CAMP BOWIE’S ROUGH ROAD TO RICHES

In Fort Worth, a street by any other name probably couldn’t match the prices that Camp Bowie Boulevard real estate attracts now. Since 1980, rent for older property has more than quadrupled, says J.T. Luther, a prominent developer who remembers when cattle roamed on the West Fort Worth prairies. New property leases have skyrocketed from $2 to $20 a square foot since the boom hit about five years ago. Location-a major attraction-has led Dallas-based developers like Hopkins-Shafer and Lincoln Property Co. to pay prices some local developers have scoffed at. Fort Worth real estate investor Charles Weis-senborn recognizes the large demand for Camp Bowie retail property, but, he says, “Camp Bowie is selling for prices that we in Fort Worth think are too high. It’s the Dallas and out-of-state developers who seem to think the prices are quite reasonable.”

Michael Hopkins of Hop-kins-Shafer, the firm that remodeled retail space at Five Points, is among those willing to pay the price. “Camp Bowie,” he says, “may be the best retail real estate street in Texas, with the exception of West-heimer in Houston.”

James Buis of Lincoln Property Co., the firm that built Lincoln Village on Camp Bowie, admits that his firm paid the highest price for a Camp Bowie location that it has ever paid for similar sites. “We bought the property at a time when nobody believed we’d get rent that high,” says Buis, a Fort Worth native. But less than a month after the opening, Lincoln Village was 70 percent occupied. Steven Shafer of Hopkins-Shafer agrees prices are steep, but, he says that price is just one consideration.

“If there’s enough traffic, density, income and accessibility, then we might pay more than Fort Worth developers, but then we also get more rent,” says Shafer. Weissenborn might argue on price, but he agrees the location is virtually fool-proof. “If you’re going to make an investment mistake in Fort Worth, do it on the West Side,” he says, “because you’re always going to get bailed out.”

Rodger Chieffalo of Haydn Cutler Companies says Dallas developers simply see Camp Bowie as a tremendous buy, whereas some people in Fort Worth “cannot see the forest for the trees.”

“Some developers are known for doing inexpensive face lifts, kicking out old tenants and jacking up the rent,” Chieffalo says. “They’re feeding on the weakness of the market.”

Surrounded by the affluent River Crest and Ridglea neighborhoods, Camp Bowie is a natural for fine boutiques, specialty shops and fancy restaurants. In five years, speculates Will Miller of the Dallas-based Bolanz-Miller Co., service businesses will be pushed aside by those who can afford the high rent. But has the demand for Camp Bowie property forced a push-and-shove contest between local and out-of-state developers? Buis doesn’t think so. “It’s a natural cycle,” he says. “The tenants who can’t afford to pay the rent are being replaced by those who can. I think Fort Worth was glad to see us come in and upgrade the area.”

Luther, with his brother A.C. developed a large chunk of Fort Worth, says Dallas investors have brought renewed interest to an area that was declining. It’s that new interest that led Luther to renovate the 6333 Mall as well as other shops. Others, such as Bolanz-Miller, have chosen to remodel rather than bulldoze. Another trend is to build stucco and red-tile-roof buildings that complement the older shops, retaining the quaint atmosphere.

But atmosphere may not outlast climbing prices. Deed restrictions have prevented developers from adding high rises to the single-story skyline, but Weisenborn says southside Camp Bowie restrictions have already been broken and others will follow.