Speaker Week

This week's class was allocated to professionals from different specialties within the development process to enlighten us on the "in's and out's" of the field. We had three scheduled speakers, and all three showed up.

The first speaker was an architect turned marketer turned developer. His story was unique in that he graduated with a degree in architecture and business (MBA) and decided to pursue his passion for business. After creating a marketing company, found that he still had the itch for redeveloping older buildings and, with a built in tenant (his company), decided to undergo the restoration of the Awalt building in downtown Dallas. From the perspective of a successful redevelopment, he told stories of how they took advantage of "decor" and development process from a fore-gone ear and juxtaposed them with modern technique and aesthetics. The one key he stressed (and I agree) is don't fake it; if its not old, don't try to make it look old, just bring in the new and mesh it with what you have. Great topic and speaker; he will be good to know for future endeavors.

The second speaker was more of a "question and answer" setting, where we fired our lending and finance questions her (Lorie Houston from Wells Fargo) way. The short of what she said regarding the lending environment today: there is no way around the personal guarantee! She did bring up a few good options for those of us finding it difficult to raise the funds. One option that Brant and I had already begun researching was the SBA 504 program (She actually discussed the SBA 7A, but I think the 504 works better for our situation).

The third speaker was from the city of Fort Worth. Her position as the Deputy Director of planning and development allowed for great conversion pertaining to zoning ordinances, necessary paperwork for the city as well as various incentives offered by Fort Worth for projects such as these.

The information provided in this class session was informative and incredibly useful. It allowed us to think of areas where we might not be as well versed as we should be regarding our individual properties. For instance, I know that after hearing Dana from the city speak, I need to become much more well versed in the zoning, platting, and municipal restrictions on my property and ways I can get around (bend) those rules to help my project. Lorie Houston gave some creative financing alternatives to think about, and the design discussion brought about by our architect friend made us think about using old material in a whole new light. Can't wait for the next class: Marking, Law and Construction.