One Man Economic Development Team

We would like to congratulate Garland’s Robert Smith for being elected to the Board of Directors of the Texas Downtown Association, headquartered in Austin. The Association has 450 members, consisting of individuals, corporations, chambers of commerce and economic development groups. The membership is committed to the revitalization of downtown areas of communities large and small across the great State of Texas.

There can be no doubt that Smith’s involvement in the Texas Downtown Association will benefit downtown Garland. As a real estate investor, his focus has been on downtown Garland in recent years. For the past year he has served as President of the Garland Downtown Business Åssociation and has been leading the way toward a historic designation for the area. His commercial properties in the downtown area include the Current Art Workshop, the Ceramics shop, Paw Paw’s diner, a Pet Grooming shop and the Pet Adoption Center. Bordering the downtown square, he owns the Generator Coffee house and recently sold the Intrinsic Brew Pub property to the brewers. His most recent acquisitions have been the Roach Feed and Seed property and the building at 316 Main Street.

The largest share of property in the downtown area is owned by the City of Garland. Those holdings include the vacant and decaying building in the center of the downtown square, most recently occupied by the Garland Civic Theatre Company. The second largest downtown property owner is Sloan Properties, followed by Reese Swilley, Robert Smith and the Marshalls.

The largest parcel of real estate on the north side of the square belongs to Don Jones, whose family has owned that real estate for generations.  Much to the chagrin of surrounding businesses, that 9,000 square foot space has remained dark and vacant for decades. We can only imagine how those vacant properties would evolve in the hands of Robert Smith, a man with vision and a proven track record for successfully revitalizing distressed properties in the area.

 

While property values are bound to increase due to his efforts, so do those of all other shareholders in the downtown area. For that fact alone it would stand to reason that his efforts should be supported by all those with skin in the game.  Smith’s grandfather once owned property in the downtown area, so Robert is no newcomer to the community . We’ve watched him exhibit tremendous patience when dealing with his tenants and endure endless meetings when required by the city meet the requirements for planning and zoning.  Robert Smith goes the extra mile to enhance the area, businesswise and otherwise. Smith would like to see more outdoor art in downtown Garland and recently commissioned local artist, Lucas Cervellini, to paint a mural on the rear of the pet adoption center, so the building would become more visible from State Street.  He made sure all of his buildings were decorated with holiday lights in time for the Christmas on the Square celebration. The lights are great, but we most appreciate the newly paved parking area in front of Roach Feed and Seed. Smith tells us he’s looking forward to doing more in the way of beautification of downtown Garland,

and the area surrounding the square, in particular. We have taken great pleasure in watching Robert Smith function as a one man economic development team and look forward to watching him continue to revitalize what was once the business center of the city.  With approximately 20,000 square feet of vacant retail space on the square, the potential for revitalization can only be realized if Mr. Jones and the City of Garland let go of those large, dark and empty spaces.

 

Nancy Ghirla

Email: [email protected]