Anything uptown and urban in real estate is Jack Gosnell’s forte. Jack is an Executive Vice President with CBRE | UCR Urban in Dallas. His arrival prompted the development of our Urban division – formed to pursue urban redevelopment for mixed-use projects in the urban core. The principal focus of Jack’s energy has turned to adaptive re-use and redevelopment of urban cores. He is active in the redevelopment of Downtown Dallas. In 2016, Jack received the Stemmons Service Award, the highest award and honor given in the commercial real estate industry in Dallas by The North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors (NTCAR).
Prior to CBRE | UCR, Jack began his real estate career in specialty retail leasing and commercial sales in 1972 with real estate legend Henry S. Miller, Jr. There he worked on leasing assignments with Turtle Creek Village and Old Town Village, which were prototypes of denser urban centers such as Mockingbird Station and West Village. He was Henry S. Miller, Jr.’s assistant during the acquisition of Highland Park Village in 1975.
Gosnell began moving toward the urban core when he established his own business in 1978. He moved his focus from specialty retail to a multi-tiered approach to real estate. He assembled five major blocks in Uptown, which included the land for One McKinney Place, The Residence on McKinney and the Worthington. He was instrumental in assembling much of the land currently known as the State Thomas area in Uptown.
During the 80’s and 90’s, Gosnell brokered over 200 building sales and over 300 leases south of Northwest Highway, 75 percent of the leases being restaurants. At one time in the 90’s, Gosnell had brokered 65 percent of Uptown/Downtown’s 145 restaurants. These include: 8.0 Bar, Meddlesome Moth, Taverna, The Common Table, Fedora, Asian Mint, The Knox Street Pub, The Idle Rich Pub, Iron Cactus, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, Palomino, Wild Salsa, Capital Grille, Dallas Chop House, Ocean Prime, Dee Lincoln’s Tasting Room, Pho Colonial, Stephan Pyles’ Stampede 66, FT 33, Ascension Coffee, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Katy Trail Ice House, the Rustic, Mutts Cantina, Mesero, Moxie, Shelby County Café, OAK, Mudhen, Adelmo’s and Shake Shack to name a few.
Gosnell brought Forest City to Dallas to redevelop the notable Mercantile Bank building, the Continental building and the historic Wilson Building as a downtown mixed-use complex. CBRE | UCR Urban will lease the retail component and is active in the retail reemergence of the downtown Central Business District (CBD). He has chaired the Retail Recruitment Committee for Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) and is working on a leasing plan for the Specialty Retail District in Downtown Dallas.
Gosnell’s current projects include 1401 Elm in downtown, McKinney & Olive in Uptown, The Union, and The Farmers Market privatization. 1401 Elm is a landmark Skidmore tower with 120,000 square feet of retail to be redeveloped and delivered late in 2016. McKinney & Olive is a new César Pelli tower with 60,000 square feet of luxury retail and restaurant space in the heart of Uptown Dallas. The Union is 100,000 square feet of retail plus office and a residential tower. The Farmers Market represents a $90 million dollar redevelopment of a Dallas landmark.
Originally from Arlington, Virginia, Jack received his Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University. He served in the Armed Forces and resigned from the Army with commendation as a Captain in the Corps of Engineers.