there becomes a buying opportunity, or what we perceive as a buying opportunity, we have at that point identified the [right] areas."
