I read Victory’s announcement that Terry Montesi and Trademark Property Co. were partnering with the owners to take over the retail at the Victory development, and I pumped my fist. I love Victory, I want it to do well, and I think the world of Terry and his firm.
Terry and I met just over two years ago at Rand Stagen’s 40th birthday party. Rand and I are fraternity brothers at SMU, and he runs an exciting leadership consultancy based here in Dallas. Terry and I are both clients of Rand’s firm. Anyway, at the birthday party and in our subsequent interactions in our burgeoning friendship, we have always enjoyed deep and meaningful interactions—in fact, I recall distinctly Terry remarking, “Life’s too short for shallow conversation.”
So, in that spirit, and recognizing that I’m generally an “office guy” but consider myself one hell of a consumer, I am sharing with Terry (publicly, and with his permission) my current feelings about Victory retail.
My wife, four kids, and I live sixty seconds from the Lemmon and Tollway exit. So we can zip to the Victory vicinity very quickly down the Tollway—almost as quick as we meander neighborhood streets to Highland Park Village. We frequent HPV seven times a week. We go to Victory seven times a year.
At Victory, we love the pizza place. When we visit, we walk in the park out front. We go to the arena about twice a year. I’m not really a pro sports guy. And we like to look at the House, the W, and the office tower. So we’re not “drawn” strongly to the area for any particular reason. However, even if you threw in a dynamic vibe and a tenant mix we found compelling, here is my next objection that will keep us away as presently executed: 1) circulation; and 2) parking.
I have never understood why the City of Dallas allows for such poor traffic light synchronization throughout Uptown and downtown, but, man, it really zaps Victory. Next time you’re in the vicinity of Victory, take a lap through it, and notice how long it takes to move through the light system. Most certainly, it doesn’t feel like you’re in Manhattan. But it should—traffic light synchronization is algebra.
Regarding parking, we don’t like valets, and we want convenient, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-execute (and free) parking options.
So, Terry, there you have it. I can send you six shoppers, as often as you’ll take them, if you’ll give me 1) a reason to be there, 2) ease of access, and 3) abundant and free parking. If anyone can do it, it’s Trademark. We look forward to watching your firm make it happen!
Jon Altschuler is a partner at Altschuler and Co. Contact him at [email protected].
