Vista Property Co. Plans Retail Projects with a Spanish Accent
08:51 AM CDT on Friday, May 23, 2008

By SHERYL JEAN / The Dallas Morning News sjean@dallasnews.com

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EXCLUSIVE

Vista Property Co. may be less than a year old, but it has big plans.

Industry veterans at the Dallas-based firm focus on a burgeoning niche: developing Hispanic shopping centers.

Syd Hurley's Vista Property Co. already owns 12 sites in the Dallas and Austin areas, but it may enter the Houston area later this year. The company's Sierra Vista shopping center in Oak Cliff is its model. Owner Syd Hurley has focused on the I-35 corridor with his sights set on making Vista the state's largest Hispanic retail developer. Its properties are in the Dallas and Austin areas, but Vista may enter the Houston market later this year, he said.

Mr. Hurley, 50, formed Vista last summer after parting ways with 10-year partner David Watson at Direct Development, a Dallas-based retail developer whose management team includes former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.

"It was hard for two people to run the company as it got bigger," Mr. Hurley explained.

They split their holdings, with Mr. Hurley getting six. Now, Vista has 12 properties – seven in the Dallas area and five in the Austin area – totaling about 800,000 square feet.

Vista targets the rapidly expanding Hispanic population within the nation's fastest-growing metro area. About 1.6 million Hispanics live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a quarter of the population.

Vista looks for property in Hispanic neighborhoods and areas with up to 200,000 people within three miles who have household incomes of $45,000 to $55,000. In Dallas, it recently bought a 160,000-square-foot shopping center on Lake June Road at Masters Drive, and it's talking with the owner of a shopping center near Bachman Lake about a joint venture.

The company's Sierra Vista shopping center in Oak Cliff is its model. It was revamped in 2006 with bright colors, an Alamo-style facade and a new retail mix including a Carnival market, a Bank of America branch and a Melrose women's clothing shop that appeals more to Hispanic consumers. Vista is adding 28,000 square feet to its 135,000 square feet.

Vista wants to attract more national retailers as well as add local businesses to its sites.

"Sierra Vista shows there's a trend among national retailers to figure out how to service this [Hispanic] customer," Mr. Hurley said. But "to build a ground-up community shopping center, it's necessary to have community members there. We don't have a lot of local Hispanic tenants."

The Lake June strip mall will be the proving ground for local businesses. Vista plans to invest $10 million to turn the largely vacant property into Campana Vista in a style similar to Sierra Vista and anchored by a Hispanic-themed grocery store.

Vista faces some challenges in recruiting Hispanic business owners, who tend to be financially conservative, Mr. Hurley said. Vista plans to help local retailers through the first few years by trimming its 35-page contract, shortening its lease terms and reducing rent by about a fourth, he said.

Vista recently hired Jesus Araiza as project leasing manager to help market its properties to Hispanic business owners. Three of Vista's 13 employees are Hispanic, but Mr. Hurley wants to hire more.

"It's kind of a sticker shock to local tenants," said Rolando Leal, a broker for Dallas-based Fronteras Commercial who works with Vista. "More individuals and mom-and-pop shops are renting. They're becoming more sophisticated."

Vista is smart to tweak its business model, said Edward T. Rincon, whose Dallas-based Rincon & Associates advises companies on how to reach Hispanics. Other efforts have been hindered by a one-size-fits-all formula, he said.

"You've got to think new," Mr. Hurley said. "You just can't say this is the way we've always done it."

Vista isn't immune to the weakening retail market. Ross Stores Inc. withdrew plans to open a dd's Discounts store at Sierra Vista this fall, but Marshalls recently agreed to lease that space, Mr. Hurley said.

Vista is forging ahead and may build shopping centers from scratch. Last year, it bought 70 acres along I-35 near Austin – its first land deal – for future development.





SOURCES: DFW International Community Alliance; Nielsen Co.; Rincon & Associates; U.S. Census Bureau; Vista Property Co.

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