Hidden away at the Murchison House is a lovely little Japanese garden, here viewed from the second story.  Designed by Warren Johnson, who has also done quite a bit of work at the Arboretum.

Wilson Fuqua, the architect who presided over the recent rehab, and Warren Johnson, who handled landscape design duties, came out to talk about their work, along with the new owners.  The tour was presented by the Dallas Architecture Forum and Preservation Dallas, collaborating again–and rightly so–after an apparent hiatus of a number of years.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Julie Sinacola

November 21, 2008 Julie@mylft.com

214.577.2120

LFT Says Goodbye

Dallas, TX –As of Friday, November 21, LFT will begin the liquidation process of the store in Victory Park. “Due primarily to the current state of the economy and a yet to mature trade area, we have reluctantly decided to close our doors,” LFT owner, Ort Varona. LFT, as it is now known, cannot sustain the high level quality product we provide along with the personalized customer service that our loyal patrons have come to know. We are deeply saddened to see the doors close after a successful 20 month run. We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who made this store a great success.

“We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve Dallas and will continue to support any effort to create a better community,” Ort Varona.

Store hours will be as follows:

Monday-Saturday: 11-8pm

Sunday: 1-6pm

LFT - Lifestyle Fashion Terminal

2350 Victory Park Lane

Dallas, TX 75219

214.635.2150

www.mylft.com

So many builders had eyed this home as a tear-down, and it clearly is not. This is such great news… folks, have faith, have faith.

You didn’t hear this from me.

Update: We just finished the interview, and I love Karen, love Stewart! What a great interview — we wanted 15 minutes, we talked for 25. Am very excited about what they are doing and you will be, too! And as a housewarming gift, I am going to give Ribbit Wick’s Candy, Say It Ain’t So Joe, Heeeeere’s Johnny, Orange You On Vacation, Dooner and a host of commenters from the Dallas Dirt Comments Hall of Fame.  

Industry veterans pioneer new media about North Texas real estate

RealEstateRIBBIT.com targets booming Internet news readers

(DALLAS/FORT WORTH, TX - Nov. 3, 2008) - Four North Texas industry journalists are introducing a ‘New Media’ Web site focused on residential real estate news and features for Dallas/Fort Worth’s $6 billion home-buying and homebuilding industry.

The Internet site - RealEstateRibbit.com - is slated to go on-line Friday, Nov. 21. It provides viewers comprehensive insight into the residential real estate market with daily news stories and features. It also offers a blog - called Frog Blog - to promote on-line discussions on the important issues of the market.

The name Ribbit, in honor of the esteemed frog, seemed appropriate in the Internet world populated by great companies with names like Google, Yahoo and now Ribbit, says partner Stewart Lytle. “Our target audience is the home-buying public and industry leaders - builders, Realtors, developers, mortgage lenders and suppliers. Anyone who lives in a home, builds,  sells, mortgages, designs or offers products and services for homes will find valuable news and information.”

Partners Karen Taylor, Beverly Smirnis, Steve Smirnis and Mr. Lytle are veteran observers and writers with extensive experience in regional real estate media. “We hope homebuilders, Realtors and their customers will turn to Ribbit every day for information about North Texas’ dynamic residential market,” Ms. Taylor said. “Interviews focus on a wide variety of news makers and it will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on RealEstateRibbit.com.”

Ribbit will link to other industry Web sites and provide news and features in an industry estimated at $6.6 billion by Residential Strategies. The site will provide in-depth information and analysis on trends, green building, new home construction, sales and marketing of pre-owned homes, remodeling, lifestyle issues, new products and services. It also will report on charitable activities by Realtors, homebuilders and others.

“An estimated 90 percent of buyers start their home search on the Internet. Ribbit will serve that North Texas market with independent news and features for consumers and industry leaders. It also is timely for the millions of people who get much of their news on the Web today,” Ms. Smirnis said.

Mr. Smirnis concurred:  “A recent study by Bridge Ratings, a resource for tracing radio and new media audiences, projects that by 2009 monthly Internet radio listening will reach 38 percent of the U.S. population. The Internet and the Web have revolutionized the way the global population accesses information.”

Partners are members of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas as well as members of the Texas Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.

Stewart Lytle is a long-time writer and broadcaster on home buying and selling, building, land development and innovative home products. He has interviewed and written about hundreds of D/FW industry leaders in print media including Scripps-Howard Newspapers in Washington, D.C., The Dallas Times Herald and The Dallas Morning News.

Ms. Taylor has written about the real estate industry and business in the Southwest for more than 30 years.  She was on the team that launched The Dallas Morning News’ Home section and has won numerous awards for writing, reporting and editing. She owns Southwest Ink Public Relations, a leading public relations firm specializing in the real estate industry.

Beverly and Steve Smirnis have published magazines for the D/FW homebuilding industry for more than 17 years.  They currently publish Building SAVVY Magazine® covering new and pending legislation, financial and legal issues, and sales and marketing tips for home builders and remodelers.

For more information, call 972.889.2800 or visit www.RealEstateRibbit.com.

DD: What are you going to do with the shell?
Jud Pankey: The shell is going to stay as is. It will be ready to go again once we close a loan. The garage will be ready next week, so we have made some progress. We will then turn our attention to the courtyard.
DD: The parking garage is completed for the hotel, so will you let the shell sit?
Jud Pankey: Not sure what else we would do. Do you have any creative ideas, as I am all ears?
DD: Was the crane really costing $30K a month?
Jud Pankey: Yes—close enough.
DD: Will you build a smaller, scaled back condo perhaps?
Jud Pankey: No—does not make sense.
DD: Do you have any financing promises at this point?
Jud Pankey: We are working with a couple of lenders. They do exist!!
DD: Is this why Paulson (last week) said he is aiming the bail out funds at the banks?
Jud Pankey: Not sure what he said but the banks are trying to figure out risk between banks and customers. I think it is confusing for everyone, hence there is no confidence. The banks are trying to price risk and they have plenty of capital, but they are not being paid to lend money just to lend money just yet. Plus, the regulators need to encourage them to lend versus contract. It is an interesting time.

“We were very excited,” says Greg. When construction seemed to take a little longer, he renewed his lease at Republic Bank Tower, but did not stress. Yesterday, says Greg, he received a call from Jud Pankey, Prescott Realty Group CEO, who told him the crane was coming down to save $30,000 a month. The construction financing had fallen through, but Jud said he hoped to have a new line just after the first of the year. Greg says his deposit of about $60,000 is in an FDIC-insured escrow account and it is earning interest. In fact, Greg is more concerned over the building’s marketing direction than his money:

“I got a little concerned when the marketing center started to look like Las Vegas,” said Greg, who hopes the condo will absorb the traditional design flow of the newly-remodelled hotel and Carlton Varney-designed penthouse. He’s got his fingers crossed for that new financing, and says he’s willing to wait 18 to 24 months to move into his condo. 

“I’m fine where I am,” says Greg.�

• a record 32 percent of buyers found their houses first on the Internet; (Translation: DD needs more House Porn)
• almost 90 percent looked for information online during their home search; (Um, send me your listings!)
• almost 80 percent were concerned about commuting costs;
• 43 percent said heating and cooling costs were very important factors when they made their purchase; and
• more than 40 percent of sellers had to offer incentives to buyers, including assistance with closing costs and home warranty policies.

There’s another group out there for builders, the downsizers who don’t necessarily want a condominium but efficient, smartly designed 3500 square foot homes with two bedrooms down plus all of the above. My children sound like us: they tell me they do not want huge homes when they finally buy their own — too much to maintain, too expensive to keep up. Our kiddos may not have the chance to lead the lives of prosperity we did, and while they will embrace smaller abodes, I think they might have more of them.  

Wowsers and congrats to all!