European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Greater fool theory and a sleeping giant of exciting land potential by Mike Cochran and Tom de cola associated Chresst in years ago the landscape around grape Vine Texas was As Flat As the Wyoming Range. Only the skylines of Dallas 20 Miles East and fort Worth 20 Miles West broke the  plans were announced for the Dow regional Airport. It would Rise in cattle grazing country just South of Here. And with it would come a mighty metro plex of Industry warehouses restaurants High Rise hotels sprawling shopping centers apartments Homes. Big men invested big Money in land banking on a Quick profit when the building Boom began. There had been so much or about the Airport that Selling land was almost like Selling pancakes said two Grapevine realtors Millord and Bob  watched land jump from $1,000 an acre to $5,000, then j10.000, $20,000, $30,000," said Ann Carlson another Grapevine realtor. Nobody thought it would  but it did end a victim of recession greed Misin formation miscalculation inflation and perhaps in isolated cases fraud. Today the Airport is there but that s All. Except for the cattle grazing on land that changed hands so Many times that it was priced out of the  Don t know of any other experience like this in history said Dallas real estate investor John Kidd. It is on of the few times i be Ever seen the very Best miss by 100  the very Best was millionaire realtor Henry s. Miller. From his skyscraper office overlooking much of the Dallas landscape he helped shape Miller said even though i foresaw this and predicted this the de Cline was not immune. We did get caught up in the hysteria. We did not always follow our convictions. It was Only a question of time until the Bubble would  Miller apparently fared better than most. The speculators and synd Catora banked on what Kidd Calls the greater foot  said Kidd everybody got into the game thinking a greater fool would follow who would pay even More. What brought it Down was we ran out of fools. We woke up one Day and to litre weren t any new people in the pot to  was not among the winners. Real estate broker Horace Vail traces the phenomenon Back to 1967, when gov. John Connally signed a Bill allow ing creation of the Airport authority. Vail said an estimated $56 million in Cash was paid to landowners of the original 17,500 acres on which the $700 million Airport now  landowners Many of them Farmers opted to escape the capital gains taxes on their windfalls and pumped the Money Back into the land around the Airport perimeter triggering the  s generally accepted Llinat Airport land comprises about 100.000 acres half owned by developers "flfT"1 Able for speculation at an average Cost of $8.000 per acre the land speculation game was played in a he Mil lion Ballpark. However the Boom hysteria is said to have influenced land sales and values within a 100-mile radius of the Airport. Syndicator pooled Money from Large and smash Yves tors doctors lawyers mechanics and retail clerks to under a sign advertising flights from Dallas fort Worth Airport cattle Amble Over empty pasture once pictured As a prosperous spread of freeways and buildings. They were Vail said betting on the come gambling mostly with other people s Money that the land would escalate in value and could be resold quickly at a profit. The greater fool theory. In then the big Money started coming in. He said but they based their evaluations on fictitious values finally there emerged the real estate investment trusts. Kits operated much like a Mutual fund per mitting the Public to buy Stock in speculative ventures. Normally sponsored by Banks insurance companies and real estate firms. A files contributed to the unwise spending said Vail lending Money on false values. Thus the stage was set for disaster. The Economy turned sour a mixture of inflation an recession. Interest rates Rose dramatically contributing to a collapse of the Money Market. The run of foreclosures and bankruptcies began foreclosures triggered a shutoff of lending 100per cent Vail Saidt it shut Down As fast As i be Ever seen anything shut  few were  couple gambled their $20.000 life savings and lost those with bigger Money in most cases lost bigger  financier Ken Good whose ambitious metro port office Park Complex was victim to a shutoff of fund ing said it was greed and horrible judgment More than outright fraud. You had people not qualified to sell a pair of shoes Selling million Dollar pieces of land " the ads in the official commemorative dedication pro Gram in 1973 were Pri dec ably upbeat and fanned the fires of speculation. From an insurance company the Dallas fort Worth Airport largest in the world is a Symbol of the tremendous growth of the entire Southwest Metroplex and there s More to come As a result of this Ultra Modem facility established businesses will Prosper new ones will emerge and More families will make their Homes  from a regional marketing organization Dun 4 Bradstreet reports that Only new York and Chicago have More million Dollar companies than Dallas fort Worth the Airport can Only accelerate this trend " from a real estate company it s the largest Airport in the world and around it lies a sleeping giant of exciting land potential " monday May 16, 1977 from a development corporation our latest property the Hilton inn International opens in late 1974. It will serve As a major accommodation to the new Dallas fort Worth regional  the hotel has yet to be built. For the most part the Airport land debacle consisted mostly of speculators Selling to other Specula tors syndicates Selling to other syndicates. Legitimate users of land such As developers and industries were turned off by the Artici ally inflated prices. Thus to this Day land that once changed hands 10 or 12times, that escalated from $2.000 an acre to $30,000 an acre is Back in the hands of the original owners. You can drive right next door to the Airport now and there s still people farming it said John Kidd. When you think of How much Money changed hands. And the Best most productive use of the land is still to raise cows it makes you  who gambled Are wondering too. One burned investor put it this Way we All got so greedy and mentally distorted that we committed a lot of Money based on rumours. Everybody was affected. I Felt like i had to Edge up to that wicked mistress i was fascinated by in. Anyone who buys and Sells land Roulon t help but be fascinated b  another i be never seen anything like it to fore it was an illusion. I bought an illusion " whether the circumstances that caused the Boom and bust were cosmic coincidences that can never be repeated May be open to question. The land prices around the Airport Are becoming More realistic the new players say. But toe players Are More cautious. Most of those involved feel that the episode will not be  investor put it succinctly. We re Back where users can find attractive locations to buy at a Price they can afford to pay. They could t do thai during the height of our madness the stars and stripes Pago 13