Q&A with Michael Geisler - Venture Commercial Real Estate LLC
Dallas Business Journal - May 27, 2011 - by Shashana Pearson-Hormillosa
Most people in the local commercial real estate world already know Mike Geisler, managing partner of Venture Commercial. He founded the company in 2000 after spending time learning the industry at Henry S. Miller/Grubb & Ellis and The Weitzman Group. Geisler's current work focuses on urban areas, including Preston Center, Oak Lawn and Oak Cliff. Because he was a key player in bringing Mockingbird Station into reality, we asked him his take on the development possibilities for South Dallas and the areas around the Dallas Logistics Hub.
How does retail around transit-oriented areas work, and how could it work for South Dallas? You can see retail transit areas best in other cities that have had more transient lifestyles, like New York, Chicago and Boston. There's more value around retail for those transit stops. It takes time, but I see that being of more value here. Dallas has to evolve to be more efficient to where it makes more sense to take the rail than a car into work.
How is that evolving? One of the things that's so exciting is the new light rail from downtown to Oak Cliff. One of the reasons we were so excited is because (stops along the route) could be real hubs. If you look at what's going on around Colorado Boulevard, Zang Boulevard and Beckley Road, I think you may see more and more residential.
How do the different transit options affect the success of a hub? Trains are much more favored over buses, because buses compete with the same traffic as a car. The new line going up to UNT will have great value, and you'll see multifamily nodes at large stops. What you'll see is an interest in housing around these stops. Those are the first signs you'll see. Let that build up and the retail will follow.
What do you think the future of South Dallas could/should look like? You can see already that the stops like down in the Cedars could incubate more retail and restaurants because there's already a market down there. There's a cool, eclectic vibe around the Cedars and they could be using light rail a lot more. When you get further south, a lot of those (companies have a) low-density employee count, but in between the hub and downtown, you might see one or two vibrant nodes, but it may not support retail.
Have you seen any recent movement with retail into South Dallas? We work with larger users that locate in areas of Oak Cliff, like larger grocers. Areas like Oak Cliff and West Dallas off of Hunt Hill Bridge, all of that is going to change in the next 10 to 15 years. It's going to get the energy off Uptown. There's a desire to be close to downtown and still be urban. Already there's a lot of urbanites living in Oak Cliff, and that is going to continue expanding. It's going from heavy commercial use and will infill back to residential housing.
