Dallas Morning News January 11, 2008
Transit-oriented developments spring up near DART stops
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Off Walnut Hill Lane in northeast Dallas, demolition crews are making quick work of a sprawling neighborhood of crummy apartments.
In place of the crime-ridden units, developers will soon put up an urban village centered around a new commuter rail station.
In years past, that Lake Highlands property might have wound up being used for just more apartments or a strip shopping center or even single-family homes.
But that was before developers caught on to the benefits of mass transit.
"One of the most important aspects of our overall project is having the ability to have mass transit in the development," said Vance Detwiler, managing director of Prescott Realty Group, which is building the new Lake Highlands Town Center. "In theory, you can build your projects more dense and have a little less parking."
In just over a decade since the commuter rail system opened in Dallas, real estate projects that have sprung up around some of the stations have gotten bigger and more complicated.
They are called transit-oriented developments, or TODs. And these projects are the real estate development's version of the iPod.
They are the hot gadget that's remaking the business of building retail, residential and commercial space.
Early TODs like Mockingbird Station and even West Village in Uptown showed developers that these complexes resonated with consumers.
The two newest such developments take the idea to the infinite degree.
The 33-acre Park Lane complex under construction adjacent to DART's Park Lane rail station will cost three-quarters of a billion dollars to complete.
The first phase of the mammoth mixed-use development will open later this year.
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"Our grand opening will be in February of next year," said Tod Ruble, a co-founder of project developer Harvest Partners. "We will have the first tenants in the apartment towers by May of this year."
The high-rise complex going up across North Central Expressway from NorthPark Center shopping mall is one of the largest such developments in the country.
And Mr. Ruble said the project wouldn't be happening the way it is without the adjoining rail station.
"It's already come up several times in discussions with tenants about how attractive it will be to access the project through DART," he said. "As Dallas becomes more urban and people move back into the city, more of them are willing to ride the transit."
Park Lane will be a city in itself with more than 600 residential units - mostly in high-rise buildings - and 700,000 square feet of retail space and 816,000 square feet of office space. The Valencia Hotel, which is just getting under way, has been increased to 250 rooms.
And Harvest Partners is seeking tenants for a new office tower.
"We are working on plans for a 400,000-square-foot building right on the corner of Park and North Central," Mr. Ruble said.
DART's director of economic development and planning, Jack Wierzenski, said he isn't surprised to see that local TODs are getting bigger.
"It's just the maturity and the reality of the market," Mr. Wierzenski said. "The early ones were more of a let's-see-if-this-works."
And the impact of these projects are likely to spread beyond their boundaries.
"There is a ripple effect," Mr. Wierzenski said. "Mockingbird Station was seen as a success but now look at what's - even more - going on around it."
Lake Highlands homeowners who lobbied for Prescott Realty Group's project on Skillman Street also expect it to be a positive influence on the neighborhood.
The 70-acre development is expected to cost as much as $400 million and will include about 1,600 residences, 300,000 square feet of retail and about 100,000 square feet of office space. Almost 20 acres is being set aside for park and public space.
Crews are busy demolishing the old apartments to make way for the urban village.
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"About 50 percent of the site is cleared," said Prescott Realty's Mr. Detwiler. "We have knocked down over 40 buildings.
"We will start moving dirt and putting in the streets and other infrastructure by May."
The first phase of Lake Highlands Town Center is to open late next year, he said.
"We are hopeful that the new DART station will be ready by late 2010 or early 2011," Mr. Detwiler said.
The addition of the transit stop to DART's existing Garland Line enabled the developers to seek zoning changes for more buildings for their project.
"In order to make redevelopment work in an urban area, you have to have additional density because of the costs," Mr. Detwiler said.
PARK LANE
• $750 million transit-oriented, mixed-use development • U.S. Highway 75 and Park Lane • Adjacent to Park Lane light-rail station • 33 acres • 700,000 square feet of retail • 816,000 square feet of office space • 250 hotel rooms • 78,000-square-foot fitness center • 625 residential units • Developer: Harvest Partners
LAKE HIGHLANDS TOWN CENTER
• $400 million transit-oriented, mixed-use development • Adjacent to new Lake Highlands light-rail station • Walnut Hill Lane and Skillman Street • 70 acres • 300,000 square feet of retail • 100,000 square feet of office • 1,600 residential units • 20 acres of park and public space • Developer: Prescott Realty Group
Page 3 of 3 Fort Worth Star-Telegram March 6, 2008
Rail stations expected to spur growth
By SANDRA BAKER Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- The more than a dozen passenger stops planned for the proposed 40- mile commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport will give Fort Worth and a few surrounding cities the chance to revitalize some neighborhoods as well as add to their tax base, a consultant said Wednesday.
"The city of Fort Worth is already encouraging us to look at how development is going to occur," said Tim Baldwin, a senior associate and manager of the transit planning group URS Corp. in Denver. "Not every [station] is going to be a Mockingbird Station, nor do they have to be. There's lots of different ways."
Mockingbird Station is a popular development of trendy lofts and national retailers along the Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail line in Dallas.
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority wants to build the $390 million Southwest-to- Northeast Rail Corridor by 2012. Station sites have already been determined for the route, which will stretch from Sycamore School Road in southwest Fort Worth to downtown Fort Worth, on to Grapevine and the north end of the airport.
Baldwin is working with The T on the project. He spoke to about 100 people about potential development along the rail line at an economic-outlook conference of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
"The things I stress over and over is that not every development around transit stations is going to be the same," Baldwin said. "Every community is different. It's market-driven, and it's not going to happen all at once."
But, if done properly, the communities where the stations will be located, including Fort Worth, North Richland Hills, Haltom City and Grapevine, can benefit from reduced traffic congestion and use the transit-oriented developments as a way to start pulling back suburban sprawl, he said.
Rail-station developments can include residences, shops and restaurants, Baldwin said.
"We can at least start making the plans now by putting the regulatory changes in place in city zoning codes and building codes, and design standards," Baldwin said.
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Dallas Morning News March 11, 2008
Construction to start soon on Brick Row complex in Richardson
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Developers are kicking off construction on what will be one of the most ambitious redevelopments yet in Richardson.
The Brick Row residential and commercial project will build an entire neighborhood of apartments, shops and townhouses adjacent to an existing light-rail station.
Construction starts in less than a month on the $140 million project at Greenville Avenue and Spring Valley Road on Richardson's old east side.
About 30 acres of old apartments and more than a dozen single-family homes that occupied the site have been cleared away for the development.
"We bought this property years ago as an apartment renovation project," said Richard Barge, president of Dallas-based Winston Capital Corp.
"Once we realized that DART was putting a rail station adjacent to the property, we got involved with the city of Richardson to plan a transit-oriented development," he said.
What Winston Capital and Richardson city planners came up with is an urban-style complex with 500 apartments, 80,000 square feet of shopping and restaurant space, 140 townhomes, up to 300 condominiums and 11,000 square feet of office space.
The development will surround Richardson's historic McKamy Springs Park, which will also get a makeover.
Winston Capital is building the development in partnership with the Michigan State Public Employees Retirement System, which is represented by Dallas-based L&B Realty Advisors.
The project is also getting $1.3 million from the North Central Texas Council of Governments and more than $9 million from a tax increment finance district set up by the city of Richardson.
The first apartments and retail space will be ready by the summer of 2009, Mr. Barge said.
BGO Architects Inc. designed the buildings in the character of early 20th-century commercial buildings, with brick facades and red-brick paving on the streets and walkways.
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"We tried to make it look like it evolved over time," Mr. Barge said. "It has a park and creek in a suburban setting, which is fairly unique."
Back in the 1600s, Caddo Indians camped around a natural spring near what is now the corner of Greenville and Spring Valley.
And 200 years later, stagecoaches, carrying passengers between North Texas communities, stopped nearby.
In the 1920s, Richardson's first mayor – T. F. McKamy – bought the property. Since then, the old watering hole has been called McKamy Springs.
Mr. McKamy bought the land about the time work was finished to pave the road to Greenville, which came to be called Red Brick Road.
Construction of that thoroughfare helped link Richardson to nearby Dallas and transform the railroad and farming community into a thriving town.
A year after the Red Brick Road opened in 1925, Richardson's population had topped 400.
Winston Capital took the name for the project – which was originally to be called Centennial Park – from the old street paving.
Along Greenville Avenue just north of Spring Valley, the project includes lots for 140 townhomes that will be built by Houston-based David Weekley Homes.
The mixed-use nature of the project and its one-of-a-kind location helped attract the Michigan institutional investor as a partner.
"We are particularly drawn to projects like Brick Row that we think will stand the test of time," said L&B Realty Advisors partner and chief investment officer Dan Plumlee.
"It has proximity to transportation, employment and natural amenities like the park and creek."
While institutional investors such as the Michigan pension fund often buy completed income- producing properties like apartments and shopping centers, they are increasingly involved in developments like the one in Richardson.
"In the last three or four years, we have invested in quite a number of development deals," said L&B Realty's David Gleeson. "With our Michigan client, we've been the partner for four shopping center developments."
Brick Row is the third large mixed-use development going up near one of the city's light-rail stations. Page 2 of 3
Just north of the Arapaho Road station, developers are building a large apartment and retail complex called Eastside.
And near the Galatyn Park rail stop, construction is under way on more apartments and shops, which will join a large complex of office, hotel and public buildings.
"Brick Row is definitely giving us the critical mass we are looking for," said Bill Sproull, president of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce. "It has a lot of elements that we think will make it successful.
"And the developers have good partners and financial backing."
More important, Mr. Sproull said, the Brick Row complex should spur additional redevelopment between Greenville and North Central Expressway.
"We are optimistic that Koll Development will do some creative things with the old Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas complex."
Koll Development is building Blue Cross a $265 million office complex farther north, and it plans to redevelop the old building at Spring Valley and North Central.
Page 3 of 3 Plano Star-Courier April 2, 2008
Developer unveils next downtown redevelopment project
By Lynn Proctor Windle, Staff Writer
Downtown Plano residents got their first glimpse of what the new building in their neighborhood might look like.
The unnamed project is the subject of a 90-day exclusive, non-binding agreement the Plano City Council signed earlier last month with Pinnacle AMS Development Company to develop a three- acre site on the southeast side of the downtown area.
The development would be located at the southeast corner of 15th Street and I Avenue. It would be surrounded by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail to the east and 14th Street to the south. The 200,000-square-foot building would house 200 residential rental units and another 15,000 square feet of commercial space.
If the plan is approved, a four-story, two-tone brick building similar in style and texture to Eastside Village I and II, which also are owned by Pinnacle, would replace Eisenberg Skate Park, a small strip center and Plano Police Department parking.
Thursday night’s presentation was part of the city’s promise to solicit community input before moving forward with the project.
Pinnacle Vice President Ken Plemons said even though the project is not yet named, it would not be called Eastside Village III, in response to previous community input. The building is “not supposed to look like a 100-year-old building, but it is going to be respectful of historic downtown,” said project architect Gary Martin. “We want to make this an asset to Downtown Plano. We want to make this a place where people will want to work and shop.”
Martian’s initial concept calls for two-stories of retail facing 15th Street, directly across the street from Haggard Park and the Interurban Museum. Because of the land’s uneven terrain, the second story would fall at street level with another level of shops underneath.
Martin said the second story could easily accommodate a restaurant with a patio designed to take in the park views.
The northern elevation would be capped by two stories of residential units.
Directly behind the retail space, facing the train tracks, there would be a series of relatively small, flex-space studio-type units designed to accommodate businesses and residents. Martin Page 1 of 3
said he envisions a C-shaped studio quarter occupied by artists and photographers who want to live and work in a single space.
“We would try to include that in the shopping experience,” Martin said.
Frank Turner, assistant city manager, said, “It’s hard to come by 600-800 square-foot retail spaces. It is a rarity in the market.”
A similarly shaped courtyard occupied by residential units would be built directly behind it, followed by linear row of residential units. The studio quarter and residential spaces would be connected by a boardwalk where pedestrians could stroll between 14th and 15th streets.
The parking garage entrance would be along Avenue I across the street from the Police Department and the Municipal Justice Center where it essentially would be hidden from view. The garage would have two entrances on that street, one for retail and residential parking and another for the Police Department’s dedicated parking garage, Martin said.
A secured parking garage dedicated for police use is part of the initial agreement with the city. The agreement includes storage space for the department.
Residential units will line 14th Street, which takes a sharp curve across the DART tracks, creating poor visibility for businesses. It also backs up to more development that is residential.
“This side needs to be residential,” Martin said. “It’s not a great spot for retail.”
The northeast elevation of the building is more urban in feel with flat roofs and parapets -low walls edging the roof. The roofline would become sloped as it moves west.
This project is part of a goal the City Council set a decade ago to make downtown a pedestrian oriented village, Turner said.
Downtown already houses 40,000 square feet of commercial space, just 10,000 square feet short of the city’s goal. The city also determined that the downtown area could support 1,000 residential units. Adding the proposed 200 apartment to the number of existing apartments and those under construction, the city would be within 100 units of its goal.
While the city has been focusing more attention on sustainability projects, Turner said the city would not demand this building rise to the level of any LEEDs certification, a designation bestowed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
“We’re asking them to incorporate sustainability features, but not necessarily make it LEED,” he said.
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Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) encourages developers to adopt and implement green building practices. Projects are rated on how many green practices they incorporate into the project.
The city wants to make the project as economically feasible as possible to construct and some green features can a price a project out of budget.
However, Plemons said the current building and energy codes require buildings to incorporate resource-saving features. He also said they would explore options such as incorporating native plants in the landscape to reduce water consumption.
The property currently is listed on the tax rolls for less than $2 million. The finished project could raise the value to $20 million or more, Turner has said.
If the plan hits no roadblocks, the project could begin as early as October with completion expected in 18 months.
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Dallas Morning News April 4, 2008
Richardson breaks ground on redevelopment project
By IAN McCANN / The Dallas Morning News City leaders and developers officially broke ground Thursday morning on Richardson’s largest redevelopment project to date.
Brick Row, formerly called Centennial Park, will bring townhouses, condominiums, apartments, retail and office space to the northwest corner of Greenville Avenue and Spring Valley Road, once occupied by aging apartments and older homes. Many of the homes – some of which were nearly a century old – were spared demolition and relocated.
“We’re very excited about how this will meet the needs of our residents,” Richardson Mayor Steve Mitchell said of the $140 million project. “It’s going to be the key to the revitalization of southern Richardson.”
Developer Richard Barge, president of Winston Capital, said the first units should be open by summer 2009. The first portion of the project to open will be townhouses along Greenville built by David Weekley Homes
“We look forward to delivering a project that the community and our partners will really be proud of,” Mr. Barge said.
The 30-acre site is adjacent to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Spring Valley light rail station and will also include walking and bicycle trails and the two-acre McKamy Springs Park. It’s financed in part by the city’s tax-increment financing district.
Brick Row is named for the old Red Brick Road, which later became Greenville.
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Commercial Property News April 16, 2008
Trammell Crow Affiliate Develops Suburban Dallas Transit- Oriented Projects
By: Tonie Auer, Southwest Correspondent
Anticipating the arrival of light rail into the city in 2010, the Dallas suburb of Carrollton has signed an exclusive master developer contract to spearhead private investment for three Transit- Oriented Development areas with High Street Residential, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trammell Crow Co.
High Street has been assigned three sites to create high-density residential, office and retail space. The areas are the Downtown Carrollton Transit Center District, the Trinity Mills Transit Center District and the North Carrollton Station Development Site. Each site anchors an existing or planned DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) light rail line.
Financials of the project were not disclosed, but city leaders expect the developments will provide employment growth and a projected value of nearly $1 billion added to the city’s tax base.
High Street Residential is responsible for such Dallas-area developments as Addison Circle and Legacy Town Center in Plano (pictured).
On Dec. 11, CPN reported on another High Street Residential project that began construction as part of another private-public partnership. The Dallas suburb of DeSoto partnered with the firm for the development of a mixed-use project located in front of the city’s Town Center. That project will feature more than 35,000 square feet of retail and office space, 135 one- and two- bedroom residential units and a 360-space parking garage, and is scheduled to be complete by February 2009.
Dallas-based Trammell Crow High Street Residential is a division of Trammell Crow that specializes in developing office, retail, housing, and civic venues within organized public gathering spaces through its master plan/master developer services.
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Dallas Morning News April 17, 2008
Trammell Crow to oversee Carrollton transit-oriented projects
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
The city of Carrollton said Wednesday that it has picked a Trammell Crow Co. subsidiary to oversee several new transit-oriented developments.
Crow's High Street Residential has been hired as the master developer for three planned development districts on a new DART rail line.
The city has earmarked these areas for retail, office and residential construction.
"Carrollton has been working to come up with a strategy for developing around their DART stations that open in 2010," said Art Lomenick, High Street Residential president. "We'll be working with the city on what their vision is and their goals are."
Mr. Lomenick said High Street would be involved with the city, DART and landowners to come up with plans for the new transit districts.
The planned mixed-use developments will surround new rail stations planned in downtown Carrollton, at Trinity Mills Road and at Frankford Road.
"We'll figure out the most appropriate plan for all three that will be a build-out over time," Mr. Lomenick said. "The goal is to have a broad mix of uses."
Carrollton officials see the transit projects as an important step for the community.
"Carrollton is aggressively planning for the 2010 arrival of DART light rail passenger service," Carrollton Mayor Becky Miller said.
"The future development around these rail stations will change the face of this community and have a positive effect on the city's tax base, providing significant future employment growth and a projected value of nearly $1 billion," she said.
High Street Residential is already working on a similar project in downtown Garland. And the developer recently announced plans for a $27 million town center to be built in DeSoto.
"We have had High Street focused on transit-oriented development around the country," Mr. Lomenick said.
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GlobeSt.com April 17, 2008
First Phases of $1B MXD Set to Open in 2010
By Connie Gore
CARROLLTON, TX-If all goes as planned, the first phases of mixed-use space at three transit- oriented project sites will be on line in 2010 in step with the opening of their Dallas Area Rapid Transit light-rail stations. The city's triple play, with High Street Residential at the helm, is projected to add $1 billion of value to the municipality's tax base.
High Street Residential, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co., is ready to dig into site assessments to master plan the target areas, which include scores of stakeholders. "We will build the face map and then craft strategies for vertical development as fast as possible," says Art Lomenick, managing director of Trammell Crow Co. and High Street's president.
DART's station plans have jump-started mixed-use development planning in the Downtown at Belt Line Road and Broadway; Trinity Mills at the Blanton and Trinity Mills road and extending to the junction of President George Bush Turnpike and Interstate 35E; North Carrollton at Frankford Road, just east of I-35. Lomenick tells GlobeSt.com that each project area has the capability of becoming another Addison Circle or Legacy Town Center. And, he says at least one project site will have a hotel incorporated into its face map.
Like others in his field, Lomenick says sustainability is built into projects through a well- rounded mix of components. Addison Circle, which he helped to develop, has 30% for-sale residential units and the balance is rental. He says Carrollton's projects will be mapped out with similar variations as did neighboring Garland with its DART-anchored TOD, a $35-million undertaking that breaks ground next week. Tonight, Irving leaders will unveil mixed-use plans for a five-mile stretch of Irving Boulevard, much of which also is TOD-oriented space.
"A true vibrant mixed-use development that's sustainable for a long time is going to have enough critical mass and components that it can sustain itself," Lomenick says. "It's expensive to execute and do it right."
Lomenick says "four or five" companies were vying for Carrollton's nod. Each TOD development will include retail, residential and office space, with each in line to come on line when DART opens its stations in 2010. "We want to have the first phases up and running by then," Lomenick says.
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Carrollton leaders believe the Downtown station will provide one of the greatest growth opportunities for the next 15 to 20 years. In a press release, officials say "the goal is to incorporate the feel of the historic square throughout the transit district."
Trinity Mills' TOD is envisioned as a "modern streamlined look" in a vertical and dense packaging. The North Carrollton station will be the last stop on DART's green line that has jump-started a vision for a golf-oriented TOD and high-density residential to leverage a nearby amenity, Indian Creek Golf Club, one of the top-rated public courses in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
"We are looking forward to delivering mixed-use developments that align with the city's vision for the future," Kim McCormick, High Street vice president, says in the release. "We've put together an award winning-design and development team, all of whom have been involved with some truly remarkable mixed-use projects throughout the Dallas metro area and the US."
Lomenick's mixed-use developments crisscross the US. The surge in cities implementing projects is a natural evolution of the Main Street program. "Things are getting more organized and thoughtful at the municipal level. Cities have to be thinking in terms of 100 years. They have to think long term," Lomenick tells GlobeSt.com. "It's really about cities taking back control of the built environment.
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Carrollton Leader April 23, 2008
City picks developer for TOD projects
By STEPHEN FASHORO, Staff Writer
The city of Carrollton recently selected High Street Residential, a subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, as the master developer of high-density residential, office and retail buildings in the Downtown Carrollton Transit Center District, Trinity Mills Transit Center District and the North Carrollton Station Development site.
This Transit Oriented Development (TOD) partnership comes as the city of Carrollton prepares for the DART light rail system, which is expected to arrive in 2010.
“Out of the four developers we could have chosen from, we picked High Street Residential because they are one of the best known names in Dallas when it comes to development. Art Lomenick has been a part of this type of TOD development for 20 years, so I believe we made the right choice,” said Peter Braster, TOD manager for Carrollton.
Braster said some of High Street Residential’s projects include; adding mixed use development in the DeSoto Town Center and building mixed-use residential and retail at the downtown Garland Transit Center.
For the Downtown Carrollton Transit Center District, Braster said the city wants to incorporate the feel of the historic square. In the Trinity Mills Transit Center District, the city is looking to develop a modern streamlined look. With the North Carrollton Station, Braster said the city is looking to create a golf-oriented/transit-oriented development.
“We want these areas to pick up the historical nature of the communities they are surrounded in,” Braster said. Art Lomenick, managing director for Trammell Crow Company, said working on three different transit areas will be a challenge, but also fun.
“Now that we have been selected, we are going to look at each station area and see which one we want to start working on first,” Lomenick said. “Our goal is to have our first phase completed by 2010.”
Braster said the district wide TOD project will be ongoing for several years.
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National Real Estate Investor May 1, 2008
Big D Big on Mixed-Use
By Ben Johnson
Buoyed by population growth that continues to outpace the rest of the nation, Dallas developers seemingly are in a race to break ground on a whole new generation of projects, each including a variety of mixed uses.
“It feels a lot like 20 years ago,” says one veteran market observer in describing the current state of the Dallas retail market. In the 1980s, just before the area's last major downturn, new developments were announced nearly on a weekly basis.
Driving this boom is one simple factor — an influx of people. Dallas-Fort Worth's population grew faster than any other metro area between 2006 and 2007, adding 162,250 new residents, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. That growth pushes Dallas-Fort Worth into the fourth spot on the list of America's largest metros with a population of 6.2 million, and growth from 2007-2012 is projected at 9.65%.
The area's relatively low taxes, affordable land and abundant workforce have proven powerful draws. Dallas is home to 12 of the Fortune 500, including No. 2-ranked Exxon Mobil Corp. But oil is a bit player in this diversified economy, which is driven by finance, accounting, health care and distribution services. On the jobs front, local employers have maintained their hiring pace. The area's unemployment rate of 4.3% at the end of February was lower than the national unemployment rate of 4.8%.
According to CB Richard Ellis, the Dallas-Fort Worth retail market absorbed 6.9 million sq. ft. of space in 2007. But both occupancy and rental rates declined during the year, leading to mounting concerns about overbuilding. Some 3.3 million sq. ft. of retail space was completed in the fourth quarter, and deliveries have jumped over the past two years. For 2007, 10.6 million sq. ft. was completed compared with 8.5 million sq. ft. in 2006 and 5.8 million sq. ft. in 2005.
The local office and apartment markets are showing signs of continued health. New York-based research firm Reis projects the office vacancy rate for Dallas properties to drop from 20.6% in the first quarter of 2008 to 17.2% by 2012. Apartment vacancies have dropped from 8.3% in 2006 to 6.9% in the first quarter.
Many local observers continue to believe in the city's ability to attract more residents and continue its growth streak. “Dallas has always been an achiever city,” says Art Lomenick, head of High Street Residential, a division of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. “And now it's starting to mature and get more soul.”
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Iconic dream or reality?
Pulling up to Icon Partners' marketing office, a single-story stucco building near the bustling Galleria area in North Dallas, you don't immediately get a sense of what's inside. Large styrofoam models showing proposed towers and retail development occupy the bulk of the large central room. “These are just a few thoughts we have to show people a vision of the future,” says Paris Rutherford, Icon's president and COO.
Rutherford's crown jewel, for the immediate future anyway, is called Midtown, an ambitious 3.7 million sq. ft. project on 20 acres of prime land fronting the state's busiest intersection of LBJ Freeway and the Dallas North Tollway, adjacent to the upscale Galleria Mall.
Midtown will feature a 725,000 sq. ft. office tower, a boutique hotel, 500 residences and 500,000 sq. ft. of retail and entertainment space. Plans also call for a 50,000 sq. ft. district devoted to a cooking school, grocery store and outdoor food vendors. And Rutherford plans to build this $1 billion gem all at once, hopefully breaking ground in early 2009.
But given the state of the credit markets, can he pull it off? While Rutherford is mum about specifics, he strongly hints at an announcement regarding financial and development partners this summer. “Our feeling is that this project is positioned so that as we move forward we will build this through the bad time and it will open at a perfect time in 2011.”
Each property component — office, retail, hotel and residential — is structured in separate deals for potential development partners. “We're pretty well wrapping up discussions on three of the four pieces,” says Rutherford.
Midtown is patterned after the successful Grove project in downtown Los Angeles, which created a new destination for residents and tourists alike with 575,000 sq. ft. of retail and entertainment space. “From the start, we realized this site needed a big urban mixed-use project that would complement the Galleria and have equal weight to it. The real driving goal was to create a place that's just fun for North Dallas.”
Another mixed-use development banking on its proximity to a major mall is Park Lane Place. This $750 million project by local firm Harvest Partners sits on a long-neglected 33-acre site directly across U.S. 75 from the venerable NorthPark Center, which was developed in 1965 by local real estate mogul and philanthropist Raymond Nasher. Recently the mall underwent a massive $225 million makeover and expansion.
Park Lane Place's first phase is set to open later this year. When completed, the project will feature 700,000 sq. ft. of retail space, 816,000 sq. ft. of office space, a 250-key hotel, 625 residential units and a 78,000 sq. ft. fitness center.
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One unique feature is the project's location adjacent to a commuter station along a major rail line for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. In the past two years, developers have staked their claims on building more mixed-use projects next to DART stations, a practice known as transit-oriented development.
Prescott Realty Group is developing the $400 million Lake Highlands Town Center on a 70-acre parcel in Northeast Dallas near a future DART rail station projected to open by 2011.
“Dallas got out ahead of other cities on mass transit,” says High Street's Lomenick. “They were working on DART in the early '80s when I was with Staubach. That's why there are more mixed- use developments around here than in other cities.”
Zoning gets an overhaul
One attitude that has changed over the past 20 years is the city's willingness to welcome development opportunities. In fact, the city is now undertaking the first major overhaul of its zoning codes to encourage more pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development as part of a citywide vision.
North Texas is projected to grow by about 4 million residents to 9.1 million by 2030, and many of those residents will settle in Dallas-Fort Worth. This projection was not lost on city leaders and a comprehensive land-use plan dubbed “forward Dallas” was adopted by the city in 2006. At its core, the plan provides a road map for consistent planning, zoning and design.
City officials believe the changes will help revitalize certain urban areas and create new neighborhoods, including those around DART light-rail stations, by offering more flexible zoning options that allow a variety of uses. The Dallas City Council is scheduled to vote on the zoning proposals this summer.
Ahead of the zoning changes, downtown Dallas has witnessed a residential rebirth of sorts. According to the Downtown Dallas Association, more than 3,800 people now live in the 1.3- square-mile area bordered by the downtown freeway loop (Interstate 45, U.S. 75, I-30, I-35E and Woodall Rodgers Freeway).
The North Central Texas Council of Governments suggests that number could increase to more than 10,000 by 2010. “Downtown Dallas may change more over the next 30 years than any other area of its size in the region,” the group said in a recent demographic forecast.
Also creating a catalyst for downtown growth is the long-planned redevelopment of the Trinity River flood area just to the south. The city is kicking in $28 million to help fund a $115 million bridge to link West Dallas and the close-in community of North Oak Cliff to downtown. The bridge is designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and set for a 2009 completion.
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Victory for the home team
Just north of downtown, one of the city's largest mixed-use developments, Victory Park, celebrated the 10th anniversary of its formal approval by the City of Dallas in 1998. The project, under development by Fort Worth-based Hillwood and Dallas-based Hicks Holdings, will include 12 million sq. ft. on a 75-acre brownfield site spanning 33 city blocks when completely built out in the next 10 years.
Ken Reese, executive vice president of Victory Park, notes that only $1 billion of the total projected $3 billion development has been completed. That includes the 20,000-seat American Airlines Center, a 33-story W Hotel, two residential buildings and two seven-story office buildings. The second phase, which is set to open by the end of the year, includes 400 new apartment units and a 450,000 sq. ft. office tower that is almost fully leased to law firm Haynes & Boone and Ernst & Young.
“The programming of the U.S. psyche has shifted to more excitement in an urban environment,” says Reese. “People are becoming more programmed to be urban, and that's the wave that's coming. A lot of baby boomers, for example, are looking to get rid of the yard and enjoy a simpler and more energetic life.”
Dirt is also flying in Victory's eastern neighbor, an area known as Uptown. Dallas-based Granite Properties and Atlanta-based Gables Residential broke ground in April on a $200 million mixed- use project at 1717 McKinney Ave.
When completed in 2010, it will include a 19-story office building, 292-unit apartment tower and a 1,400-car parking garage.
“The uptown fundamentals are excellent,” says Greg Fuller, Granite's COO. “They're the same as when we started the project in 2004.” But with land prices marching north of $100 a foot in the area, Uptown may be seeing the last of its development boom — for now.
Other developers are starting big mixed-use projects in more traditional suburban locations including Plano, which is 15 miles due north, and Irving, five miles to the northwest.
In Plano, Ainbinder Co. has broken ground on a 500,000 sq. ft. project on 35 acres on State Highway 121 and Parkwood Boulevard near the Plano/Frisco city line. The first phase, set to open in June, includes The Container Store, and a second phase will feature 250,000 sq. ft. of retail and 100,000 sq. ft. of office space.
A boutique hotel also is planned for the site. It is the first project by Houston-based Ainbinder in Plano and its second in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
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In April, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers based in Greensboro, N.C., announced plans to build a 380,000 sq. ft. upscale outlet shopping center with 90 stores on a 50-acre site. The land is owned by the University of Dallas and lies within the 488-acre Texas Stadium Redevelopment Area, at the intersection of State Highway 114 and Loop 12.
Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises is negotiating with the City of Irving and Southwest Premier Properties to build a $2 billion mixed-use development on the remainder of the site. Plans call for a central corporate campus, nearly 5,000 residences, 1 million sq. ft. of retail space, a 500-room hotel, a theater and a civic center. The site is adjacent to a planned DART rail line linking downtown Dallas with the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
“We feel lucky in Dallas right now since we haven't felt the effects of the national slowdown,” says Jim Yoder, head of Jones Lang LaSalle's Dallas office. “I think the mixed-use developments are working and the markets where space is being added are the best markets. People want to work close to where they can live, eat and entertain. Clearly that is a trend that will continue into the future.”
Ben Johnson is a Dallas-based writer.
Page 5 of 5 Bellaire Examiner News May 9, 2008
Bellaire may work with Metro on rail development
By ANNE MARIE KILDAY
A multi-use development near the University rail line in Bellaire, combining a Metro train station with residential, retail and commercial establishments, is under consideration by the city of Bellaire and Metro.
The Bellaire City Council planned Monday night to enter into a partnership with Metro to hire an architect to prepare a “conceptual design” for a rail-related development at the train stop at South Rice Avenue near the Westpark Tollway.
“This is just to hire an architect to provide us with possibilities for development along the University rail line; just to see what kinds of possibilities might be out there,” said Bellaire City Manager Bernie Satterwhite.
“This is kind of a big thing in areas where they have commuter-rail systems. A lot of small towns around Dallas are clamoring to get rail and to do multi-use developments, to create an atmosphere where you can live, work and travel from one location,” Satterwhite said.
The Trinity Railway Express connects downtown Dallas and Fort Worth, and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority runs commuter trains to several suburbs north of Dallas.
“We just want to give the council more information about what a transit-oriented development is.
That will give them a little bit of time to peruse the ideas before we just stick anything over there,” Satterwhite said.
The University rail line is ultimately going to connect with Metro’s Uptown line, Satterwhite noted.
“There may be an opportunity to look at several alternatives. This is just to give us some ideas of what could be there, to give us a visualization of the types of things we might want to be in that part of Bellaire,” Satterwhite said.
The rail line would be “right outside” Bellaire, but the adjacent area is in the city, Satterwhite said.
A planned Wal-Mart store on South Rice is not going to move into the area, Satterwhite added.
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A partnership with Metro will give the city of Bellaire the chance to look at development possibilities “in that whole area between South Rice and the Loop,” Satterwhite said. “We want to try to get more traffic circulation, without it impacting the housing area from Glenmont to Mayfair, and over to the Loop.”
Several months ago, the council authorized Satterwhite and Mayor Cindy Siegel to begin discussions with Metro about its plans for the University line.
“We didn’t want them to impose things on us that wouldn’t be in our best interest,” Satterwhite said.
Page 2 of 2 Dallas Morning News May 12, 2008
2nd big apartment project going up near Parkland hospital
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Developers have broken ground just a block from Parkland Memorial Hospital on a second big apartment community for the neighborhood.
Trammell Crow Residential's planned rental complex on Medical District Drive is adjacent to a planned DART light rail station.
The project will contain almost 400 apartments, said Darren Schackman, Crow Residential senior managing director.
"We have started construction and plan to open in about 11 or 12 months," Mr. Schackman said. "One of the reasons we are very excited about the site is we have the DART station across the street from us."
The new commuter rail station opens in 2010 and will eventually link the area with train service extending north to near Love Field and downtown Farmers Branch and Carrollton. Additional train service is planned from that station to Irving and Las Colinas and to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The area along Medical District Drive - formerly Motor Street - between Harry Hines Boulevard and Maple Avenue has already seen significant apartment development. The new Cityville complex there has 260 apartments plus retail space.
"All of the apartments in that area are relatively full," Mr. Schackman said. "There is a lot of growth with the Children's Medical Center and Parkland expansions.
"One of the reasons we are so excited about this location is its proximity to major employment centers," he said.
"The site being directly in the medical district and only minutes from the central business district and the Stemmons corridor gives us access to over 200,000 employees in those three areas alone."
Mr. Schackman said he expects the apartments to rent at an average of more than $1,200 a month.
Trammell Crow Residential's project will have four-story buildings designed by architects Hensley Lamkin Rachel Inc.
Along with the medical center project, Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential has new apartments going in several locations including East Dallas and the Trinity Design District. Page 1 of 1 Dallas Morning News May 23, 2008
Sheryl Jean: Visitors to Dallas like what they see
By SHERYL JEAN / The Dallas Morning News
Do you ever wonder what outsiders think about your city?
Plenty of opinions were shared this month when the nation's top development and design eyes turned to Dallas.
Harvard University's Graduate School of Design held a symposium here last week with a student analysis of design in the Arts District. Earlier this month, Dallas hosted about 3,000 of the country's top real estate developers, designers and lenders at the Urban Land Institute's spring conference. About 200 members of the National Association of Real Estate Editors also gathered here for a conference.
"We pick cities that have a story to tell," said Richard Rosan, president of the Washington, D.C.- based ULI. "Attracting large conferences focused on design, land use and sustainability sends a message that what's going on in Dallas warrants attention.
"It's a great way for a city to show off to a very important constituency," he said. "Our group is a bunch of global players as well as local players."
Visitors were amazed at the number of cranes dotting the skyline from downtown Dallas to Watters Creek at Montgomery Farm in Allen.
Dallas-Fort Worth is the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan area. The regional economy is faring better than the national economy. The same goes for commercial real estate.
Based on that, "why not come to Texas?" asked Ralph Bivins, chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Editors' Dallas conference.
Loretta Easton, an apartment developer for Julian LeCraw & Co. in Atlanta who attended the ULI conference, was eager to see what keeps Dallas ticking. She enjoyed a tour of Mockingbird Station, one of the earliest Dallas developments built near a DART light-rail station.
It's important to spotlight cities like Dallas because "it's one of the few cities in the nation that continue to grow," Ms. Easton said.
Ten Harvard graduate students studied whether good design makes good business sense, examining whether private investment in Dallas' Arts District will affect adjacent land values.
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They also compared it to other arts districts designed by "star" architects such as Jean Nouvel in New York, Thom Mayne in San Francisco, I.M. Pei in Boston and Rem Koolhaas in Seattle.
Martin Zogran, assistant professor of urban design at Harvard, made his first Dallas visit in March and said he was impressed by the private financing of projects. The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts will get its own star architects: Mr. Koolhaas will design the Wyly Theater, and architect Norman Foster will design the Winspear Opera House.
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Dallas Morning News June 3, 2008
Construction begins on Garland mixed-use project
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
A Trammell Crow Co. subsidiary has begun construction on a mixed-use development in Garland.
Crow’s High Street Residential and USAA Real Estate Co. are building the 5th Street Crossing at Garland Station adjacent to DART’s light rail station in downtown Garland.
The project will include 189 residential units, ground-floor retail and a 400-stall parking garage.
“Our goal is to reinvigorate the core of downtown by carefully placing key projects to create an active village-like atmosphere,” Arthur Lomenick, Managing Director of Trammell Crow and President of High Street Residential, said in a statement.
“This is the first project to support the city’s goal to increase the downtown residential population.”
James, Harwick + Partners Inc. designed the project, which is near Garland’s new Performing Arts Center, City Hall, Library and the historic downtown square.
The Garland project is High Street Residential’s third such transit-oriented development to start construction.
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Globe St.com June 3, 2008
High Street, USAA Digging Into $25M-Plus TOD
By Connie Gore
GARLAND, TX-With site work and infrastructure now done, High Street Residential and USAA Real Estate Co. are starting vertical work for a transit-oriented development to add 189 apartments and 20,000 sf of retail to the historic downtown. The project, estimated at $25 million to $30 million, will start to deliver in spring 2009.
The 5th Street Crossing project will be set on 2.5 blocks along 5th and 6th streets, right on the doorstep of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Garland Station. The five-acre project will have three residential buildings, two of which will street-level storefronts, and a 400-space parking garage. CB Richard Ellis' Dallas team is preleasing the retail while locally based Lincoln Property Co.'s third-party management group will oversee the finished apartment complex.
"This is a catalyst project that the city hopes will spawn a lot more development in the Downtown, whether it's us or others," says Arthur Lomenick, managing director of Dallas-based Trammell Crow. Co. and president of wholly owned subsidiary High Street Residential. "Garland has never been a suburb of Dallas. It's a city and its own place. It's got a lot of character and history."
The 5th Street Crossing is the result of a public-private partnership. Lomenick likens the development site to that of Uptown years ago, weaving together old and new space for the revitalization program.
Lomenick tells GlobeSt.com that USAA is getting first dibs on High Street's TOD merchant- build plans, inside and outside the state. To date, the San Antonio-based USAA is on board with High Street's $100-million Midtown Commons, a 73-acre development for Austin's proposed Crestview Station and is considering its TOD in Carrollton. It's also an equity backer in DeSoto's town center project, also on the outskirts of Dallas. Lomenick says High Street has dozen TOD projects that have USAA's eye, including ones in Atlanta, Denver and Washington, DC.
High Street's 5th Street Crossing, all three-story buildings, was designed by James, Harwick + Partners Inc. of Dallas. Lomenick says the rental mix goes from 480-sf studios to 1,200-sf two- bedroom units. Projected monthly rents are $600 to $1,300. ICI Construction, also from Dallas, is the general contractor.
With 5th Street Crossing now going vertical, Lomenick says the next year will be spent finding a buyer for the finished product. Completion is penciled for late 2009.
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The development layout puts 5th Street Crossing at the heart of a business corridor anchored by the light-rail station, community college and historic square with a performing arts center, city hall and library. High Street's design includes internal courtyards linked to redesigned pedestrian walkways to create an urban village.
"Several years ago, the city council had the vision to create a strategy for the redevelopment of our Downtown, which was based on a market analysis of economic conditions," Garland Mayor Ronald Jones says in a press release. And, he adds 5th Street Crossing is just the "first step toward achieving a vision."
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram June 16, 2008
Confidence, job growth keep commercial market strong
By JANE TRIMBLE
While many parts of the country are dealing with declining real estate markets, Tarrant County and surrounding communities are more than holding their own.
John Marshall, Tarrant County Appraisal District executive director, reported in May that while there has been a decrease in residential permits from 2006, a 41 percent increase in commercial construction has helped insulate this region from the slow growth and falling market values in other parts of the country.
Marshall and others are crediting relatively stable consumer confidence and a healthy job market in this region for the robust health of the commercial real estate market.
The Barnett Shale, a natural gas source bed rock, is the second largest producing on-shore domestic natural gas field in the country, with a more than 6,000-square-mile reservoir.
"We’re blessed to have the Barnett Shale. It has given a real stimulus to our area that’s bolstered our economy and kept values in our area fairly stable," said Ben Loughry, managing partner of Integra Realty Resources, a firm specializing in consulting for and evaluation of commercial real estate. Loughry is also chairman of the board for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
Susan Halsey, a partner with Jackson Walker law firm, is a real-estate specialist and chairman of the Greater Fort Worth Real Estate Council. She agrees that the Barnett Shale is playing a major role in bolstering this region’s economy and stabilizing commercial real estate development and values.
"Barnett Shale is really the biggest factor here," she said, "It’s been such a boost for our area, whether it’s acquisition of property by oil and gas companies or the money flooding in as a result of it. It’s not just the money from drilling, but also all of the service companies that are benefiting."
Loughry also identifies this area’s still healthy job market as an important factor supporting commercial real estate development. This health has impressed economic analysts in other parts of the country. Forbes reported in January that Moody’s Economy.com ranked Fort Worth ninth on its job-growth forecast list for the nation.
"We’re still creating jobs in our area, and that’s helped us with regard to other markets. We’re doing quite well, but you wonder how long we can hold out, because you have to weigh the
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effect of people talking about major layoffs. That starts creating some negative issues, not only with the people laid off, but with people in kindred industries. When you have something like the American Airlines layoff – that’s thousands of people, and it’s an issue and a concern," Loughry said.
Despite layoffs and some other concerns, Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Properties, sees vitality and future growth in this area’s commercial real estate market. He oversees one of four Hillwood divisions, and is responsible for the planning, development and marketing of the AllianceTexas project’s 17,000 acres in Fort Worth and several communities north of the city.
"I’m very optimistic about the stability of the commercial real estate market here," Berry said. "What we’re seeing now in our business is a good microscale of the strength and resiliency of the North Texas economy relative to the rest of country," Berry said. "We have more than $166 million in new construction under way that includes retail, multi-family, industrial, office and aviation development, so it’s every category but single-family residential, and most of that space is pre-leased and pre-committed. Some of it is speculative, but we’re pretty bullish on continued job-growth projections for this market, even in a national down cycle when people are generally a little more cautious."
Supporting Berry’s optimism are the 1,600 new jobs that have been added to the Alliance work force in the last 18 months and the expansions of companies in that area.
"Fidelity Investments, for example, is adding 600,000 square feet of office space and plans to bring in 3,000 new employees. They have 600,000 square feet today, so when the expansion is finished, they will have 1.2 million square feet on their campus at Circle T Ranch in the city limits of West Lake, Texas, which is part of the AllianceTexas development," he said.
Part of the reason AllianceTexas and other commercial real estate developments have been so successful is the availability of suitable land.
"We have more land in Fort Worth, especially if you look at Dallas, and we’re well situated for development because of opportunities to the west and north of us. This land is closer to our city, unlike Dallas, where available land is farther and farther out from the central district," Halsey said.
Even in the more developed areas of the city, she sees robust growth.
"Look at Montgomery Plaza and Museum Place at Seventh Street and the entire area from University to the east on Seventh Street, where they are doing mixed-use development right across from the museums. That entire area is just booming," Halsey said.
The commercial real estate office market is also expanding, supporting optimism about current and future stability.
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"The office and industrial markets are strong," Loughry said. "We just had the recent acquisition of the Pier 1 building by Chesapeake, and it will be totally occupied. For industry, we’re still considered to be a central distribution point in the United States, and we have had great successes in the Hillwood Alliance development. We’re very much still a consumer country. I don’t see that changing in the short run, and as long as that’s the case, I still see reasons to be optimistic."
Although optimism is high for most commercial real estate markets, Loughry and other analysts do see some softening in the local retail market. This market can be more affected by national rather than local or regional factors. When retail chains are looking at their companies’ performance overall, they often make decisions based on national sales and make decisions to offset declines company wide. This often results in putting plans for expanding stores on hold, or canceling them entirely to offset current year losses or stagnant growth.
Local retail markets can be adversely affected by these decisions, even when local performance is stable or robust. Nationally, drops in consumer confidence fueled by rising gas prices and loss of spendable income will affect retail sales and dampen retail commercial development everywhere, not just in those areas that are reporting lower sales and failing to meet yearly budget goals.
"The retail slump is evidenced by the Glory Park slowdown," Halsey said. "That will be developed eventually, but it was put on hold because of the retail market slow down. I personally think that is because the national retailers are focusing on the national economy and not the local, which is still going strong in Fort Worth. They are holding back out of national concern."
With the slow down in this area’s residential and retail real estate markets and national economic pressures, many local experts are advising planning and action now that will offset these losses and stabilize all commercial real estate markets in this region for the future.
"Although it’s still going pretty strong, one of my concerns for industrial development is the cost of development," Halsey said. "We recently adopted an impact fee that the industrial real estate community is watching closely. There’s a committee of about 29 people looking at the cost of real estate development – it’s a diverse group with representatives from cities, neighborhood communities and developers considering the cost of real estate development here compared to other surrounding cities and cities in the nation that we compete against to attract new business. We already had high fees when compared to those locations, and we don’t want the city to impose additional fees without looking at what they might mean to a potential developer."
Berry identifies funding the area’s transportation system as the biggest challenge facing commercial real estate stability.
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"That directly impacts the cost of doing business here, and if we can’t improve our highway system and expand light rail and transit, that will directly impact costs for all businesses," he said. "We’ve added 1.2 million people here in the last eight years, and most economists project we’re going to see a huge influx of new people. We have to be able to manage our surface transportation better to move this growth in an orderly fashion."
Although Berry believes the public infrastructure funding program is not working now, he is hopeful that new ways of solving old transportation problems will be successful.
"People in this region are being more creative about building infrastructure more quickly, and a lot of that is due to the public/private partnerships being formed to build toll roads and managed lanes," he said. "Giving more freedom and flexibility to the private sector may facilitate the development of more infrastructure. We’ve got to let the private sector help drive these solutions, and the deals have to make economic sense. We’re going to have to be more creative, but the public sector also needs to dedicate more money to transportation infrastructure. You have to sacrifice some things to do that, but it’s an absolute priority for the state and region."
One of the creative efforts to solve transportation problems Berry believes can make a real difference is the I-35 Coalition, a group of stakeholders in the private sector along the Interstate 35 corridor.
"They are doing a good job of getting the attention of elected officials and government agencies, focusing attention on the acute nature of the problem," he said. "New highway construction will have to be coupled with a long-term rail and transit project to connect us with the rest of region and tie into DART and The T. That’s very expensive, though, and it’s not going to happen overnight."
Attention should also be focused on several other areas that will affect the current and future commercial real estate market in this region, Berry, Halsey and Loughry agree, specifically listing the following as essential: planning for quality control with all development, including infrastructure; competitive tax rates and incentives; lower construction costs; effective planning for marketing the region to large developers; a continued pro-business policy from city officials; and a look at the feasibility of establishing objective rather than subjective standards for development incentives.
The good news for Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding communities is, however, that even before these suggestions are adopted and implemented, the outlook for commercial real estate development is brighter here than in most of the rest of the country.
"We’re very fortunate to be in Fort Worth, Texas," Loughry said. "We’re unique in the country relative to our economic situation, and I hope that everyone understands this is also driven by the pro-business attitude in our city government and in our leadership."
Page 4 of 4 North Texas Daily June 19, 2008
Retail development ahead for UNT Dallas
By Bryan Shettig
With the growth of the UNT Dallas campus could come the growth of the surrounding city of Lancaster.
Plans have been made by Lancaster and Dallas to create a 450-acre development around the campus that will have homes, dorms and retail.
"Our campus district is a nice, fancy title for a zoning program," said Ed Brady, director of economic development for the city of Lancaster.
Brady said the Lancaster City Council has approved the zoning, but the Dallas Campus will have to grow more before retailers, especially national ones, buy land in the area. The development could house about 35,000 people, said Andrew Howard, an urban planner with Kimley-Horn Associates, the consulting firm hired by the city to plan the community.
Houston School Road, the street on which the campus sits, will undergo a name change to University Hills.
"We hit a homerun on an education need in this region," Brady said.
He said a consultant firm is trying to calculate how much money the development would bring in, especially in taxes.
The land is still in the hands of local property owners, however.
"If you go out there right now, there are mobile homes and cows within eyeshot of downtown," Howard said.
Howard said development is still several years away, and the DART rail will arrive in 2018. He said national retailers will start buying property a few years before the rail hits Lancaster.
"It's probably a few years out before there are major land transactions," Howard said.
Rona Stringfellow, director of development services for Lancaster, said developers would have to provide space for dorms. She said dorms could be high-rise buildings that might also house professors.
Page 1 of 1 Dallas Morning News June 20, 2008
Deep Ellum may get back on track after DART stations open
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
On Malcolm X Boulevard north of Elm Street, residents are moving into more than 300 apartments in a rental housing and retail building.
The just-completed project, the Ambrose, sits next to a new light rail station and is the biggest investment in decades in Dallas' Deep Ellum district.
Just a few blocks away at Good-Latimer Expressway, vacant storefronts line Elm and decaying buildings neighbor another DART train station that opens in about 18 months.
The contrast of new development and empty buildings represents the difference between the future and past in Deep Ellum, real estate brokers and property owners say.
"I think the day the train rolls through will begin big changes for Deep Ellum," said Barry Annino, a longtime real estate broker in the area who's head of the Deep Ellum Foundation. "Everything revolves around the train coming."
The pending start of DART rail service also could bring big profit for investors who own blocks and blocks of Deep Ellum. Four investment groups own more than 90 properties in Deep Ellum – including many of the largest.
The biggest owner, Westdale Asset Management, holds the deeds to more than 10 blocks in the district.
"I think Westdale will probably stay the course, but some of these investors will see this as an opportunity to make a move and sell," Mr. Annino said. "There are calls being by made by people interested in properties.
"It's the kind of fishing you do right before the fish start biting."
The entertainment and residential district east of downtown Dallas took off in the 1980s when old commercial buildings were converted to art galleries, loft apartments, restaurants and clubs.
Hip 'hood
By the 1990s, Deep Ellum was one of Dallas' hottest nightspots, with dance clubs and music venues.
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But along with the throngs that were attracted to the clubs came a spike in street crime and violence. And the 2001 recession added to the district's woes.
Deep Ellum went into decline and has languished as Uptown and nearby downtown areas have taken off. Many longtime retailers and restaurants shut down.
Some owners in the area have used this downtime to acquire more real estate. Early this year, Westdale, a privately held Dallas-based real estate firm, bought three of Deep Ellum's biggest loft apartment buildings.
And other big investors in Deep Ellum, Don Blanton, Don Cass and Al Jernigan, have made additions to their holdings since 2001.
"I bought two buildings last year and another this year," said Mr. Blanton, who owns about 17 properties. "I've been working in Deep Ellum for 30 years, and the prospects are as bright now as ever.
"I think the resurgence is right around the corner."
While Mr. Blanton said he doesn't plan to do a large development in Deep Ellum, "I own a lot of property and would sell someone a tract to do it."
"There is an opportunity for developers."
Preservationists fret that Deep Ellum – which still has blocks of early 20th-century buildings – will be bulldozed to make way for new construction.
"Deep Ellum has a lot of historical stuff that people want to keep," said Mr. Cass, who began buying real estate in Deep Ellum in 1983. "Some of the old buildings will stay, and some will go."
Mr. Cass said the DART train service and Deep Ellum's location between the growing Baylor Medical Center and downtown ensure the area will redevelop. High gasoline prices are another incentive.
"If I was 30 years younger, I'd be pouring money into the place," he said. "But I just had my 71st birthday, and it's time for me to slow down.
"I've already sold a bunch of stuff to Westdale."
Westdale turned the historic Adam Hats building into loft apartments in 1996. The investment firm also owns the Continental Gin, Murray Lofts at 3401 Commerce and the Farm and Ranch Building and Futura Lofts building in Deep Ellum.
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Recently, Westdale has attracted attention because of its ownership of the historic Knights of Pythias building on Elm. The vacant landmark and adjoining land are just a block from DART's Good-Latimer station.
While the property is considered one of the most attractive development sites in Deep Ellum, it has remained boarded up for years. City officials recently demanded access to the landmark from Westdale due to concerns that it was being allowed to deteriorate.
Westdale officials didn't return phone calls to discuss their plans for Deep Ellum after DART service begins.
What it needs
How quickly and to what degree Deep Ellum will benefit from DART's new rail line remains to be seen.
"DART isn't the golden key, but it certainly helps," said Mike Turner, whose firm J. Elmer Turner rents buildings in the area. "The DART line coming out from downtown will allow people on the north side to come to Deep Ellum easier."
But Mr. Turner said the area needs fewer owners or investors that can oversee a systematic redevelopment.
Broker Newt Walker agrees.
"Deep Ellum has the fabric with the location and the buildings but not the master planning," Mr. Walker said. "Someone has to assemble a big portion of it and come up with a solution for parking."
Deep Ellum has suffered at the hands of its large number of investors and landlords, Mr. Annino said.
"If there is a negative, it's that everyone down there couldn't get together to make things happen," he said. "They've invested in the buildings, but not the neighborhood."
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Commercial Property News July 1, 2008
Dallas Multi-Family Transfers to TOD
By Amanda Marsh, Associate Editor
Many of the 8,500 multi-family units delivered in Dallas during 2007 arose within mixed-use projects, particularly pedestrian- and transit-oriented developments, reported Art Lomenick, managing director for Trammell Crow Co. & president of subsidiary High Street Residential. His company, for example, recently signed an exclusive master developer contract to build up three sites in Carrollton with high-density residential, office and retail space. The locations all anchor an existing or planned Dallas Area Rapid Transit light-rail line.
Lomenick reported that many multi-family developers, though they understand the need for such development, have been dragged into mixed-use “kicking and screaming.”
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Dallas Morning News July 18, 2008
Transcontinental Realty Investors buys Las Colinas site
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Transcontinental Realty Investors – a Farmers Branch-based property investor and developer – has purchased a building site in Las Colinas.
The 7.5 acres at 3838 Teleport in Irving is adjacent to a planned DART light-rail station.
Transcontinental Realty bought the land from Wireless4U in a deal negotiated Colliers International.
“This property was one of the best located sites available in the Las Colinas Urban Center,” said Colliers’ Noel Hutcheson, who negotiated the sale along with Cash McWhorter.
The DART line is scheduled to open in the Las Colinas Urban Center in 2011.
Developers are already working on several apartment, condo and retail projects in that area.
Transcontinental is already a major property owner in Las Colinas.
Page 1 of 1 Carrollton Leader July 23, 2008
Growth spurt: development continues in far North Carrollton; transit development almost ready to begin
By Senitra Horbrook, Staff Writer
Far North Carrollton is where much of the city’s development is now taking place, according to city officials.
City and business leaders in the community heard from the economic development office about where the city is headed in terms of retail and restaurant development during Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce’s Retail Briefing on July 16.
“We’re substandard when it comes to retail and restaurant development,” said Brad Mink, director of economic development.
Mink explained that the city used to have ordinances that prevented retail and restaurant development, so chains and franchisees opened shop in neighboring cities. Thus, Carrollton has a lot of non-mainstream restaurants even though chain restaurants such as TGI Friday’s have headquarters in Carrollton.
“We’re in a constant game of catch-up. That’s the negative side,” Mink said. “It’s not all gloom and doom, but we can always be better.”
Development in far North Carrollton includes the Asian Town Center at Old Denton and the George Bush Turnpike, Shops at Prestonwood at Charles Road and Hebron Parkway, Mustang Park at Plano Parkway west of Hebron High School, Raiford Tract near Old Denton and George Bush, The Collection at 121 and Hebron, and Air Park at Plano Parkway and Park Boulevard.
Much of the development will consist of mixed-use properties, which includes residential, retail and offices.
“We acquired 113 acres and are now about to go to market with [Raiford Road],” said Peter Braster, transit-oriented development (TOD) manager.
Braster said that residents can expect to see single family housing, townhouses, apartments, retail, offices, and a hotel on that property. Air Park, which the city annexed in February, will contain high-end mixed-use development.
Page 1 of 2
With the DART Rail riding into Carrollton in 2010, transit-oriented development is also on the horizon, with plans shaping up at stations to be located downtown and on Trinity Mills. Transit- oriented development in North Carrollton is moving slower because the city does not own the land.
“Transit-oriented development is living above the store,” Braster explained.
The city hired Trammel Crow to spearhead the development. Braster said that Main Street will be reconstructed, the square will be rehabilitated and the parking removed to make it more walkable.
“It will all be done and complete by December 2010,” he said. “Downtown will feel a lot more like Addison Circle feels when you walk under the trees. We’ll be turning the first shovel of dirt within the next six months or so.”
Retail specialist Elise Back explained how the city attracts and keeps retailers within its boundaries by providing training, e-bulletins, roundtables, property databases, a development and rehabilitation program, an online dining and retail guide, and a “Shop Carrollton” campaign.
“We want to get Carrollton residents and people that work in the city to shop locally,” she said.
The city is also working to improve its aesthetics through new signage requirements, which include architectural details, said Ravi Shah, director of urban development.
Mink said he is particularly concerned about hotel development and hopes attract higher-end hotels to the city.
“The few hotels we have here are embarrassing,” he said. “We are aggressively working to change that.”
Contact Senitra Horbrook at 972-628-4074 or [email protected]. Comment on this story at scntx.com.
Page 2 of 2 Fort Worth Star-Telegram July 27, 2008
Train stations may be first stop in cities' big developments
By MATT FRAZIER
Mass-transit commuters capping off a grueling workday with a visit to a restaurant or spa at the Richland Hills train station?
Maybe someday.
City officials across Northeast Tarrant County say they see opportunities for development at commuter train stations.
And the crowds of people looking to board trains would just be a starting point.
"We would like to have something for the riders but also something that may attract other people to the station," Richland Hills Mayor David Ragan said. "We would like to have coffee shops, restaurants, cleaners, a spa. We would also like to get into mixed use, put in condos or something."
Richland Hills has a station along the Trinity Railway Express commuter rail line between Fort Worth and Dallas.
But Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Grapevine and possibly Colleyville are considering stations on a rail line scheduled to open in 2012 or 2013. The line would run from southwest Fort Worth to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority, known as the T, plans to build simple stations with a train platform, parking areas and access routes.
It’s up to the cities to add amenities.
"We do know that we want each of our stops to show the unique character of the city," said Jared Miller, North Richland Hills assistant city manager. "Restaurants, service types of businesses, bike shops, I know we’ve discussed a number of appearances, but we have not put down any plans or estimated costs."
Costs are the major stumbling block.
Colleyville, Haltom City and North Richland Hills cannot raise their sales tax rates because they’re at the state cap of 8.25 percent.
Page 1 of 3
The three cities are looking for other funding sources or for a change in state law.
Colleyville, for example, estimates that having a station would cost nearly $1 million a year.
But that has not stopped ideas and dreams.
Here’s what’s under way:
Richland Hills
Richland Hills, which got its TRE station in 2000, hired URS Corp. of Colorado to study how the city could best develop the area, which is surrounded mostly by warehouses.
The City Council took action after the T suggested paving a nearby field to improve parking. Council members feared that the paved lot would not be as appealing to developers as the bare ground.
The T agreed to do nothing without consulting the council.
Colleyville
A station has been suggested for the area of John McCain Road and Boulevard 26. Some members of the city’s Commuter Rail Committee said in a July 14 meeting that they didn’t think a station made sense. They noted the relatively small number of people who would use it — an estimated average of 450 boardings daily by 2030 — and the $1 million annual cost.
A telephone survey showed support for a rail stop in Colleyville.
The committee will meet in public at 7 p.m. Monday at Colleyville Center to continue a review of questions from residents, committee Chairman John Gooding said. The committee is scheduled to deliver a report to the City Council by the end of the year.
Grapevine
Grapevine voted in 2006 to increase its sales tax rate by 3/8 of a cent to buy into the southwest Fort Worth-D/FW rail project with a downtown stop where the tracks cross Main Street. Grapevine City Manager Bruno Rumbelow said the city has not determined specifics about what will be at the Grapevine station. He predicted that it would be something similar to the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center, but on a smaller scale.
Page 2 of 3
Haltom City
Officials are eyeing a site for a station along U.S. 377 near the library being built at 4809 Haltom Road. City officials have said they want to parlay plans for a new library into a complex that would include shops and restaurants similar to Mockingbird Station on the DART line in Dallas. Those plans haven’t changed, but they haven’t advanced, said Fran Burns, city community projects coordinator.
North Richland Hills
North Richland Hills is looking to add two stations: one in the Smithfield area and one near Loop 820 and Iron Horse Drive on the west end of town. No concrete plans have been developed, but Mayor Oscar Trevino has said he believes amenities could be part of the Loop 820 station.
Page 3 of 3
Dallas Morning News August 22, 2008
Downtown lures firms with public transit, residences, renewed vibrancy
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News During the first half of 2008, downtown Dallas had more office leasing than all of the suburban areas combined.
GUY REYNOLDS/DMN
The landmark Mercantile National Bank building, shown from the Commerce Street side, is being redeveloped into Mercantile Place, a 225-unit apartment tower. The first phase of the 31- story project is being completed.
The jump in net office leasing – almost 400,000 square feet so far – represents quite a turnaround for a market that for years suffered losses of business to the suburbs.
But after billions of dollars in private- and public-sector investment, central business district proponents are ready to proclaim that downtown Dallas has turned the corner.
Page 1 of 6
MICHAEL HAWKINS/Special Contributor
The luxury hotel Joule, whose swimming pool juts out over Main Street, opened in May near Neiman Marcus. Rooms in the luxury hotel start at $380 a night, with the 20th-floor penthouse commanding $5,000 a night. The lit-up spire of the Mercantile project is on the left.
“I can’t remember a time since the early 1980s that we had a bigger year for downtown Dallas,” said John Crawford, president and chief executive of DowntownDallas, the central business district economic development organization. “And back then, it was purely a commercial district – very one-dimensional.
“Today, we have new commercial, residential, retail, entertainment and big cultural components.”
Page 2 of 6
GUY REYNOLDS/DMN
Downtown resident Catherine Farthing walks her dogs Lucy and Belle past the new Third Rail Lofts on Main Street. More than 5,000 people now live in 3,500 residences within downtown's freeway loop.
Indeed, it is that diversity that is driving downtown's renewal.
From loft apartments on Main Street to the new opera hall in the Arts District, the center city is enjoying the biggest boom in two decades.
MICHAEL HAWKINS/Special Contributor
The Mosaic, at Akard and Bryan, is 72 percent leased, with all of its less expensive apartment lofts taken, developer Hamilton Properties says. Even with new housing coming on the market downtown, older properties have not seen a decline in residents.
Page 3 of 6
At the same time, a renewed interest in urbanism and greater emphasis on public transit are feeding into the downtown area's resurgence.
"Downtown is the one part of town everyone can get to on public transit," said Jon Altschuler, Stream Realty Partners president and partner. "It's amazing to look at the momentum that's being created downtown and the relocations."
GUY REYNOLDS/DMN
The Grand Hotel rises in the distance at a construction site between Commerce and Main where rezoning is being sought. Construction has become a constant in the area. During the last year, relocating companies have added almost 6,000 workers downtown and gobbled up more than 1 million square feet of empty office space.
The recent downtown moves include two of the largest companies ever to move to the Dallas area – AT&T's 700-employee corporate headquarters, moving from San Antonio, and last year's move by Comerica from Detroit with more than 200 workers.
Along with those moves from outside the area, local firms have recently transferred offices from the suburbs to Dallas' city center. Among them: Tenet Healthcare, 7-Eleven, American International Group and TM Advertising.
"There is definitely a pendulum swing here," said Phil Puckett, the CB Richard Ellis executive vice president who represented Tenet in its search for office space.
Downtown's position as the hub of regional rail traffic is in big part driving the prosperity, Mr. Puckett said. Page 4 of 6
"Never before have we had gasoline prices so high, and that's having a big impact," he said. "With the central business district being rich in DART rail and the added line going to D/FW Airport, it is a major decision factor" by companies considering a move.
The growth of downtown's housing market also has been key to bringing corporate residents to the city's core.
"In 1996, we had just 200 people living in one building, the Manor House," Mr. Crawford said.
Since then, developers have boosted the central business district's residential base to more than 3,500 units.
More than 5,000 people now live inside the downtown freeway loop.
The boom in residential building has made it easier to attract workers who want to live nearby. And more projects are in the works.
Long-term investment JPI, the Irving-based builder that is one of the country's largest apartment developers, is finishing up one project in downtown's West End and has started another in the Arts District. Together the projects represent more than $80 million in investment, said JPI's senior vice president, Brad Taylor.
"We have made a pretty big investment in Dallas and have tried to pick specific neighborhoods that we thought were good long-term investments," Mr. Taylor said. "We are a believer in the urban core and think it's the place to be for the next several years."
Unlike some suburban locations where competing developers can set up shop on almost every corner, the high cost of land downtown and greater project densities reduce the number of projects.
"That means the urban market, we feel, is less likely to get overbuilt," Mr. Taylor said. Cleveland-based developer Forest City Enterprise is finishing work on the first phase of its Mercantile Place apartment project on Main Street – a redevelopment more than four years in the making.
The landmark Mercantile National Bank tower has been converted into 225 apartments. The 31-story historic skyscraper is 30 percent leased, according to project manager Jim Truitt. Mr. Truitt said leasing has gone a little slower than expected.
Page 5 of 6
"Due to the economy, we are still under construction and our amenity space does not open until the fall."
Next door, Forest City is working on a new 150-unit building that will open late this year.
Mr. Truitt is optimistic because of the recent jump in office leasing downtown, "a reversal of a long trend of companies moving to the suburbs."
Staying power Hamilton Properties, which is the largest loft apartment developer in Dallas, is pleased with the response to its latest project, the Mosaic building on Bryan Street.
"We're 72 percent leased, and most of our inexpensive units are all taken," said Ted Hamilton. "We are hitting our projections."
More important, the completion of several loft apartment buildings hasn't cut into occupancy at the older properties, Mr. Hamilton said.
Developer Lucy Billingsley has leased most of the office space in her mixed-use One Arts Plaza building on Flora Street.
"I have about 10,000 square feet of office space available," Ms. Billingsley said. "The rest is gone. The retail is all gone."
Billingsley Co. is ready to start work on a second office, retail and condo building.
"We've got to get a lead tenant and we are ready," she said. "It's so fulfilling to see people living in our project, working there and dining there."
Page 6 of 6 Dallas Morning News September 5, 2008
Several big apartment, condo projects in works in East Dallas
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News Kirk Freeman and Clark Lauderdale managed the Newport apartments on Matilda Street near Lovers Lane for more than a decade.
And when the out-of-state owners decided to sell the complex, they saw that the timing was right for redevelopment.
"We thought a condominium conversion was perfect for this property," said Mr. Freeman, who cited the close-in Dallas location and two-block walk to a DART light-rail station as key ingredients to the redo plan.
More than a year later, the renamed Veneto condominiums have just opened, and buyers are starting to move in. The developers spent more than $60,000 a unit to rehabilitate the 72-condo project.
A few years ago, the neighborhood just east of University Park wouldn't have warranted that much of an investment, the developers say.
"There have been a lot of changes, and there are going to be more," said Mr. Lauderdale of Lauderdale Co.
Indeed, developers are tying up building sites and knocking down block after block of older apartments in the area.
A half dozen or so major projects are in the works.
"Neighborhoods served by mass transit have tremendous appeal among renter prospects right now, so these areas are the hot zones targeted by quite a few developers," said Greg Willett of apartment market analyst M/PF YieldStar. "It's happening not just in Dallas but all across the nation."
One of the largest new developments in the neighborhood is Prescott Realty Group's mixed-use complex along Yale Boulevard at Greenville Avenue. It's adjacent to DART's Mockingbird rail stop.
Page 1 of 3
"With $4 gas and ozone action days, we like the concept of people staying out of their cars so they can live, shop and work in the same area," said Prescott Realty chief executive Jud Pankey. "The fastest way to make an impact on DART ridership and air quality is to build residential adjacent to the stations."
The developer and investor has just completed demolishing the old Shamburger Building Center complex and is working on plans for a new apartment and retail complex.
The development is planned to contain about 450 apartments plus retail space. And Prescott Realty owns other land nearby that is also earmarked for redevelopment.
Visible changes are under way along Lovers Lane east of Matilda Street.
Fairfield Properties and Behringer Harvard are tearing down about two blocks of old rental units that will be replaced with new apartments and some retail space.
Fairfield hopes to break ground on the site of the Signature Pointe apartments as early as November. But first, the developer has to get city approval for the project and tear down the old apartments. The apartments were vacated and fenced off months ago. Fairfield has been negotiating with city planners and neighbors over details of the project since then.
"We are looking at building between 365 and 375 apartments," said Fairfield's Steven Stamos. "We will also have a retail component and 23 townhomes."
The developer has already spent more than $25 million on the project and hasn't turned a spade of dirt.
"You can understand that we are anxious to start," he said.
Nearby at the Plaza at Skillman apartments, demolition crews are knocking down the buildings. Behringer Harvard and Greystar Development are making way for more new apartments. "About 80 percent of the previous structures have been cleared," said Behringer Harvard's Jason Mattox. "Construction will begin immediately after."
About 155 townhouse-style apartments will replace the 185 old units, which were built in the early 1970s.
North of Lovers at Southwestern Boulevard and Skillman Street, Florida-based builder ZOM Inc. has already torn down the almost 40-year-old Village View apartments. ZOM plans a new rental complex with more than 400 units.
Page 2 of 3
The widespread rebuilding has gotten a mixed reaction from neighbors. Some property owners in the area welcome the replacement of aging rental complexes. But others have complained that the redevelopments will bring more traffic and higher housing costs.
The appeal of living a short walk from shopping and mass transit is a big lure for Veneto's buyers, developers say. " Another developer, Power Properties, had already done successful condominium conversions in the neighborhood," Mr. Freeman said. "A significant number of our buyers are going to be first- time homeowners."
And so far, east side locations are offering a bargain compared with other central Dallas neighborhoods. The Veneto condos range from the $130,000s to the $240,000s, for example.
"This market is at least 25 or 30 percent cheaper than Uptown," Mr. Lauderdale said. "And we have a DART station and a Central Market grocer right up the street."
Lauderdale Co. is pushing ahead with plans to redevelop a second rental building across Birchbrook Drive. That complex will add 65 condo units.
"Most of the apartments in this area are going to be torn down or redone," Mr. Lauderdale said.
Page 3 of 3
Quick September 5, 2008
Big apartment, condo projects in works in East Dallas
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News Kirk Freeman and Clark Lauderdale managed the Newport apartments on Matilda Street near Lovers Lane for more than a decade.
And when the out-of-state owners decided to sell the complex, they saw that the timing was right for redevelopment.
"We thought a condominium conversion was perfect for this property," said Mr. Freeman, who cited the close-in Dallas location and two-block walk to a DART light-rail station as key ingredients to the redo plan.
More than a year later, the renamed Veneto condominiums have just opened, and buyers are starting to move in. The developers spent more than $60,000 a unit to rehabilitate the 72-condo project.
A few years ago, the neighborhood just east of University Park wouldn't have warranted that much of an investment, the developers say.
"There have been a lot of changes, and there are going to be more," said Mr. Lauderdale of Lauderdale Co.
Indeed, developers are tying up building sites and knocking down block after block of older apartments in the area.
A half dozen or so major projects are in the works.
"Neighborhoods served by mass transit have tremendous appeal among renter prospects right now, so these areas are the hot zones targeted by quite a few developers," said Greg Willett of apartment market analyst M/PF YieldStar. "It's happening not just in Dallas but all across the nation."
One of the largest new developments in the neighborhood is Prescott Realty Group's mixed-use complex along Yale Boulevard at Greenville Avenue. It's adjacent to DART's Mockingbird rail stop.
"With $4 gas and ozone action days, we like the concept of people staying out of their cars so they can live, shop and work in the same area," said Prescott Realty chief executive Jud Pankey.
Page 1 of 3
"The fastest way to make an impact on DART ridership and air quality is to build residential adjacent to the stations."
The developer and investor has just completed demolishing the old Shamburger Building Center complex and is working on plans for a new apartment and retail complex.
The development is planned to contain about 450 apartments plus retail space. And Prescott Realty owns other land nearby that is also earmarked for redevelopment.
Visible changes are under way along Lovers Lane east of Matilda Street.
Fairfield Properties and Behringer Harvard are tearing down about two blocks of old rental units that will be replaced with new apartments and some retail space.
Fairfield hopes to break ground on the site of the Signature Pointe apartments as early as November. But first, the developer has to get city approval for the project and tear down the old apartments. The apartments were vacated and fenced off months ago. Fairfield has been negotiating with city planners and neighbors over details of the project since then.
"We are looking at building between 365 and 375 apartments," said Fairfield's Steven Stamos. "We will also have a retail component and 23 townhomes."
The developer has already spent more than $25 million on the project and hasn't turned a spade of dirt.
"You can understand that we are anxious to start," he said.
Nearby at the Plaza at Skillman apartments, demolition crews are knocking down the buildings. Behringer Harvard and Greystar Development are making way for more new apartments.
"About 80 percent of the previous structures have been cleared," said Behringer Harvard's Jason Mattox. "Construction will begin immediately after."
About 155 townhouse-style apartments will replace the 185 old units, which were built in the early 1970s.
North of Lovers at Southwestern Boulevard and Skillman Street, Florida-based builder ZOM Inc. has already torn down the almost 40-year-old Village View apartments. ZOM plans a new rental complex with more than 400 units.
Page 2 of 3
The widespread rebuilding has gotten a mixed reaction from neighbors. Some property owners in the area welcome the replacement of aging rental complexes. But others have complained that the redevelopments will bring more traffic and higher housing costs.
The appeal of living a short walk from shopping and mass transit is a big lure for Veneto's buyers, developers say.
"Another developer, Power Properties, had already done successful condominium conversions in the neighborhood," Mr. Freeman said. "A significant number of our buyers are going to be first- time homeowners."
And so far, east side locations are offering a bargain compared with other central Dallas neighborhoods. The Veneto condos range from the $130,000s to the $240,000s, for example.
"This market is at least 25 or 30 percent cheaper than Uptown," Mr. Lauderdale said. "And we have a DART station and a Central Market grocer right up the street."
Lauderdale Co. is pushing ahead with plans to redevelop a second rental building across Birchbrook Drive. That complex will add 65 condo units.
"Most of the apartments in this area are going to be torn down or redone," Mr. Lauderdale said.
Page 3 of 3
GlobeSt.com September 22, 2008
Redevelopment Play In Works
By Connie Gore
DALLAS-A 153-unit class C complex on a 5.33-acre corner in the Medical District has caught the eye of a major developer in the first round of quiet showings. After Wednesday, the deal's broker plans to knock on more doors.
The early look is over the land and not really about the 95%-leased San Carlos Apartments at 2516 New Orleans Place. Joshua Shatz, principal of Dallas-based 2516 New Orleans Place Custom Properties LLC, tells GlobeSt.com that the seller of record, San Carlos Associates LP of Dallas, is hoping to latch onto a co-developer deal to rework the dirt into a residential and retail redevelopment.
"This property will be able to get a zoning change for a mid-rise," Shatz says. "That's what we think and that's our expectations."
The owner acquired the complex two years ago, buying into a redevelopment pocket being spurred by Parkland Hospital's expansion plan.
In addition, the complex practically neighbors Children's Hospital and within blocks of an under- construction Dallas Area Rapid Transit station. And right across the street is 5225 Maple Ave., where the top rent quote is $1,375 per month.
Shatz says San Carlos Apartments is being marketed to just a select few for roughly $9 million, with developers Front-Door View at the top of the list. And, he's not ruling out an outright sale although he believes the real opportunity lies in the dirt. He adds that Parkland's expansion will create "the right traffic pattern" and demand for residential and retail space.
To keep cash flowing, he says the owner is still signing leases for the mix of efficiencies and one- and two-bedroom apartments, which average 894 sf. The average rent is 80 cents per sf. "At this point, we don't want cash flow to suffer," Shatz says. "But, we think it's just a great opportunity. It's just the timing of it."
Page 1 of 1 Dallas Morning News October 2, 2008
Apartment, retail complex planned in Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
A Flower Mound-based developer plans to build an apartment and retail complex in Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District.
Mockingbird Properties’ project will be at the northeast corner of Butler and Redfield streets, just a block from the UT Southwestern Medical Center on Harry Hines Boulevard.
Mockingbird Properties The Butler apartments and retail district planned near UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Called the Butler, the complex will have 460 apartments. And the rental community will have space set aside for retail tenants, including a small grocer.
Developer Mitchell Vexler said in an announcement that the project “will provide convenient housing with the most desirable amenities for employees working in the Medical District.”
Mockingbird Properties estimates that about 13,000 people work in the area at medical facilities including Parkland Hospital, Children’s Medical Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center. And Parkland is seeking public funding to build a vast new hospital in the area.
At the same time, construction of DART’s new light rail line through the neighborhood will connect the area with downtown and other locations by next year.
Developers are lining up to provide new housing in the area.
Trammell Crow Residential is building a 400-unit rental complex on Medical District Drive between Harry Hines and Maple Avenue.
Southlake-based developer and investor Realty Capital Corp. is building an apartment community that includes redevelopment of an old commercial building on Maple just north of Inwood.
The 260-unit Cityville apartment and retail complex opened last year on Medical District Drive across from the new DART station.
Page 1 of 1 Dallas Business Journal (Dallas.BizJournals.com) December 19, 2008
Dallas approves TOD financing 25-year plan designed to bring retail, office and housing south of the Trinity River
Dallas Business Journal - by Joyce Tsai and Bill Hethcock Staff writers
The Dallas City Council has approved a financing structure aimed at sparking millions of square feet of development worth more than $1 billion along the city’s light rail stations from Lovers Lane to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in southern Dallas.
The plan creates the city’s first tax increment financing district that links the neighborhoods around seven Dallas Area Rapid Transit stations. The goal is to stimulate nodes of transit- oriented development through the heart of the city while jump- starting construction south of the Trinity River.
The concept, approved earlier this month by the City Council, is designed to redirect tax dollars to encourage developers to create clusters of apartments, stores and offices around DART stations.
It calls for high-density development comprising 1.5 million square feet of retail, 1.2 million square feet of office space, three hotels and 9.5 million square feet of residential, including town homes, apartments and single-family homes. The development would take place over 25 years.
Cities use TIFs to stimulate development by allowing developers in specific areas to reinvest new property tax dollars spurred by the TIF to fund infrastructure improvements in the zone, instead of having the additional dollars go into the city’s general fund. When the TIF lapses, the city benefits from a more valuable tax base. Public hearings were held for all property owners in the affected area before the City Council voted to create the TIF.
The goal of the TIF is to create “a string of urban pearls” along the rail line, said Jud Pankey, CEO of Prescott Realty Group, which worked with the city and Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials on the TIF. “The TIF is an important tool in the tool kit to make that (development) happen.”
Mayor Tom Leppert, a strong proponent of revitalization in the city’s southern sector, called the TIF “a significant development.”
Page 1 of 4 “It sets the stage for being able to do the things that we have not been able to do in the past,” he said. “We will be able to balance investment and see the development in the southern part of our city accelerate.”
Through the TIF, “the city will make available well over $100 million over 20 to 25 years to really be able to address the challenges we have in the southern part of our city,” Leppert said.
The district includes three main areas targeted for development along the DART line. The first centers around the Mockingbird and Lovers Lane stations, the second consists of areas around the Cedars West and Eighth-and-Corinth stations, and the third, called the Lancaster corridor subdistrict, includes areas around the Illinois, Kiest and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center stations.
Typically, TIFs must be formed in one contiguous area, but the city found a way to link them using DART’s right-of-way access, said Karl Zavitkovsky, director of the Office of Economic Development for the City of Dallas.
“We never before have done an extended TIF like this,” Zavitkovsky said. “It’s the first TIF that involves revenue sharing from northern areas with southern areas, which means that money will go from more prosperous areas to ones that are less developed.”
The revenue sharing will help spur development in the Lancaster corridor that otherwise probably would not occur, Zavitkovsky said. The plan would allocate 40% of the new tax dollars generated from development around the Mockingbird and Lovers Lane stations to development around Illinois, Kiest and the VA Medical Center, and allocate 20% of the Mockingbird and Lovers Lane station’s tax dollars to affordable housing within the TIF zone. The remaining 40% of new tax dollars from the Mockingbird and Lovers Lane stations will go back into the district.
Strategic growth plan The TIF also would allocate 10% of the new tax dollars generated at the Cedars West and Eighth-and-Corinth stations to go to the Lancaster corridor area, and another 10% to affordable housing throughout the TIF district during the 25-year collection period.
The strategic significance of the extended TIF is the ability to link successes in the development around Mockingbird and Lovers Lane to that of the city’s southern sector in the Lancaster Corridor, which has been slow to develop, Zavitkovsky said.
The city would not have created a TIF just for the Lovers Lane and Mockingbird station area because development already is occurring there, he said. But because developers in that area were willing to share their part of new tax dollars to stimulate development in the south, it seemed like an attractive plan that would benefit both sides of the city, Zavitkovsky said.
Page 2 of 4 “If the Lancaster Corridor was to try to do this on its own, it would take a very long time,” he said. “A TIF would not be a good instrument there. It, as a standalone district, wouldn’t generate enough increment to provide very much support of the projects in that area.”
Development in the Lovers Lane and Mockingbird station areas is expected to occur more quickly with the addition of a number of key projects near Mockingbird. The George W. Bush Presidential Center will be built just west of the TIF’s northernmost node, which is bounded by North Central Expressway, Lovers Lane, Greenville Avenue and Mockingbird Lane. And Southern Methodist University has a master plan to expand its campus eastward past North Central Expressway into that TIF area, which would feature a mixed-used environment that eventually could include graduate housing, academic offices and research facilities.
“This is an important step,” SMU President R. Gerald Turner said in an e-mail about the creation of the TIF district. “As SMU’s presence east of Central Expressway grows, we look forward to contributing to the vitality of the area.”
The effort represents a four-year collaboration between the City of Dallas staff, City Council, DART, SMU, Prescott Realty and various Lancaster corridor stakeholders, said Michael Turner of J. Elmer Turner Realtors in Dallas, a consultant to SMU for developing the area.
That area, east of North Central Expressway and north of Mockingbird Lane to Greenville, is currently “an older, industrial area, circa 1950s,” that is ripe for development, said Bill Nemeth, SMU’s director of real estate. This area, which has been named “University Crossing,” is “being fashioned by a collection of developers and property owners all working together to create a live- learn-work-and-play community near SMU,” Turner said.
Prescott Realty Group, the developer of University Crossing, has secured $2 million in funding to improve the infrastructure of the area with SMU, including $1.6 million in the form of a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
As part of University Crossing, Prescott is developing an apartment and retail complex southwest of newly named SMU Boulevard (formerly Yale Boulevard) and Greenville Avenue. Prescott also plans to develop a residential, retail and office project on another 10 acres in the TIF directly across North Central Expressway from the planned site of the presidential library.
Fulfilling an obligation The immediate development near Mockingbird will “generate more immediate tax increment in the base year because there is more market-generated activity there,” making it a catalyst for development in the TIF’s southern part, Zavitkovsky said.
Page 3 of 4 Pankey said Prescott Realty is exploring development opportunities in the southern part of the TIF and plans to launch a project, though no timeframe has been set. For now, Prescott is focusing on the projects under way and planned in University Crossing, he said.
Because of the economy and the difficulty developers face in getting loans, it might take several years before development in the southern sector takes off, Pankey said.
“It’s a brutal environment right now,” Pankey said. “It’s difficult to get anything done. We need the right economic environment to execute all of these things.”
Developers and businesses that build in the area will get reimbursed for infrastructure work, streetscaping, lighting in public areas, or building parks, using that pot of money from the TIF district, Zavitkovsky said.
City Councilman Tennell Atkins, who represents District 8 and is chair of the mayor’s Southern Sector Task Force, said the economic development of Dallas’ southern sector has been all but forgotten as other parts of the city have flourished.
“The city’s southern sector has been left behind for many, many years, and this is an obligation we have to the people there,” he said. The area around the VA Medical Center is one place that he’d like to see prosper with the TIF’s help. The hospital employs about 4,000 people, and many would like to see hotels and other amenities spring up in that neighborhood, he said.
This TIF is an important first step in remedying that imbalance in the city’s economic development, he said.
“You can’t measure its success until you get a great project going, but it’s a start,” he said.
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Dallas Morning News December 22, 2008
Development slow to follow Dallas transit rail at Plano's Parker Road station
By THEODORE KIM / The Dallas Morning News
The arrival of DART's Red Line has sparked a rebirth in downtown Plano, where new apartments and eateries have opened along decorative brick streets.
A far different landscape has emerged just one station away at Parker Road, the rail line's northern end and one of DART's busiest stops.
Empty lots abound. Sidewalks are cracked and broken. And the area's odd mix of buildings – big box stores, a day laborers' center and a bowling alley among them – makes for a disjointed suburban stew.
"There's a lack of a sense of place," City Council member Pat Miner said.
For all the examples of light rail fueling community turnarounds, DART's Parker Road stop has proved to be an exception. Six years since the Red Line was extended north to Parker Road, the station and its surroundings have changed little.
The lack of progress runs counter to a trend toward transit-centered building, which has grown more popular as traffic has worsened, fuel prices have risen and more people have embraced city-style living.
Several North Texas cities, including Carrollton, Garland and Rowlett, have anchored redevelopment efforts around future or existing DART stops. Planners in Dallas hope a station scheduled to open next year at Fair Park will help revive dilapidated neighborhoods nearby.
Plano, too, has lured new apartments and stores around its downtown station. In recent years, the city has invested about $20 million into downtown street upgrades, tax breaks and other projects.
Planners regard the Parker Road area as an untapped frontier for redevelopment that could enliven one of this suburb's poorest sections. Yet efforts have languished.
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Obstacles to growth
Aside from some street and parking improvements, few plans exist for new public or private development. In fact, city officials say any large-scale effort is probably years, perhaps even decades, away.
Anticipating DART's arrival, the city looked at redeveloping the area as far back as 1997. Planners have not seriously revisited the topic since.
"You need the will and the means," said Loretta Ellerbe, Plano's representative on DART's board of directors and a former city councilwoman. "For whatever reason, it hasn't happened."
City officials and suburban planners cite several reasons for the inaction: a dearth of developer interest, balkanized land ownership and uncertainty about whether the rail line will get extended to the north and/or west.
Some land, meanwhile, has already been developed into big box stores, limiting space and options.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle is parking, which is scarce. As the Red Line's terminus, the station attracts many commuters who drive from neighboring suburbs. DART has installed parking lots on some land it owns, and more spaces are on the way. Plano plans to introduce a pay lot.
Erecting new apartments or shops near the station would mean paring back parking or replacing lots with garages, said Frank Turner, an assistant city manager. Given that garages cost as much as $10,000 per space, few builders have expressed interest.
"Parking is the large elephant in the picture," said Mark Ball, a DART spokesman.
A challenge anywhere
The quandary is not unique to Parker Road. Tom Murphy, an expert at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C, said redeveloping areas near suburban rail stations is a universal challenge.
"Surface parking is the deadliest use of land," Mr. Murphy said. "But we need to recognize that transit systems are just trying to maximize ridership, and parking is an important part of that."
He said other cities have turned to private partnerships. Plano, for instance, could set up a special taxing district to defray the cost of new garages or tap its economic development fund to entice builders.
Parking needs also could ease if DART extends the Red Line further north.
Page 2 of 3 Some believe Parker Road might one day resemble Dallas's bustling Mockingbird Station, which links to a collection of shops, restaurants, apartments and a movie theater.
Like Mockingbird, Parker Road is heavily trafficked, close to job centers, and near DART and North Central Expressway.
'We've got to wait'
While Parker Road has eons to go before then, city officials are considering interim steps.
Plano plans to build a new parking lot on a vacant city-owned lot west of K Avenue. On weekends, the city hopes to use the lot for a farmers market or bazaar.
"The hope is to create another attraction along the rail line," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, which is helping on the city parking project.
Plano also is upgrading Parker Road, while the state is overhauling a nearby Central Expressway interchange. The $20 million project will improve station access and could set a foundation for growth.
In the long term, however, the city's strategy is to wait.
"A lot of us have been impatient to go ahead and begin," said Plano Mayor Pat Evans. "The reality is, we've got to wait."
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Progressive Railroading ProgressiveRailroading.com December 23, 2008
Dallas council creates TIF district to promote transit-oriented development
Earlier this month, the Dallas City Council approved its first Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district centered on multi-station transit-oriented development.
The 559-acre district stretches from the Lovers Lane/Mockingbird area along a Dallas Area Rapid Transit light-rail line to the Lancaster/VA Medical Center region. The district will exist for 30 years and is expected to accrue incremental tax revenue of about $328 million.
"The primary focus of this effort is to encourage high-density, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly developments around existing DART rail stations," said Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm in a prepared statement. "The TIF provide an effective development tool to encourage the redevelopment of important, centralized areas of the city, as well as new development."
The three sub-districts designated by the TIF include eight DART rail stations. Currently, Prescott Realty Group is planning two development projects in the University Crossing area: one with 55 residential lofts and 3,500 square feet of retail space, and another with more than 400 residential units and 8,000 square feet of retail space. In addition, Southern Methodist University is pursuing development plans, such as the George W. Bush Presidential Library and several campus facilities that will rely on area transit connections.
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Dallas Morning News December 27, 2008
Dallas City Council approves plan to send tax revenue from new development to Lancaster Road area
By RUDOLPH BUSH / The Dallas Morning News
The area around Lancaster Road and Kiest Boulevard has long been known for its rundown shopping centers, a Wendy's restaurant with no chairs to sit on and a couple of drug-infested motels.
So far, efforts to revive the critical southern-sector neighborhood have proved all but futile.
But in its last meeting of the year, the Dallas City Council approved a plan that stands to be the biggest boost the area has seen in ages, a new tax-increment finance district that could funnel tens of millions of dollars from development north of downtown straight down the DART line to Lancaster-Kiest.
The TOD-TIF, or transit-oriented development/tax-increment finance district, is the first of its kind in Dallas. And at City Hall it's seen as the biggest lever yet to revitalize a backsliding neighborhood.
"It's a big deal. We've been working on this a long time. It's going to have a giant impact on the future, and it significantly increases our chances of success," Mayor Tom Leppert said.
TIF districts are an instrument the city uses to send tax revenue from new development to a redeveloping area rather than adding it to the general fund. The tax money can then be used to shore up infrastructure within the TIF district or even to subsidize future development.
The problem with creating TIF districts in poorer areas like Lancaster-Kiest is that there isn't likely to be any new development to prime the pump – to get the tax dollars flowing back into the district.
But by using the new TOD-TIF, the city hopes it has solved that problem.
Under state law, Dallas can now link distant neighborhoods into a single TIF, so long as they are connected along a transit line.
In this case, the city created a TIF with three subdistricts. The first subdistrict is around Lancaster-Kiest, the second is around the Cedars West neighborhood just south of downtown, and the third is an area largely bounded by Mockingbird and Lovers lanes, Greenville Avenue and North Central Expressway. Page 1 of 2 The critical connection is the Lancaster-Kiest corridor with neighborhoods around the Mockingbird and Lovers lanes DART stations.
"For a TIF to become successful, it needs some sort of a catalyst or early tax increment generation," said Karl Zavitkovsky, director of Dallas' Economic Development Department.
"With the development going on now with the Bush library and the property Prescott Realty owns in the Mockingbird-Lovers area, we feel there is good opportunity there," he said.
The way the TIF is structured, tax money will flow south to Lancaster-Kiest from new development planned by Prescott in the Mockingbird Station area, and from ancillary development around the library.
That money will then be available to subsidize the sort of mixed-income, mixed-use development that other parts of the city have enjoyed but that have proven difficult to spur in southern Dallas.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, whose District 4 is anchored by Lancaster-Kiest, has pushed for the new TIF as a way to revive a neighborhood that he believes was deeply damaged when DART ran a rail line down the center of Lancaster Road.
"The DART rail has sliced down the center of the boulevard," separating one side of Lancaster- Kiest from the other and dragging down businesses on both sides, he said.
Ironically, it's that rail line that will give the area an opportunity to reap millions in direct tax subsidies from northern development, he said.
Mr. Caraway, who successfully pushed for the closure of two Lancaster Road motels that were infested with drug users and prostitutes, said he's now optimistic his neighborhood will get the kind of development that people in North Dallas expect.
"The corridor is in such dire straits, where was investment going to come from? Where were those dollars going to come from? This is an opportunity to get it kicked off. Hopefully, it will become self-sustaining; that is the goal," he said.
It could be years before enough TIF money accumulates to allow officials to start turning dirt.
But already, there is movement forward, Mr. Caraway said. Based in part on the TIF plans, the old Crest Plaza shopping center in the 2600 block of South Lancaster Road is being redeveloped.
And the city is in talks with a few developers about future projects around the Dallas VA Medical Center and at the old Lancaster-Kiest Shopping Center.
What will rise there or when it will happen isn't clear. But at City Hall, the view south toward Lancaster-Kiest hasn't looked this good in years.
"This was a big, big step forward," Mr. Leppert said.
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