The view from outside Goodfriend Beer Garden, one of a few restaurants at Garland-Peavy that is turning the intersection around.
There isn’t much land around us that can be bulldozed and developed. That means “urban infill” is most likely around here, meaning older or dilapidated retail buildings being reused for new businesses.
One of those “hot spots” for urban infill in Dallas is the organic development happening at Garland and Peavy, says Ian Pierce of commercial real estate firm The Weitzman Group. He’s talking about the strip where Good 2 Go Taco, Cultivar Coffee, Goodfriend and 20 Feet are overhauling the landscape.
“These are areas that might be flying under the radar that, through several events coming together, have suddenly become a retail destination,” Pierce says.
He compares what’s happening at Garland and Peavy to the evolution of Oak Cliff’s Bishop Arts District.
“That was an old neighborhood, and very sleepy for a long time,” Pierce says. “For the longest time, you would go down there and Tillman’s Roadhouse was about it, and then slowly but surely entrepreneurial stores and chef-driven restaurants started to open. Then it became a destination that was pulling from far beyond the trade area.”
We’re starting to see this on a smaller scale with Garland and Peavy, he says, despite the obvious differences.
“Bishop Arts has the benefit of historic buildings and a strong sense of place,” Pierce says. “It was a cool place even before it started really taking off. What you’re seeing with Good 2 Go and Goodfriend is they’ve turned it into a cool place — and all of this is happening behind a self-serve car wash. It didn’t have a strong history or sense of place, but they’re creating one.”
Good 2 Go started in the Green Spot gas station, and as chef-owners Colleen O’Hare and Jeana Johnson’s fame grew, they made the move to Garland-Peavy, starting the domino effect. Goodfriend soon announced it would open nearby, Cultivar (initially Stir Coffee) moved in with Good 2 Go, chef Marc Cassel followed with his seafood concept (initially known as Peavy Road but since named 20 Feet), and Dowdy Studio set up shop in the parking lot.
When Goodfriend’s Matt Tobin was preparing to open, he noted that he hoped all of the local restaurateurs setting up shop would “start a chain reaction in the area.” According to Pierce, that’s exactly what happened — and what will likely continue to happen.
“The way these things typically work, I think people will slowly see, OK, you can’t park there when it’s busy,” Pierce says. “Any entrepreneur will look where you’ve got the traffic and interest. What often happens is somebody wants to be right there.”
He points to Dowdy Studio, which had a warehouse space behind Good 2 Go and Goodfriend, saw all the traffic and decided to put a trailer in the front parking lot — “and they’re selling T-shirts like crazy there,” Pierce says.
The next frontier likely is the strip center across the street. “It’s a little bit sleepy, it has some vacancy,” and someone might see opportunity there, Pierce says.
“You kind of see a match is lit, and it starts to spread in a natural progression,” Pierce says. And all because “somebody took a chance.”
