School, Politics & the Library
What do these three things have in common? Well, if you’re from Texas you probably guessed it. The new George W. Bush Library is slated to go down on the edge of the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. The addition of the George W. Bush presidential library makes the 3rd to call Texas home, behind the Lyndon B. Johnson library in Austin, TX and the George H. W. Bush library in College Station, TX. Regardless of how you feel about the decision to locate the latest presidential library to SMU instead of somewhere like Midland or Waco, my question is how will this decision affect the SMU real estate market?
It’s safe to say that the collegiate atmosphere surrounding SMU has yielded some mixed emotions to the coming of this library. Not to mention the faculty AND the University itself who was at one time disputing the ownership of the proposed land to be built on. At this point, it appears that the library effort will move forward and even be completed by 2013.
This is an excerpt from the official website for the library…
“The site of the Bush Presidential Center occupies a prime location in the heart of a rapidly growing urban city in the middle of the country. Located just five miles north of downtown Dallas on approximately 25 acres on the SMU campus, the Bush Presidential Center will overlook the downtown skyline of Dallas and serve as the eastern entrance to the university campus.”
I bolded some of the key words that are “value vocabulary” when talking about any piece of real estate. The truth is, these descriptors are fairly accurate for this area and market. One thing is for certain; this area is already an expensive real estate market. With 25 acres being taken off the potential market, this perhaps makes an already tight market even tighter.
Although these presidential libraries are touted for their economic impact as a result of tourism and research, it begs the debate on whether the impact to surrounding real estate values will be positive, negative or completely neutral. Although average prices for real estate are high in this market, I believe that they have a ways to go. If you look at where SMU sits within Dallas, growth is constrained by several geographic barriers. Bordered on all sides by interstate and conveniently close to downtown, you can’t go far from campus without running into another sub-market. Both DFW and Love Field airports are also within a few minutes providing ease of travel for business or pleasure. I would say that regardless of how you feel about George W. Bush on a political level, the arrival of his library is more likely to drive surrounding property values up than down. I suppose that time will tell us.