Cindy Gregory remembers doing everything by hand when she started out as a REALTOR\u00ae nearly four decades ago. Ms. Gregory recalls hand writing each listing, taking her own pictures of houses and getting them developed before delivering them herself to the Greater Tyler Association of REALTORS\u00ae. \nShe started her career during a time when no one had a computer or cell phone. She has seen the industry change to \u201ceverything being on the Internet,\u201d she said. \u201cOur business has changed so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Gregory, of Gregory Real Estate, has been a member of the Greater Tyler Association of REALTORS\u00ae for 34 years. This week she recalled how times have changed and compared the association\u2019s old facility, located on South Broadway Avenue, to the new state-of-the-art OneREALTOR\u00aeCenter, 2772 SSE Loop 323, which celebrated its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday. \nThe new 9,400-square-foot center, on 4.81 acres, is a big upgrade from the association\u2019s old 3,400-square-foot facility, which was built in 1964 and outdated.<\/p>\n
The new center has state-of-the-art technology throughout, while in the old building, \u201cyou could yell at each other from room to room,\u201d Ed Moore, executive vice president of the association, said. Employees now have private offices to hold meetings in, while the old facility had a community-style office that resembled a bullpen, he said. \nThe Greater Tyler Association of REALTORS\u00ae has about 1,000 members from Smith and Wood counties, and the new center will ensure their survivability, Moore said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it will give us a platform to be visible in the community \u2026 and the opportunity to bring something new and different and better to Tyler,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The plans for OneREALTOR\u00aeCenter already were laid when Moore moved to Tyler to head the organization two years ago, but he has been heavily involved in the project. \u201cThis was built on the shoulders of all of our past members and board members,\u201d said Jonathan Wolf, president of Greater Tyler Association of REALTORS\u00ae, during the celebration Thursday. Wolf said they hope to have built the facility so well that his 5-year-old son Luke would be able to go there when he\u2019s selling real estate.<\/p>\n
He said when the organization bought the land, it was heavily wooded, so now to see the project done \u201cis cool.\u201d The first word that comes to his mind about seeing the building completed after five years is \u2014 proud. \u201cI\u2019m just proud we accomplished it,\u201d Wolf said, adding that the vision of the board members was to have a better facility to educate.<\/p>\n
The new center is like having two buildings in one, Moore said. Half of the building serves as the headquarters for the association\u2019s staff, made up of himself and four employees, and day-to-day operations, while the other half offers event and meeting space.<\/p>\n
OneREALTOR\u00aeCenter, a \u201chigh-tech services and event space,\u201d will be used for the association\u2019s training and meetings, as well as rented out for conventions, receptions, weddings, fundraisers and other events to raise extra income, he said. It offers a full catering, commercial kitchen and a large event room that can hold about 200 people.<\/p>\n
The center also has two high-definition projectors and two SMART\u2122 boards, a new concept that came out in November that allows two people to work on a white board at the same time, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like it in Tyler,\u201d he said. The center has been in the works for at least the past five years, Moore said.\u201cThis building will give us the resources we need to ensure the survival and success of real estate professional in Smith and Wood counties, as well as protecting private property rights,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n
Ken Killian was the architect for the project. Born in Tyler, he now lives in Dallas but considers the center as his flagship project to moving back home to Tyler, Moore said. The interior designer for the facility was PatriciaCanfield.<\/p>\n
OneREALTOR\u00aeCenter is a modern cathedral-type building with tall glass walls and windows and ceramic-tile floors that almost look like the sea, Moore said.\u00a0 Even on a cloudy day, the inside lights don\u2019t need to be used, he added. The outside of the building is designed with Brazilian oak, white special stone and aluminum ipex.<\/p>\n
Breedlove Nursery & Landscape landscaped the property, using the natural trees that were already on the property and Texas-style native landscaping, Moore said.<\/p>\n
Adding a rentable space to the center gives them the opportunity to raise more income and provide additional resources needed to help the real estate professionals in the area.<\/p>\n
With the new center, the association can offer more local training and technology for all the realtors here, Ms. Gregory said: \u201cAs REALTORS\u00ae, we have to keep up and be able to renew our licenses,\u201d she said. \nTo do that, they must attend training, which now can be done in Tyler instead of traveling to Houston or Austin. Local training will save REALTORS\u00ae money and bring in more revenue, she said.<\/p>\n
The association built the new center on Loop 323 so out-of-town Realtors, such as those coming from Wood County, as well as other East Texas cities, could access it better.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt it was our job to help grow and develop Tyler,\u201d and the new location would be a good incentive for growth on that side of town, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I\u2019ve been in real estate, I\u2019ve always been proud of our organization and how we strive to be professional. \u2026 Realtors are real active in this community in doing good for Tyler,\u201d Ms. Gregory said. \nMs. Gregory, 62, was born in Wichita Falls and moved to Tyler when she was 5. She became a Realtor when she was 24 and is past president of the board of the Greater Tyler Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n
Moore, 62, said he looks forward to the future of the association in the new center. \n\u201cI\u2019m proud and pleased to head up such a professional organization,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is one of the most professional organizations I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work with in 37 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moore grew up in Tennessee, where he went to college and entered the real estate field in 1974. From there he moved to Illinois, where he served as assistant commissioner of real estate for the state of Illinois, then executive vice president for a real estate board. He also served as executive vice president for real estate organizations in Florida and Massachusetts before moving to Tyler.<\/p>\n
Realtors Open OneREALTOR\u00aeCenter \nBy CASEY MURPHY \nBusiness Editor<\/p>\n
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