DALLAS-Other than the fact that Rosewood Corp. and Hillwood Properties are involved with commercial real estate, the two DFW companies are dissimilar in many ways, at least on the surface.
Rosewood Corp. operates through subsidiaries to mange holdings other than real estate – on the real estate side, it's best-known for its Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, which developed and owned international luxury hotels. Also, its Rosewood Property Co. is responsible for real estate holdings. Hillwood, in the meantime, develops and has oversight of a variety of commercial real estate properties, including the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas in north Fort Worth.
Several things link these two companies, however, one of which is that their leadership is being honored through induction into the North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. Caroline Rose Hunt Family, headed up by matriarch Caroline Rose Hunt, and Michael Berry, president of Hillwood Properties, will be honored this evening at the NTCRE dinner and 25th reunion, which is taking place at the Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas.
In sharing information with GlobeSt.com, both Berry and Bill Flaherty, Rosewood Property Co.'s president noted the same trends and issues impacting the North Texas area. Perhaps to no one's surprise, one major trend is positive economics. "Real estate has recovered nicely from the severe downturn," Flaherty observes. "As we're coming out of that, we're optimistic." The Rosewood property arm, therefore, is dedicating itself to developing land and partner-based acquisitions.
One just-announced development is the mixed-use Clearfork, a partnership between Rosewood Properties and Cassco Development Co. of Fort Worth, which owns Edwards Ranch, a large plot of land on the banks of the Trinity River in Fort Worth. Flaherty says the land has been long known in real estate circles, and when the plans for the Chisholm Trail Parkway were approved during the mid-2000s, the Edwards family considered a variety of uses for the property. "The idea is that we'll develop it jointly and hold it," Flaherty comments.
Meanwhile, at AllianceTexas at the northern fringe of Fort Worth, Berry's words echo Flaherty's when it comes to the post-recession rebound. "We're getting close to the point where demand is increasing and occupancy stabilizing," he comments. "When you have those two things in tandem, it typically means you can build new product again."
Hillwood is busy doing just that – it recently announced the pending groundbreaking this summer of Alliance Center North 1, a 1.2-million-square-foot industrial building in the 650-acre Alliance Center North. Also going north this summer will be the 155,000-square-foot speculative office building, also in Alliance Center North. Furthermore, construction is underway on the 306-unit SageStone Village, within the Alliance Town Center development. "For the first time in awhile," Berry observes, "we either have construction about to start, or are already under construction, on different products."
Development and positive economic trends aside, Berry and Flaherty acknowledge the honor inherent in the NCTRE induction, with both pointing out that the success is a group effort. "I appreciate the fact that, though I'm being recognized, it's really due to the efforts and achievements of a huge number of people," Berry points out.
And in discussing Caroline Rose Hunt's reaction to being inducted, Flaherty also points out her contention that it was never just about her. "She's a gracious lady," he adds. "She's gracious when it comes to sharing credit, and believes her family had a great deal of input in building the Rosewood brand."
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