BRIAN STEBBINS

WORDS JENNIFER CASEY

Thousands of us have moved to Southlake from different states and countries and enjoy all that this fabulous town has to offer. Most of us take what we have in Southlake for granted and have never looked back to the history that got us where we are today

Part of the land was a chicken farm and the other was open fields. How did the beautiful town that we’ve raised our Dragons in, the amazing restaurants we’ve had hundreds of meals at, the shops we’ve spent hours perusing, and the city that has given us years of festivals all come to be?

The year was 1989 and Brian Stebbins was living in San Diego where he and Frank Bliss had just joined forces with Peter Cooper in Newport Beach, CA, at Cooper and Co. Peter had been drawn to a development, Southcoast Plaza, in Orange County created by the Segerstrom family from land that had been in the family since the 1930s. He loved the mood and feel of the place, so he sent Brian and Frank on a search for land that was to be developed into something special – a place that would be enjoyed generationally. “This was the inspiration. If we could find land that was in its native state, we could develop it in a way that had mixed-use, was walkable and open-air, had an urban feel that gave a nod to street patterns, and had enough land to create a street grid that would create lifestyle and be the “center” of the community,” Frank Bliss said.

Brian and Frank looked at land from New Jersey to Texas and at parcels with 1500 acres down to 75. They studied the economies and knew that the space had to have many different attributes in order for it to work. It had to be in a place that had an economy that could sustain it for more than a generation. The area had to have a business-friendly climate, no state income tax, and not a lot of tax levies like New York and California. They already knew that they liked TX as they had done projects with other partners here. Southlake seemed like a strong regional anchor which had the Highway 114 corridor with DFW Airport at one end and Alliance Airport with Ross Perot Jr’s land and investment at the other. I asked Frank how the pin ultimately got stuck in Southlake, and he replied: “It was a combination of our research. We loved that Southlake already had traditions and everyone loved being Dragons even back then. People were willing to buy into something bigger than themselves and their homes. The community appreciated that we worked hard every day and didn’t rest on our laurels.” Brian always said: “It’s hard work every day. You don’t get to sit back, because if you do, you lose sight of how to make it better.”

Brian grew up in Rockford, IL, and had very Midwest values. “Brian was incredibly curious and he wasn’t afraid to look at things differently,” said Frank. “We met when he hired me for a deal he was doing in Seattle and I was a real estate attorney. After the deal was over, Brian told me I was in the wrong business, and shortly thereafter we started working together. Brian could communicate his vision so well that you were immediately pulled in.”

The first public meeting they had to discuss their proposed development was at Bicentennial park in February of 1996. “Brian told me that we weren’t taking any drawings or plans. He wanted to know what the people in town wanted. He had a vision but knew it had to include the town’s dreams as well,” Frank reminisces. So, they showed up with nothing. Frank laughed saying, “We drew quite a few comments from the crowd. It was just Brian, our architect and me. We didn’t expect more than 20 people to show up but there ended up being about 120. We learned that people wanted restaurants, shops, places to have parades to celebrate football wins, and it took off from there.”

People were skeptical, but with each meeting everyone started to realize that Brian had a vision that included all of the town’s wants and needs. With each meeting they had, they gained more buy-in from the community and people started getting excited.

Brian didn’t want to build a project – he wanted to build a community. His Midwest values seemed ideal for the project and Brian had romantic notions about what a town should look and feel like. He grew up in a small town in Washington, Iowa, with his grandparents and wanted to bring that feel to Southlake. Frank said that most of their days started at 6 a.m. and ended at 2 a.m. “We talked every day about what we learned from people. Brian knew how to stay the course through a sea of noise. He believed in the path we were on and had very good management of the development process.”

Sadly, Brian was diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition that took him way too soon at the age of 55, just seven years after being diagnosed, leaving behind not just his wife, Pattie, but their son and daughter who were 20 and 17 at the time. Pattie is blessed to be living in the community that Brian created, residing in the Brownstones, and had a stationery store in Town Square for 13 years. She says that she’s blessed every day to walk through Town Square and see her husband’s work being enjoyed.

I asked what she would like people to know about Brian, and she replied: “Brian was very low-key and humble. He had great integrity, was honest, and did what he said he would do.” Pattie and Brian met on a blind date through a college friend. She feels that the fact that they had both grown up in the Midwest (Brian in Illinois and Pattie in Wisconsin) was what made their relationship work. They married within a year, lived in California for eight years, and then made the move to Southlake in 1996. She laughed when she told me about the time Brian first brought her to town. There was only one restaurant in Southlake so they ended up going to a place called Judge Beans in Keller. On their way home, she said a tumbleweed literally rolled in front of their car and it made them laugh.

“When we first moved to Southlake, we didn’t have anywhere to meet up with people. There wasn’t a real sense of community, and that was what Brian was really hoping to bring to their development – a community that would create a meeting place,” Pattie said. People were definitely skeptical about the development and the newspapers and editorials weren’t always supportive. It wasn’t always easy, but Brian held strong and would tell the community: “Look, I moved my family here. We aren’t going to build a development and leave. We’re all in this together.”

Brian wanted a high-end, quality development. It was no small feat what Brian and Frank accomplished with such a small staff. “They worked so hard, spending hours working with the city planning and zoning. It was hard on our families but we were proud of what they were doing,” Pattie said. “We lived in the newly developed Monticello Estates. We all became such good friends and are still tight to this day. What a great place it was to raise a family!”

One of Pattie’s favorite things to do was to walk through Town Square with Brian after it was completed. She always wished she would have asked Brian what he felt walking through town, but she believes that he would have said he was proud. “He gave his heart and soul to this project and really wanted to make it a special place where people could gather. His face would light up when he saw kids playing in the park. He lived to see his dream come to fruition.”

Most of you have seen the statue in the square on the corner across from Malouf’s and MiCocina – the one of a father tying his son’s shoe. Pattie had this statue and plaque dedicated to Brian for his contributions to our town of Southlake. After knowing more about our history, when I’m in Town Square I know I will take the time to look at this statue a little differently and give a nod of thanks and appreciation for the town that started as a vision to Brian Stebbins.