Dallas

[Sic'EmBears]

Hunt Realty buys 2,500-acre ranch in Frisco for master-planned development



Project Location

Hunt Realty will master-develop the large, mixed-use planned development, alongside the Karahan Cos., led by Fehmi Karahan, who developed much of Plano’s Legacy area.

Anticipated development in Frisco will include commercial, office, retail, single-family and multifamily residential, and education, amongst other potential uses, Hunt Realty said in a news release.

Development is expected to begin in 2019.

"I look forward to working with the team and the city of Frisco on this iconic tract.,” Karahan said in a statement. “Despite its prime high-growth location, it is as though this jewel has been preserved for something extraordinary, and that's what we hope to create.”

Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney said the land features elevation changes, rolling terrain and creek corridors. He called it “some of the most beautiful, unique landscape in our city.”

[Sic'EmBears]

D-FW is the nation's undisputed king of home construction in the latest ranking

With 36,264 home starts in the 12 months ending with the second quarter, D-FW far surpassed other big American housing markets for total production, according to a new report by housing analyst Metrostudy Inc.

D-FW builders are starting about 40 percent more homes than in the Atlanta and Phoenix metro areas and almost 70 percent more than in Denver.

D-FW home starts rose 12.7 percent annually in the just-released second-quarter housing comparison.

North Texas has been a leading U.S. housing market since the end of the Great Recession.

"We will continue to secure the top position for the next few years," said Metrostudy's regional director Paige Shipp.

"During the past 12 months, we started 6,300 more new homes than Houston [the No. 2 U.S. market], and our growth pace is twice that of Houston.

[Sic'EmBears]

Dallas hotel building boom is second only to New York City

Dallas' hotel building boom shows no sign of a let up.

Dallas has a total of 156 hotel projects with 18,908 rooms in the construction pipeline or planned in the second quarter, according to a new report by Lodging Econometrics, which tracks hotel construction.

New York City was first in the country with 169 hotel projects.

"If all of the projects in the pipeline eventually come to fruition, this will increase the city's guest room supply by 21.3 percent," Lodging Economics said in the new report. "Dallas should continue its fast-paced growth.

"In the first half of the year, it led all markets for the most new hotel projects announced into the pipeline, with 27 projects and 3,195 rooms."

Most of the current construction in the Dallas area is located in Denton, Lewisville, McKinney, Plano and Frisco, according to the report.

"Historically, according to our hotel real estate intelligence, the New York City market has led the construction pipeline by projects since third quarter 2011," said J.P. Ford, Lodging Econometrics' senior vice president. "This has been followed by Houston.

"However, in Q1 2018, Dallas surpassed Houston to take the second spot in regards to hotel construction," Ford said.

[Sic'EmBears]

What a disastrously cheap design.

High-rise hotel project on the way in Irving's Las Colinas development



Project Location

Construction is kicking off on a new high-rise hotel in Las Colinas.

The 12-story Element Hotel will be built on Carpenter Freeway and Meadow Creek Drive near Spur 348 in Irving.

The 157-room hotel is a project of Houston-based Lodgic Hospitality.

Dallas architectural firm Mayse & Associates Inc designed the new hotel tower, which has a ballroom and meeting space on the top floor.

[Sic'EmBears]

For the first time, DFW Airport will have nonstop service to Ireland

DFW International Airport will offer new nonstop seasonal flights to Dublin and Munich starting next summer. It's the first time the airport has offered a route to Ireland and will mark the airport's third flight to Germany.

The flights, operated by American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL), will start June 6, 2019, and occur daily until the fall.

"These new flights will advance DFW Airport's mission to bring more international passenger and cargo service to the Dallas-Fort Worth region," said Sean Donohue, CEO at DFW Airport, in a prepared statement.

When service for these routes launches next summer, it'll make 235 destinations — 59 of which are international — that DFW Airport services. The airport has added 21 international destinations this decade.

This isn't the first European splash the airport has made this year. In May, the airport added routes to Reykjavík, Iceland, through three airlines, including American.

[Sic'EmBears]

Dallas' landmark Cityplace Tower has a new owner with big plans for the high-rise

The high-profile building on the edge of Dallas' Uptown district was acquired by Dallas' Highland Capital Management in one of the largest building sales in Dallas so far in 2018.

The 42-story Cityplace Tower on North Central Expressway is the tallest building outside of downtown Dallas. Built in 1987, the 1.4 million-square-foot high-rise has been owned since 2013 by Florida-based investor Parmenter Realty Partners and Angelo, Gordon & Co.

"We hope to transform the surrounding area with our strategic renovations and improvements," adds Dondero. "Cityplace was designed to anchor an ambitious urban development, and we believe our plans will revitalize that vision."

[Sic'EmBears]

Renovation plan would turn 93-year-old West End building into hotel in downtown Dallas



Project Location

A plan in the works would convert a historic building in downtown Dallas' West End district into a new hotel.

The Sanger Brothers garage at 711 Elm St. was built in 1925 as one of the city's first "high-rise" parking garages. The five-story brick building sits across the street from where the Sanger Brothers department store was — now El Centro College.

Irving-based hotel firm Icon Lodging bought the Elm Street building in April and has been working with Dallas' Merriman Anderson Architects to come up with a plan to redevelop the garage.

Merriman Anderson recently made a preliminary presentation to the Dallas Landmark Commission, which asked them to go back to the drawing board and rework the hotel proposal. The initial plan would have added six levels of hotel rooms on top of the old parking structure. But commission members and staff weren't fully on board with that plan.

"Our client wants to find a way to make this happen," Anderson said. "It's a unique and special building.

"We are working hard with the Landmark Commission, and they have been responsive and understanding."

[Sic'EmBears]

New apartment and retail project on the way across from Galleria in Far North Dallas



Project Location

Developers have broken ground in Far North Dallas near the Galleria on a new apartment and retail center.
The project by PegasusAblon includes 289 luxury rental units plus the redo of an existing shopping center with an amphitheater and stage, fountains, dining and additional retail. Called Ablon at Galleria Muse, the mixed-use project will be at the northwest corner of Alpha and Noel roads across the street from the Galleria shopping mall.
Dallas' PegasusAblon and partner Lionstone Investments plan to have the project done by early 2020, said developer Michael Ablon.

"We wanted to create an urban project that is a complimentary experience to the Galleria mall," Ablon said. "This is going to be the heart of that whole area."

"We are building on what used to be the parking lot," Ablon said.

The six-story apartment block will include a parking garage and additional ground floor retail space.

"Our plan is to re-engage visitors at the street level, creating a destination environment for the community," Ablon said.

[Sic'EmBears]

Dallas' Paul Quinn College grows with new multipurpose building

Dallas' Paul Quinn College has broken ground on its first new building in 40 years.

The historic southern Dallas University is constructing the 40,000 square-foot educational and residential building with the help of $7 million in contributions.

The multipurpose building will be named after one of the university's biggest benefactors, Dallas businessman and environmentalist Trammell S. Crow.

RBA Architects designed the new building and Crimson Building Co. and Burchfield & Partners are developers of the project.

"The Crow Living and Learning Center will be the first of many new structures built on this campus," Paul Quinn College president Michael Sorrell said in a statement.

The school is the oldest historically African American college west of the Mississippi River.

[Sic'EmBears]

Developer Trammell Crow builds immigration services center at DFW Airport



Project Location

The General Services Administration will lease the almost 260,000-square-foot building for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Texas Service Center.

The center will have both office and support space and will be ready in early 2020.

"By consolidating several locations, the USCIS will be able to more efficiently deliver on their important mission," Crow's Scott Krikorian said in a statement.

Gensler is the architect and Manhattan Construction Company will is the general contractor for the project. JPMorgan Chase Bank provided construction financing.

[Sic'EmBears]

Garland data center campus growing with $400 million addition



Project Location

Developers of a big Garland data center are increasing the size of the project by 50 percent.

California-based Digital Realty a year ago said it would build a $1 billion high-tech campus near Bush Turnpike. Now the firm has purchased more land for a $400 million expansion of the project.

The addition of 16 acres will grow the Digital Realty project to five, 2-story data centers on 64 acres, making it one of the biggest such facilities in North Texas.

The 1.4-million square-foot campus will be built in five phases, each with about 280,000 square feet.

[Sic'EmBears]

Lewisville industrial park will bring four new buildings to market



Project Location

A Chicago-based industrial real estate firm is breaking ground on a new business park in Lewisville.

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. says it's building an 84-acre warehouse complex at Midway Road and FM 544.

The first $27.5 million phase of construction will include two buildings with more than 345,000 square feet.

Called First Park 121, the project will ultimately have four buildings with 727,000 square feet, according to First Industrial Realty.

[Sic'EmBears]

Baylor Scott & White plans massive office center on edge of Deep Ellum in Dallas



Project Location

A new office project coming on the edge of Deep Ellum in Dallas will relocate hundreds of jobs to the area.

Baylor Scott & White Health plans to build a large office administration complex with more than 600,000 square feet of construction in the 3700 block of Elm Street.

The planned office center is just south of Baylor's huge Dallas campus. Building permits value the project at more than $70 million.

The project will include 300,000 square feet of office space and a parking garage.

Officials with the Dallas-based hospital and health care firm confirmed they are working on a major development.

Construction is expected to be completed by late 2020.

[Sic'EmBears]

New industrial park on the way in Southwest Dallas' Mountain Creek project



Project Location

A new business park in the works in Southwest Dallas will bring almost 1.3 million square feet of industrial space to the Interstate 20 corridor.

Investor and developer Liberty Property Trust plans to construct a 2-building warehouse and distribution project in the Mountain Creek Business Park near I-20 and Mountain Creek Parkway.

[Sic'EmBears]

Cityplace high-rise on the drawing board for original skyscraper site

Cityplace has asked the city for approval to build a project that is larger than the current zoning allows.

"It's one of the last two sites we have left," said Cityplace president Neal Sleeper.

"We are trying to pump up the density a little bit. We've got all the height we need."

Sleeper said the planned high-rise for the site would be mostly office space.

"We are hoping to do a significant office building and a hotel," he said. "That's where the second tower was originally going to be, so we want to have something of prominence."

[TheSteveHunt]

Surreal thread. Haven't read it all, but my amazing 6 yrs in Dallas wasn't all about copy 'n paste "development"...great times
with wonderful people, lots of artistic creation, opportunity to do unprecedented thing ... I had a freaking runway in my Deep Ellum living room and rented out space
to fashion photographers! I could go on and on....not the boring place people seem to be making it out to be....but I haven't read
every page of this long thread.....

[bluedogok]

Cityplace high-rise on the drawing board for original skyscraper site

I remember that proposal, when I lived there it was open fields for days around there but then downtown was more than 40% surface parking at the time.

Surreal thread. Haven't read it all, but my amazing 6 yrs in Dallas wasn't all about copy 'n paste "development"...great times
with wonderful people, lots of artistic creation, opportunity to do unprecedented thing ... I had a freaking runway in my Deep Ellum living room and rented out space
to fashion photographers! I could go on and on....not the boring place people seem to be making it out to be....but I haven't read
every page of this long thread.....

The homogenization of Dallas.
It has changed greatly since I lived there in 91-93, it changed a bunch between then and when I worked there in 2004.

[Sic'EmBears]

Dallas' midcentury Casa View Village shopping center gets a major makeover

Project Location

Developers and city officials say the commuter consternation will be worth it early next year when a $10 million-plus makeover of the retail crossroads is done.

Casa View Village was once hailed as "a modern shopping center for one of the fastest growing areas of Dallas." But 60 years on from the grand opening, the retail district in northeast
Dallas was well past its prime when neighborhood leaders and city planners began crafting a redo.

Now construction is underway on upgrades for the shopping village that's at the heart of one Dallas' 1950s neighborhoods.

"We are 30 days into what we believe will be a 6- to 8-month renovation of the buildings at the northwest corner," said Daniel Fuller with Dallas' Shop Cos., which is redeveloping the landmark retail center.

Originally called Casa View Hills, the retail strips served growing post-World War II neighborhoods where you could buy a new house for less than $8,000. Built with antique brick and decorative wrought iron, the Casa View buildings that Shop Cos. is now rebuilding were described as "New Orleans-style."

The new owners plan to restore the buildings and bring in new retail and restaurant tenants.

"There are probably three or four tenants that have been there since 1954," Fuller said. "There is an art and science to merchandising a property that has the history Casa View has.

"We want to keep some of the tenants that have been there for a long time."

Award-winning Dallas architect Omniplan — the same firm that designed Liberty Mutual Insurance's huge new Plano regional offices and NorthPark Center shopping mall in Dallas — worked with Casa View's owners, residents and the city on a renovation plan.

"The neighborhood, you could tell, was once something really fantastic," said Omniplan's Amanda Buckley. "This project is about getting back to what it was.

"There is a lot of opportunity there," she said. "It's not like a standard suburban shopping center with no character."

"It's a wonderful eccentric property, and our goal is to do a sensitive restoration," Fuller said. "We want to preserve the original brick with the wonderful patina."

The storefront canopies will be restored, lights and signage upgraded and the central plaza reworked with new paving and landscaping.

"We are planting 60 new ornamental and shade trees at Casa View," Fuller said. "I think by year-end it will be quite a lot different."

Neighbors like what they are hearing and wish it could move even faster.

[Sic'EmBears]

Hall Arts Residences and Hotel:


DMN

[Sic'EmBears]

Air France plans nonstop DFW-to-Paris flights starting in March


GTP

Air France is saying bonjour to North Texas for the first time in more than a decade, with planned nonstop service between DFW International Airport and Paris set to launch in March of next year.

The new service will be operated aboard an Airbus A330 with 224 seats beginning March 31 and running through the 2019 summer season. The French carrier said it will operate three weekly flights from March 31 through June 30; and from Sept. 4 to Oct. 25.

In July and August, that will increase to five weekly flights, with departures on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

It will be the 16th international carrier serving DFW Airport.

North Texas is home to offices or other facilities of 120 French-owned companies, with France ranking as the 13th largest trade partner for the region, according to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. Rawlings, along with Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, visited France in June along with a delegation of airport and other local officials in a trade mission that included a meeting with Air France executives.

"Our recent mission trip to France was intended to spark even more corporate activity between our regions," Rawlings said in a statement. "These new flights will strengthen our business ties with France and western Europe and expand our capacity to travel between DFW and Paris."

[Sic'EmBears]

Frisco Station developers ready to start construction on second major office building


DBJ

Project Location

Missouri-based VanTrust Real Estate is set to begin construction this month on a second major office building at Frisco Station, the 242-acre mixed-use project at the Dallas North Tollway and Warren Parkway.

Called Offices Two at Frisco Station, the 210,000-square-foot building is a speculative venture -- being launched without a major tenant attached -- and is planned for the southwest corner of Cowboys Way and Gridiron Road.

It will be the second of five buildings planned for the office district at the $1.8 billion Frisco Station. Construction costs for the new office building were not released.

Frisco Station is set to have 5 million square feet of office space upon completion and a daytime employment of nearly 15,000 people.

Meyer said his firm, which has a regional office in Frisco, anticipates strong demand for both buildings.

"We're pretty confident about ... several deals that we're working on," he said. "And the activity that we've got on building one exceeds the vacancy that we've got."

Construction on the six-story office tower is slated for completion in September 2019.

Frisco Station is one of the first developments in the nation using the technology, and the combination of wireless stealth microcells, ultra-fast internet powered by AT&T Fiber and robust Wi-Fi throughout all common areas, will provide "the ultimate wireless user experience," the company's announcement said.

Offices Two at Frisco Station is adjacent to the Dallas Cowboys' world headquarters at The Star and will be within walking distance of more than 50 retail, restaurant and entertainment options at The Star and The Hub at Frisco Station, the development's planned entertainment district.

Frisco Station also is where one of the world's first Skyports to support Uber Air's flying taxis is planned.

[Sic'EmBears]

TEXRail overpass bridge nears completion



Project Location

The TEXRail bridge over SH 114/121 is nearing completion after more than a year of construction. The new bridge connects the TEXpress lane rails as they head south from Grapevine into DFW International Airport.

The bridge is 1,580 feet long and held in place by more than 40 columns. It will have one track running across it when it opens, although it has the capacity to carry two.

In the coming months, the roadway beneath the bridge will be restored to its pre-construction status as the lane closures come to an end.

This fall the bridge will begin to see trains traverse between the airport and Grapevine as the service prepares to begin at the end of the year.

[Sic'EmBears]

Developers are betting smaller is better with new East Dallas rental project

The 70-unit Fitzhugh Flats development will have 1-bedroom and studio apartments averaging just 615 square feet.

The project is being built east of downtown Dallas between Ross Avenue and Live Oak Street.

The project will include garages and covered parking spaces, storage units, a lounge and dog park for residents.

"Our goal is to provide a project that will appeal to the majority of renters in the market based on the price point" said Reid Beucler, principal of Slate Properties LLC.

"With projected rents starting around $1,200 per month, we feel like we are positioned well to compete with the other communities in the neighborhood."

[Sic'EmBears]

Frisco condo tower in the works on $5 billion mile



Project Location

The developers of the $700 million Gate development on the Dallas North Tollway plan to build a 10-story residential building. The condo tower, on John Hickman Parkway just west of the tollway, will have more than 100 residential units, according to plans filed with the city.

"The Gate will be for-sale condos," said Michael Cox with architect Humphreys & Partners, which is designing the project. The more than 3-acre development site is part of the 40-acre mixed-use Gate project, which was part of Frisco's original $5 billion mile.

The Gate property is owned and has been planned by Dubai-based Invest Group Overseas. The project is planned to include almost 20 buildings ranging in height from about three stories to more than 10 floors.

The development is designed for more than 650,000 square feet of office space, almost 1 million square feet of residential buildings, and more than 130,000 square feet of retail space, plus a luxury hotel.

Two high-rise rental residential buildings are also under construction next door to The Gate in the Frisco Station and the Dallas Cowboys' Star developments.

Atlanta developer Novare Group is building a 25-story residential rental building along the west side of the tollway in Frisco Station.

And a 17-story apartment tower is being built by Columbus Realty Partners and Dallas Cowboys owners the Jones family in the Star development.

[Sic'EmBears]

Not a fan of the surface parking, but this is what Dallas needs more of - developments that fit the context of their neighborhood.

Look: Here’s what’s planned for the old Gloria’s



Project Location

Gloria’s restaurant moved to Fire Station No. 15 on Bishop at Davis in 2011, and the local chain’s original building, at the southeast corner of Davis and Llewellyn, was demolished in 2013.

The lot sat vacant for years until recently. A new restaurant building is under construction on the site now.

A listing from the Woodmont Co. says the building will comprise 2,546 square feet and have a 900-square-foot patio.