DMAGZ011986 — 004

cut their hair and traded their blue jeans for three-piece suits, Bellamy is a throwback to the liberal values of the Sixties. One friend says that after college Bellamy lived in Rome for a while, where he decided that New Delhi and Dallas were the centers of the cosmic universe. In the early Seventies, Bellamy decided to return to Dallas to practice his religion and paint.

“Ashley doesn’t really know anything about real estate,” says one source familiar with the negotiations. “But he’s driving a real hard bargain, holding out like a real tiger. If he’s successful, he could walk away with a couple of million dollars without any problem.”

Bellamy’s options on the disputed land expire in January. Currently, he is working with various “white knights” to get the financial backing to buy the land. If he locates a backer, Bellamy will own the land that Southland wants {or doesn’t want) for Cityplace. Whether the giant corporation will then be forced to negotiate with this hippie Horatio Alger is anyone’s guess. If they don’t, and he’s left holding the expensive land, Bellamy may wish he’d chosen the meditative calm of India over the rough and tumble of Dallas real estate.