Dallas

[Sic'EmBears]

Park District, via Facebook:

[Sic'EmBears]

A multi-level corporate office building is rising on the same block as The McKenzie.

Project Location

Via GFF:

This company selected a half acre site adjacent to the Katy Trail near Highland Park to build a 15,000 SF headquarters office. GFF was charged with creating a design that would serve multiple generations, with humility and good stewardship. The resulting building is three stories with a limestone base which conceals secured ground level parking. A mostly glass box, protected from the sun by a steel brise-soliel, enjoys treetop views across the trail toward Highland Park. The vertical circulation core anchors the glass box to a taller stone clad element. The resulting composition is regionally and climatically appropriate, modern yet timeless. Construction began in September 2016.

[Sic'EmBears]

International Business Park, Carrollton

Project Location

Via GFF:

International Business Park at Midway and President George Bush Turnpike is a multi-phase office and retail development in Carrollton. The master plan emphasizes the arrival experience in a campus environment with an iconic sculpture that marks the park at the corner between two 4-story buildings. The stone wall at the entrance of each building is intended to be a 4-story marker that provides visibility from the highway. The louvers at the entrance come down the face of the curtainwall and turn horizontally to infill the canopy. The louvers also extend from the outside into the lobby, articulating the ceiling of the 2-story space. The louvers above the entry canopy are illuminated to emphasize visibility particularly in the evening. The articulation of window wall and composite metal panel with the punched openings results in an envelope that compositionally changes the paradigm of what a value office building looks like in this market sector.

[Sic'EmBears]

Gables West Village, via DallasTowers:

Gables Cityplace updated:

• One 20-story building
• One 16-story building
• One 12-story building
• One 4-story building
• 93,000 square feet of green space, including a public plaza and rooftop parks
• Reconstructed Travis Street with landscaping

But Gables now proposes one 20-story buildings, a 16-story building, and a 12-story building toward Lemmon Avenue, and a four-story beside Blackburn.

Limiting development along Blackburn was of particular concern. Gables Residential also agreed to avoid any vehicular entry to or from Blackburn. There will be three underground parking garages spread across the complex

Other significant concessions include more green space. Initially, the size of a public plaza positioned to face West Village was 21,000 square feet. It has increased to 27,000 square feet. Other open green spaces throughout the development increased from 75,000 square feet to 93,000 square feet.

Gables hired The Office of James Burnett (OJB Landscape Architecture) to design the plaza and other green spaces. OJB is a renowned national firm known for its work on Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, The Park at Lakeshore East in Chicago, and the Arboleda in Monterrey, Mexico, among others.

(This sketch of a section of Travis Street at Blackburn illustrates the concept of an exclusive, landscaped drive.)

[Sic'EmBears]

InTown Homes Chips Away at Cedars Warehouse District

Project Summary:

Project Name: Urban InTown Homes LLC
Location: The Cedars, between McKee, Wall and Cockrell
Number Units: 90 lots with 209 parking spaces
Average Unit Size: 2,400 Square Feet
Land Area: 6.3 Acres
Special Circumstance: New Public Street

The development, as proposed, is on Tract 1 and will have a mix of three-story residences that would either face public streets or turn inward to face courtyards. A conceptual rendering of the residential facade has the appearance of an office building made of limestone, steel and glass.

There is currently a 97,935-square-foot warehouse on the tract to be developed that will be demolished.

Project Location

[Sic'EmBears]

Park District - PwC Tower lobby, via Facebook:

[Sic'EmBears]

Bleu Ciel





The McKenzie





M-Line Tower

[Sic'EmBears]

Downtown Dallas tycoon creates two new restaurants in Design District


(The Joule, Facebook)

Because colonizing downtown Dallas with hotels, shops, and restaurants is not enough, developer Tim Headington has two new restaurants in the works, this time in the Design District.

Headington Companies will open two new eateries inside a 10,000-square-foot complex designed by Seattle-based Olson Kundig:

- Wheelhouse, a modern gastropub
- Sassetta, an Italian restaurant

The company describes Wheelhouse as being inspired by the modern American gastropub, with an urban atmosphere. The plans are for it to be open for lunch and dinner, with a menu that pays homage to bar culture, with distinctive takes on contemporary pub fare.

Design will be a mix of stylized industrial elements that include guillotine-style floor-to-ceiling windows which are mechanically operated.

Sassetta is both a picturesque village in Tuscany as well as the name of a 15th-century painter. In Dallas, it will be a multidimensional Italian restaurant that draws on a range of Cal-Italian flavors. The menu will reinterpret Italian dishes, including a pizza program, which they already feel certain will be "amongst the best in town."

The dining room will be relaxed yet elegant, with a mix of contemporary design with nostalgic, whimsical finishes. The goal: to function like an all-day cafe for those looking to linger.

Project Location

[Bunty]

Meanwhile, a huge park is planned: http://www.businessinsider.com/dalla...roject-2016-12

[Sic'EmBears]

...planned.

Let's just hope Dallas City Council doesn't waste more money for beautiful renderings like they've done the past decade.

[Sic'EmBears]

Preston Hollow Village:

Project Location

[Sic'EmBears]

US Census Bureau has released its Building Permit survey results for July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2016.

New Privately-Owned Housing Units by CBSA:

• New York - 86,424
• Dallas - 57,146
• Houston - 56,901
• Los Angeles - 34,034

Texas CBSA results:

• DFW - 57,146
• Houston - 56,901
• Austin - 22,370
• San Antonio - 7,824
• El Paso - 4,491
• McAllen/Edinburgh/Mission - 4,306
• Killeen/Temple - 2,310
• Corpus Christi - 2,153
• Lubbock - 1,856
• Laredo - 1,848
• BCS - 1,712
• Waco - 1,507
• Brownsville/Harlingen - 1,285
• Beaumont/Port Arthur - 1,132
• Midland - 1,030
• Amarillo - 880
• Odessa - 612
• Abilene - 535
• Tyler - 470
• Sherman/Denison - 340
• Texarkana (TX/AR) - 333
• Longview - 248
• San Angelo - 236
• Victoria - 139
• Wichita Falls - 80

[Plutonic Panda]

...planned.

Let's just hope Dallas City Council doesn't waste more money for beautiful renderings like they've done the past decade.

have you seen plans for the LA river? Dallas should consider doing something like that.

[Spartan]

Dallas and LA are undergoing very similar transformations, but LA got more help building their light rail from FTA, freeing up local dollars to do miles of riverfront. The Dallas riverfront park would be more impressive than any spot along the LA River, but it won't touch all of the low-income areas like the full LA River project will.

I do think it would be interesting to see what a MAPS-like program here would look like for Dallas once they build out the DART system and no longer need the DART tax for new infrastructure. On its own though, the DART has clearly been a good investment that has made Dallas as competitive as it is right now.

[Sic'EmBears]

have you seen plans for the LA river? Dallas should consider doing something like that.

Yes, I have.

[Sic'EmBears]

Via CandysDirt:

New Oak Lawn residential tower proposed by Toll Brothers.

- 271 rental units
- 9 street-level town homes along Welborn
- underground parking

The tower's rental units will average 938 square feet, which is 63 larger than required.

Project Location







Original rendering:

[Sic'EmBears]

Park District, via Facebook:

[Eric]

Used to work in the tower right next to West Village over 5 years ago. Even at that time, looking out and seeing the number of cranes in the air in uptown on any given day was remarkable. Hard to fathom that much activity taking place simultaneously. And that was before they even started filling in the old driving range and the only "tower" in West Village was The Mondrian.

[Sic'EmBears]

Used to work in the tower right next to West Village over 5 years ago. Even at that time, looking out and seeing the number of cranes in the air in uptown on any given day was remarkable. Hard to fathom that much activity taking place simultaneously. And that was before they even started filling in the old driving range and the only "tower" in West Village was The Mondrian.

Agreed. The amount of construction is even greater than the 2000s.

I've noticed a greater number of projects are building parking below-grade, which shows the progress of more proper urbanization.

[Sic'EmBears]

Apartment and retail project in the works next to Medical District rail station



Project Location

StreetLights Residential is working on a more than 400-unit apartment and shopping center development across the street from the Inwood/Love Field DART rail station off Maple Avenue.

The planned development would occupy a more than 4-acre tract at Denton and Hudnall drives just east of Maple Avenue.

StreetLights and the property owner have filed plans with the Dallas Plan Commission showing a complex of 3-story to six-story buildings that house rental units and a grocery-anchored retail center.

Looney Ricks Kiss Architects designed the project.

The taller buildings would front on the DART rail station while 3-story buildings would adjoin residential areas to the south and east, according to the filing with the plan commission.

[mugofbeer]

I was in Dallas a few weeks ago and crossed I-35 over to Central on Woodall Rogers. Hardly recognized it anymore. Downtown has spilled over into uptown with only the Woodall Rogers break. The bridges to Oak Cliff are interesting because they cross a tiny tree lined river but I guess it will be a lake someday. Dallas is booming like it never has before and is now completely diversified away from oil and gas. They have also done a great job anticipating growth and not turning a blind eye to the inevitable the way some more "progressive" cities to the south have done. Light rail and highway construction, though criticized, has been spot on and totally necessary.

[Sic'EmBears]

I was in Dallas a few weeks ago and crossed I-35 over to Central on Woodall Rogers. Hardly recognized it anymore. Downtown has spilled over into uptown with only the Woodall Rogers break. The bridges to Oak Cliff are interesting because they cross a tiny tree lined river but I guess it will be a lake someday. Dallas is booming like it never has before and is now completely diversified away from oil and gas. They have also done a great job anticipating growth and not turning a blind eye to the inevitable the way some more "progressive" cities to the south have done. Light rail and highway construction, though criticized, has been spot on and totally necessary.

I'm impressed you know the Margaret McDermott bridges are two independent structures.

In the future, I'd like to see Dallas focus on grid correction and connectivity, setback requirements, street reconstruction, and streetscape improvements.

[Spartan]

What's interesting about Dallas is that urban development has become the market preference, though. The character of Dallas' economy is more dynamic than people realize because it isn't economically dependent on oil, and REITs frequently park money in Dallas for lack of prime investment opportunities in Austin (which is still just not very big). In many ways Dallas has become the go-to back up for anyone who can't find the right investment in Austin, so that's kind of linked the two cities' development.

I think the difference between Dallas and other major Texas (Houston et al) or Southern markets (Charlotte, Atlanta, Florida, etc) is infrastructure. Other cities have made incomplete or piecemeal investments whereas Dallas is routinely making world-class investments in rail, highways, airports, and everything else. It's not any one of those over the rest. The willingness to actually pony up for infrastructure I think has allowed Dallas to absorb growth more easily and less chaotically than Atlanta or Houston. That's why Dallas is in pole position and probably the only one that will legitimately overtake LA and Chicago some day soon.

[Anonymous.]

I, too, was just in Dallas recently. My city-envy was off the charts. The amount of high-rise apartments being built was mind blowing. And the convenience of the expansive interstate loop surrounding the downtown makes navigating so easy. There are still a lot of annoying one-way streets, but the overall vibe of the city is such high class and big $ market.

[Sic'EmBears]

I think the difference between Dallas and other major Texas (Houston et al) or Southern markets (Charlotte, Atlanta, Florida, etc) is infrastructure. Other cities have made incomplete or piecemeal investments whereas Dallas is routinely making world-class investments in rail, highways, airports, and everything else. It's not any one of those over the rest. The willingness to actually pony up for infrastructure I think has allowed Dallas to absorb growth more easily and less chaotically than Atlanta or Houston. That's why Dallas is in pole position and probably the only one that will legitimately overtake LA and Chicago some day soon.

Agreed. Our highway infrastructure is undergoing numerous multi-billion projects in order to keep up with the population growth. On the contrary, many of Dallas' city streets are in poor condition.

Both D/FW Int'l and Love Field have are essentially brand new. D/FW's nearly $3B TARP renovation project is nearing completion, and planning for TF is taking place. Love Field plans to open its newest parking garage later this year which sits adjacent to its brand new terminal.

One thing I'd like to see is the use of LED streetlights for both city streets and highways. Arlington recently converted over 10,500 streetlights from HPS to LED. Fort Worth is retrofitting more conventional lighting with LED units in various testing phases. Hopefully more cities will follow.