Luck sometimes tops location for real estate
January 20, 2011
By Steve Brown/The Dallas Morning News

There’s an old saw in the real estate business: What matters most is location, location, location.

I would argue that a little luck can be even more important.

Nine years ago, when Ken Bruder and Howard Beckerman bought a vacant strip retail center and an empty grocery store in Arlington, they didn’t have a clue about what fate was about to send their way.

Part of the old supermarket was knocked down to make way for a drugstore, but that left about a third of the grocery behind.

“We were pulling our hair out trying to lease this 18,000 square feet of space,” Bruder said. “For a while, we had it rented to a thrift store.

“But we had no frickin’ clue about what was going to happen across the street.”

What happened was Cowboys Stadium.

That’s right: The dog-eared, down-on-its-luck retail property Bruder and Beckerman spent years fretting with is at the corner of Collins Street and Randol Mill Road.

“We are literally right across the street from Jerry Jones’ stadium,” Bruder said. “We never dreamed this would happen.”

Suddenly a property that was looking like the back end of a mule was on top of the hottest new sports and entertainment venue in the state.

It’s the kind of real estate story that Frank Capra would dream up.

And surely Bruder and Beckerman must have a guardian angel or something to warrant this kind of a break.

To take advantage of the location, the real estate guys teamed up with Eddie Deen & Co. — the caterer and party venue folks — to convert the old grocery space into an “event center.”

“We redid the facade of the shopping center, and now we are booking Super Bowl parties and weddings,” Bruder said.

On the day of the big game, ESPN and PrimeSport are holding a huge party in the 1010 Collins building and a big “beer garden” out back under a grove of trees.

“We had 1,950 people in the beer garden and event center for the Oregon State and TCU game,” Bruder said. “It was unbelievable.”

Bruder and Beckerman also own a strip center next door that’s leased to a restaurant, a phone company store and a laundry. And they have another, smaller retail strip across the street.

“When we bought this stuff, it was a blue-collar neighborhood with not much going on,” Bruder said.

Courtesy The Dallas Morning News
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