Add to the Bush library list

[smupony94]

Bush library space at SMU not limited
SMU acquisitions since '90s offer several options for center



12:00 AM CST on Sunday, February 26, 2006
By KRISTEN HOLLAND / The Dallas Morning News


Sue Prather always has the same question for SMU President Gerald Turner: "Now that I've moved, is SMU going to get the library?"

Ms. Prather never gets a definite answer. The 66-year-old wants him to confirm what her gut tells her – that SMU plans to build the George W. Bush Presidential Library on top of her old University Gardens condo near campus.

Southern Methodist University is considered the frontrunner partly because first lady Laura Bush is a trustee and alumna. But observers say SMU may be missing one key component offered by the other three library finalists.

Virtually landlocked, SMU simply doesn't have much wiggle room to offer the 43rd president.

Or does it?

Tucked away in the well-coiffed enclave of University Park, SMU has more land than some might expect.

The university began buying houses on Fondren Drive and McFarlin and University boulevards west of Dublin Street in the late 1990s.

It now owns all but eight lots in the area. The school also owns all but two single-family homes on SMU Boulevard and half the homes on Potomac Avenue, a block north of Mockingbird Lane.

The old Mrs. Baird's Bakery, as well as the vacant UA Cine theater complex and former Jack's Pub and Volleyball Club across Central Expressway are part of SMU's domain. So are Park Cities Plaza – the shopping center at the northwest corner of Mockingbird and Central – and Expressway Towers at Yale Boulevard and Central.

Then there's Ms. Prather's former home – University Gardens.

The 374-unit complex is at the heart of an ongoing lawsuit that has pitted one of Ms. Prather's former neighbors against SMU. Gary Vodicka, the lead plaintiff, contends that officials engaged in fraud and intimidation to oust complex residents to make room for the library.

SMU officials say that's not the case and that they started buying condo units in 1998, before the Bush library was ever an issue. SMU officials have not ruled out using the land for the library, but they say it could also be used for student housing, intramural fields or academic buildings.

Dana Gibson, SMU's vice president for business and finance, said the university is very strategic in its acquisitions. "Some of this was targeted as much as 10 years ago in the master plan," she said.

Bryce Weigand isn't privy to the library proposals, but the architect who designed SMU's last master plan said the best spot would be where it's most accessible to visitors.

"You probably know the obvious place for it," he said, declining to be more specific. "It could be any number of places, I suppose. It could be across Central Expressway; it could be down at Mother Baird's bakery."

Rumors that SMU plans to build the library where the old bakery stands have swirled since the university purchased the 6.6-acre spot at Central Expressway and Mockingbird Lane in November 2003. University officials have consistently denied the rumors. The bakery once billed as the world's largest automated bread factory is being used as library storage.

The site is much smaller than the 30-acre city park that the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark., calls home, and it's minuscule compared with the 90-acre George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University. However, the Baird site is adjacent to a major freeway and close to two big airports.

Parking, however, is scarce there. An underground garage would probably be needed to handle parking.

Those familiar with the area have recently started leaning toward University Gardens as the most likely site. Located a block north of the bakery, but across Mockingbird, the condominium complex has the same location advantages as Mrs. Baird's.

But at 12.5 acres, it's roughly twice the size. It's also within walking distance of a parking garage and just across the street from a surface parking lot.

University spokeswoman Patti LaSalle stressed that no matter what happens, the university wants to be a good neighbor. Eminent domain is not an option because SMU is a private university.

"Any expansion that we do is going to be done in a responsible way that adds to the community," Ms. LaSalle said.

Neighbors haven't always been pleased at the school's eastward progression, but they live with it. A 1998 agreement negotiated by the University Neighborhood Homeowners Association stipulates that the university won't purchase property east of Dublin between SMU Boulevard and Daniel Avenue until 2020.

Everything else is up for grabs to the highest bidder.

Doug Clarkson blamed SMU's explosive growth on the city of University Park. Mr. Clarkson, who lives on McFarlin, said city leaders know exactly where the library will go.

"I suspect the City Council has been briefed," he said. "Maybe not in public, but I'm sure they've been briefed. The city has basically given them condemnation rights wherever they want to go."

University Park City Manager Bob Livingston disputed Mr. Clarkson's assertions that SMU briefed council members on anything besides the university trying to secure the library.

"All the council has said to this date is that they want to support the university," Mr. Livingston said. "They want to do everything they can to try to get that library on the SMU campus."

Developer Jud Pankey, whose Prescott Realty Group is a major property owner just east of SMU, said the Bush library would be a plus for the neighborhood, but more planning is required.

"We will have to deal with the visitors and getting people into the area and circulating them," Mr. Pankey said. "We don't see any negatives as long as it is well thought out."

And even if SMU doesn't get the library, the university's need for land for student housing and other expansions means the property they are buying won't be idle, Mr. Pankey said.

"If they don't get the library, you are still going to see that developed," he said.

Members of the Bush library selection committee have not said when they will make a decision, though it is expected this year. The other finalists for the library are Baylor University, the University of Dallas and a West Texas coalition led by Texas Tech University.


Staff writer Steve Brown contributed to this report.

E-mail kholland@dallasnews.com

Video: Watch Lubbock's pitch to become home of the George W. Bush library.

[AusTxPony]

I am curious. Why did George Bush choose College Station for his Library? What criteria did he cite? Why not put it in Houston at Rice U. or UofH, where he lives part time? Does anyone remember the answers to these questions? If so, I would love to learn them as a possible insight to George W's coming decision.

[that's great raplh]

I would love for SMu to win the Bush Library - I think it will give us great national and international exposure...

but it does not come without risks...

[Swamp Gas]

Vegas would set the over/under on jokes by Leno and (the "other") Letterman at about 100,000

[smupony94]

Even making the Dallas Business Journal




EXCLUSIVE REPORTS
From the February 24, 2006 print edition
SMU on property-shopping spree
Office, retail properties acquired; Bush library in sights?
Christine Perez and Chad Eric Watt
Staff Writers
Southern Methodist University is making an aggressive series of real estate buys around its University Park campus, moves that signal it may be acquiring more land to bolster its bid for the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

The private school quietly acquired a prominent shopping center at its eastern campus border along Mockingbird Lane in December. It bought a large office tower on the east side of North Central Expressway last month. And it has two other nearby office buildings under contract.

The shopping center south of the university and the office buildings east of the school each could be parts of larger sites for the Bush library.

The college is one of four finalists for the highly sought-after project, along with Baylor University, the University of Dallas and a group led by Texas Tech University. Planners expect to raise $200 million to $350 million in private funds for the project.

Riis Christensen with Trans- western Commercial Services said the recent property buys give the landlocked university room to grow and provide an alternative spot for the proposed library.

Until now, the presumed library location has been on the west side of North Central Expressway -- either south of Mockingbird Lane, where SMU owns a 6.6-acre former Mrs Baird's bakery site, or north of Mockingbird, where it owns a 12-acre condo complex.

"I'm not sure they could put it on the Baird's property -- it's too small -- and I don't think they could put it on the condo site, as the parcel is skinny and they need more room for student housing," Christensen said. "Because it can't expand in other directions, it's logical for SMU to pick off properties on the east side of North Central. Now, will they use them for SMU stuff or for the library? Whatever the use, it's clear they need the land."

SMU representatives wouldn't comment on library plans. "It is strategic for us to look at parcels close to campus," said Dana Gibson, the school's vice president for business and finance.

Among SMU's recent acquisitions, one key property stands out: the 71,200-square-foot Park Cities Plaza, a retail center at the northwest corner of Mockingbird Lane at North Central Expressway, situated between the Baird's property and the condos.

SMU acquired the bakery site in late 2003. It began buying condos in University Gardens -- a 40-year-old, 347-unit complex immediately north of Park Cities Plaza -- in 1998.

The school is embroiled in a lawsuit over its efforts to evict residents and tear down the condos within University Gardens. SMU Controller John O'Connor acknowledged in courtroom testimony on Feb. 21 that the condo tract is among the sites being considered for the library.

Purchasing the shopping center, which was built in 1959, could give SMU the option of relocating retail tenants to the Baird's site. That would allow it to demolish Park Cities Plaza and combine its 4 acres with the adjacent 12-acre condo site.

In a statement, the university said Park Cities Plaza will remain a shopping center for now. It hasn't communicated any other plans to its tenants near there.

Park Cities Plaza is home to the original La Madeleine bakery. "We've been advised that our landlord has changed, but we have not had conversations with them yet regarding plans for the center or changes to our location or operations," La Madeleine President Greg Buchanan said in a written statement.

SMU has leased part of the Mrs Baird's property for two years as a sales office for the nearby Hotel Palomar development. Jeff Berry with Realty America Group, which is co-developing Hotel Palomar, said he hasn't been informed of any impending changes.

East-side option
A different plan would put the library on the east side of North Central Expressway, where SMU on Jan. 10 acquired for an undisclosed sum Expressway Tower, a 15-story, 195,500-square-foot office building.

Besides that property, located at 6116 N. Central Expwy., SMU also owns the nearby Jack's Pub, a former college bar it bought last year, and UA Cine, a former arthouse movie theater near Yale Boulevard it acquired in 2001.

The school also said that it has put two additional office buildings -- at 6120 N. Central Expwy. and 6200 N. Central Expwy. -- under contract.

School officials say they have no plans to move student housing or classroom activity east of the highway.

More than 90% of the Expressway Tower office building is occupied, but university researchers have used some of the vacant space there for psychology research work.

The recent acquisition spree is part of a philosophical shift for the university that began about five years ago, said Newt Walker, a Dallas real estate broker who advises SMU on land deals.

It started when the university purchased the UA Cine property. While the school did not have an immediate need for the old moviehouse, it was near a main access road to the school and was available.

"What they have done is bought insurance," Walker said.

Now, the college keeps its eyes open for similar opportunities.

"If there's a piece of property available, it probably makes sense for them to take a look at it," Walker said. And whether it makes sense is different for a 90-year-old institution than it would be for a business or real estate investor.

"They'll be around longer than any of the rest of us," he said.

Most of SMU's 175-plus acres are in the tony University Park enclave, bounded by expensive homes or shopping centers.

SMU's masterplan calls for the western edge of SMU Boulevard -- which turns into Yale on the east side of Central -- to be a new main gateway to the campus.

A frontrunner
Among the schools vying for the Bush library, SMU has some key advantages.

First Lady Laura Bush is a graduate of SMU and a member of its board of trustees. The Bushes lived in Dallas' Preston Hollow area from 1988 to 1994. Plus, wealthy North Texans have been among Bush's strongest financial backers during his political career.

Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who has worked to lure the library to SMU, said he's not sure where it would be located.

"I've pledged $1 million to build the library if they get it," Simmons said Feb. 22. "But as of yesterday the president (of SMU) told me it wouldn't be decided until June."

SMU's main disadvantage is land. The University of Dallas in Irving, for example, has offered up 300 acres for a library and a park as part of its proposal.

Between the condos, the former Mrs Baird's plant on the south, its recent acquisitions and the two pending building purchases to the north, SMU would have 32 acres of developable land available.

Colorful past
Expressway Tower, the biggest of the office buildings, has a rich history, having been the former home to both the Dallas Cowboys and a Playboy Club. Dallas-based Gaedeke Group acquired the building in 1991.

"I've personally always had a soft spot for Expressway Tower," said Sabine Gaedeke Stener, president and CEO. "It was one of the first buildings we bought in Dallas and, in a town where there's not much color, there's so much history there."

Gaedeke Stener said her company had not put the property on the market, but was approached by SMU.

"They made a good offer," she said. "The building was performing well, but it wasn't really a long-term asset for us in the sense that we could see owning it for another 10 years. It's an older property, and we're trying to get larger, newer assets."

SMU has asked Gaedeke Group to continue to lease and manage the property, which is 91% occupied. Some tenants have been in the building since it was built in 1967.

Christensen, with Transwestern, represented Starbucks Corp. in a 27,400-square-foot lease at Expressway Tower last year. He said relocating some of the newer tenants there might be a challenge, but the long-timers likely would cooperate.

"There are a lot of older, right-wing, Highland Park Republicans in the building," he said. "They'd be sympathetic to moving if the building had to be torn down to make way for a presidential library."

Staff writer Sandra Zaragoza contributed to this story.