Embark on a fascinating journey with Andy Bergfeld, a fifth-generation Tylerite and president of Bergfeld Realty. From his first steps in revitalizing Tyler in 1999 to his current projects that are actively transforming the city, Bergfeld’s dedication to progress is remarkable and infectiously inspiring. Among his most captivating endeavors is the transformation of an old, abandoned bus station into a boutique hotel, filling a need for overnight lodging in downtown Tyler.
Bergfeld shares his passion for real estate, his unique vision and his creative strategies for preserving and enhancing historical architecture. He talks about the importance of outside perspectives like the North Group from New Orleans, which is playing a big role in the city’s restoration projects.
MIKE LANDESS: For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess. The name “Bergfeld” can be seen all over Tyler. There’s Bergfeld Park, Bergfeld Shopping Center, the Bergfeld Realty Company, just to name a few. Fifth-generation Tylerite Andy Bergfeld has continued that tradition of service to the city through a variety of roles, including the Tyler ISD Board of Trustees. He’s president of Bergfeld Realty, which is actively involved in a number of unique projects that are helping revitalize downtown Tyler, and he’s our guest today. Welcome.
ANDY BERGFELD: Thank you.
MIKE LANDESS: There are so many cool projects you’ve been involved in, but the one I’ve enjoyed watching the most is the transformation of the abandoned Trailways bus station into a downtown hotel. Tell us about that.
ANDY BERGFELD: Well, you know, this whole downtown revitalization has been ongoing in my career for the last 25 years. And once I was able to do projects that I really enjoyed doing, then you kind of get to where you’re hooked on downtown and on getting it revitalized. And one of the things we really need to end up as a “destination downtown” is we need overnight lodging. We needed some hotel rooms. And so, gosh, probably for the last 5 years we’ve just been looking at projects and looking at buildings and, you know, trying to find a good fit. And so when the old bus station came up for sale, you know, it was covered in sheet metal and plaster, and I thought, god, that’s the ugliest building in town. No one’s going to buy that. And then, someone tipped me off that there may be an original building, art deco building underneath all of that exterior. So, I got a key to the building and found the back stairway and went upstairs, and it was all the original apartments from the building when it was built in the ’30s. And then the executive offices for Trailways were added in ’46 in the little modern edition that now you can see on the east side of the building. So I stuck my head out of a broken window with my flashlight to look and see if the original brick was still all on the building, because I had since gotten pictures of what it looked like before. And so once I saw it was all intact, and then I already had apartments upstairs that could be converted into hotel rooms, we put it under contract and closed on it pretty quick and then put the plan together.
LANDESS: What were the apartments?
BERGFELD: So originally, the building was built in the ’30s, and they were just apartments that people could rent. And then I have heard since when Trailways took it over and then Greyhound, that it also served as a place for the bus drivers to sleep overnight when they would come into Tyler, stay in the apartments, and then leave the next morning.
LANDESS: How in the world did you look at that building and say, hotel, that’s what we need here?
BERGFELD: Well, we do need it. And the uniqueness of that building — I was able to get it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And so that art deco architecture style, we don’t have many of those left in Tyler anymore. And that’s the funny thing about downtown. We tore down so many beautiful buildings in the name of progress, but we still have enough from the mid-to-late 1800s to about 1960. You’ve got all different styles of buildings, and this one just happened to have everything that we needed, and then also it’s going to be a nine-room boutique hotel. So, I’m good at real estate. I don’t know much about hotels, so I didn’t want to get in too far over my head as we learn how this whole hospitality deal works.
LANDESS: We have the North Group from New Orleans involved in a number of downtown projects. Some are moving faster than others. Is it a good thing to have someone from the outside of Tyler envisioning restoration and renovation here?
BERGFELD: Absolutely. We looked at the Carlton, and it was too big of a project for me. I couldn’t get my mind around how that would all come together, and so someone like North who has done some of these larger projects like that I’ve met them, talked to them. I think it’s great. Somebody needed to take on the Carlton, and if they’re the ones that can get it done, it’s better for everybody.
LANDESS: What’s the reality for a vibrant downtown, a revitalized downtown? It’s been talked about for decades, but your generation is actually making it happen.
BERGFELD: Yeah, I think, I think when I moved back to Tyler, I bought my first building downtown in 1999. And then I bought another one in 2004, which was an old furniture store that we converted into an office building. And you know, I kind of tell the story– It’s funny. I took my dad and my uncle down there, and the way we did that building, we took all the ceilings out and went with exposed wood deck of the roof and steel trusses and more of a kind of a that’s a different look, a little bit industrial, but you know a lot of just exposed original parts of the building. And my uncle asked me, he’s like, where’s the ceiling? And he just didn’t get it. They had been used to just, you know, drop ceilings– this is the way buildings are done. And so, I thought, I just thought, it’s so fun to be able to be creative, and that’s what my age people and younger, they get that creative and they want to live that way. It’s, you know, it’s live, work, play all in the same place. A lot of them — I’ve got, I’ve met so many people downtown now, but a lot of them don’t–they just parked their car, and they maybe get in it, you know, once a month. I mean, it’s like everything’s downtown, and they live downtown, and that’s where they go to eat and that’s where they, you know, go out, and the younger generation just sees it.
LANDESS: It’s interesting that that apartments are sort of being pushed through downtown, the focus being on apartments rather than like condominiums. Is that something that’s coming?
BERGFELD: Uh, you know, I think there’ll be some condominiums. I do have some people that have told me, “Hey, you know, I would move downtown if I had a place, you know, if I could find a place for my wife and I.” You know, I’ve had three or four people tell me that in the last year or two, so you’ll get some of that. The challenge is finding the existing buildings, that some of them are in the hands of people who won’t sell them, but they won’t update them. So they’re just kind of sitting there. And I’ve got a pretty good feel on about every building downtown, like who owns it, where are they on selling it, are they realistic on price. And then you, just uh, you just kind of move the puzzle pieces around and pick, pick them up when you can, and then you’ve got some new developers that have come in on the west side and taking old parking lots or places where buildings were torn down, and they’re doing new construction, which is great also.
LANDESS: What’s your vision for Tyler in 5 years?
BERGFELD: Five years. You know, I’ve been working on this a long time, and I know how slow it can be. Um, there’s more going on right now than there has ever been in the last gosh, probably since the late ’60s, maybe mid-60s. Um, I would like to see us a destination in the next 5 years, but it’s probably 10 to 15, I would say, before we are really built out downtown. Um, the way, the way I envision it.
LANDESS: Our guest has been Andy Bergfeld, president of Bergfeld Realty. To hear this conversation again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio.
(Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain phonetic spellings and other spelling and punctuation errors. Grammar errors contained in the original recording are not typically corrected.)
