DTD: Gulf States Bldg. + 1414 Elm + Third Rail Lofts (1407 Main)(16 ST.)

[slfunk]

our towers are on the garage's 6th floor - then raised another level or so...

that's the only place they could go when the pool was added...

That's another favorite place to put them. Here at Third Rail they are building the new residential tower ontop of the parking structure.

[Justin Terveen]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e352/ninjawerk/1414elmcopy.jpg

[Tnekster]

Very nice pic.....have you been gone for a while?

[Justin Terveen]

thanks man... and yea.. kinda.. lets just say i've been pre-occupied here lately - in a good way.. (;

[Tnekster]

cool...just wondering since we have not seen as much of your work of late.

[Justin Terveen]

for sure... i'll be back up to speed here shortly.

[SCARLETandBLACK]

Maybe it isn't always the builder/architect's fault when it comes to ugly rooftops. Engineers really have a knack for designing cheap, ugly products... especially ones that are so common and necessary to us nowdays.

I like a phrase that a professor drilled into us one semester, "It is just as hard to do something wrong as it is to do it right."

(I admit that in some cases, an inhabitable rooftop would be nice, but sometimes, that just isn't possible).

[FoUTASportscaster]

I stopped by the leasing office to get occupation dates. The Gulf States Building will open on December 30, the former Mayfair Department Store in April or May and the new high-rise under construction in the third quarter of '07.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Third Rail has 4 floors until it is topped out.

[cowboyeagle05]

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8639/downtowndallas048wb7.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5894/downtowndallas049hb6.jpg

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8376/downtowndallas050hq4.jpg

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/9587/downtowndallas051tc2.jpg

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/2844/downtowndallas052hi7.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/6779/downtowndallas054pi4.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8082/downtowndallas055qe7.jpg

[gc]

Looking good

[TexasStar]

Lofty Ambitions
01-21-2007

http://urbandallas.us/images/lofty.jpg

[rantanamo]

great looking canyon forming

[SDORN]

The new building seems to be uniform with The old.

Looks good Texasstar

[BigD5349]

Whoa, great shot TxStar!

[gc]

Looks so much nicer filled in....

[Kelley USA]

Do they have a website?

[jsoto3]

http://www.thirdraillofts.com/

[mike all together]

I'm now considering getting a small (small, small) loft in here. Looks pretty nifty! 1900 Elm is cheaper but this place looks quite swell.

[Justin Terveen]

dumpster caught fire around1PM sat afternoon.. it was pretty hairy as far as dumpster fires go, or so i'm told.. enough to smoke up a few floors next door here at the kirby anyway..

on topic, we're getting tall!!! coming along nicely... maybe its because i'm used to it, living next door and all, but i can't remember a time when this project wasn't making great progress...after they really tore into the place anyway..

i see more and more empty units filling up here every day.. even a few kirby ppl made the switch..

from the kirby crown...

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/DFdub/th_Dallas_2copy.jpg (http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/DFdub/Dallas_2copy.jpg)

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/DFdub/th_pano2copy.jpg (http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/DFdub/pano2copy.jpg)



and one from below for scale...

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/DFdub/th_AFR_55copy.jpg (http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g263/DFdub/AFR_55copy.jpg)

[dfwcre8tive]

I like the Elm Street side of this project. The new building along with Joule are nice modern additions in the middle of the historic core.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1394/gulfstates01websl6.jpg

[Justin Terveen]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e352/ninjawerk/overflow/Dallas_1copy-2.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e352/ninjawerk/overflow/Dallas_2copy-2.jpg

[hamiltonpl]

Great! Thanks for the photos. I'm kind of concerned about how the parking garage will look. But then again, I'm a jackass.

[Justin Terveen]

^ lol..

[FoUTASportscaster]

Double LOL

[DallasMan]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/classifieds/news/homecenter/realestate/stories/DN-recol_20bus.ART.State.Edition1.365e6df.html

Third Rail filling gap on Main Street

Redos of Gulf States, Mayfair buildings complement high-rise


09:37 AM CDT on Friday, April 20, 2007

A new downtown mixed-use project has filled a big vacancy on Dallas' Main Street.

For more than two decades, the 1400 block of Main Street has been punctuated by a big surface parking lot between the Davis Building and the Gulf States Insurance Building.

That's where the old Metropolitan Savings Tower (originally the First National Bank Building) stood. Developers knocked down the historic 1920s skyscraper and the beautiful Kress Building behind it in 1981, leaving ratty parking lots in their place. No thanks for that.

Twenty-six years later, the Third Rail retail and residential complex is at last putting Main Street back together.

Spectrum Properties Ltd. has been working on the project for more than a year. Along with a new high-rise on the site of the old Metropolitan Savings, the deal includes redevelopment of the historic Gulf States building next door at Main and Akard streets. Plus there's the remodeling of the Mayfair Department Store at Elm and Akard.

"The outside of the new building will be totally completed by the middle of May," said Spectrum CEO Brian Bergersen. "And the public parking garage on the lower floors will be open by the first week of June."

Eighty-five apartments in 10 floors on top of the parking garage should be ready for tenants by late this year.


FILE/Staff photo
This is what the 1400 block of Main Street looked like in the 1920s. The Metropolitan Savings Tower - and the Kress Building behind it - were demolished in 1981.
The new residential tower occupies only part of the garage roof, leaving room for most of the project's amenities.

"We've got a pet park, a fire pit, a gazebo, outdoor grills, a pool, Jacuzzi and an outdoor theater up there," Mr. Bergersen said.

What, no bowling alley? Not to worry.

"We're putting two bowling lanes down in the basement of the Gulf States building," he said. "We looked at the space and said, 'What can we do with this?' "

The new Main Street building will have about 20,000 square feet of retail space, with a CVS Pharmacy set to open about September.

There are 66 completed loft apartments in the Gulf States and 14 more in the Mayfair, which will be ready in June.

With so many moving parts and pieces to build, the Third Rail has taken longer to put together than some larger downtown building redos.

But the developers are close to a wrap.

"Every day you see a little bit of improvement, and people are starting to see the finished product and like it," Mr. Bergersen said.

Rather than try to recreate the demolished Metropolitan Savings Tower, Spectrum Properties has gone with a more contemporary building in its place.

"I think some people were expecting a more traditional building, but it's hard to make a new structure look old," he said. "We tried to do something that was different and would complement the old buildings."

And after a quarter of century of parking cars on the lot, the 1400 block of Main is whole again.

[SDORN]

Took a tour Thrusday. The place is indeed nice.

[Tnekster]

^Any pics?

[Justin Terveen]

lots of catching up to do...

from today....

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e352/ninjawerk/overflow/525893071_c05047a75f_o.jpg

[BigD5349]

From yesterday...

[Justin Terveen]

this morning... click for larger view-

http://static.flickr.com/217/529821554_02e7c67956.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/529821554/)

[TexasStar]

http://urbandallas.us/images/3rd_rail.jpg

[Tnekster]

I really like the way this is turning out.

[Lionel Hutz]

When this project gets finished out, it will add so much to the downtown vibe. I was at City Tavern on Thursday night and was pleasantly surprised by the pedestrian traffic that night on Main Street. I heard a good little jazz trio at City Tavern, then walked back to the Elm Street garage. People were out and about. Iron Cactus was crowded. There were people at the new Tex-Mex place across the street and Campisi's, people were still eating at Porti di Roma. Once Third Rail and the other apartments are leased out, there will be that many more people looking for things to do.

[gc]

Great shots guys. I love the glass, brick, stone combo here.

[hamiltonpl]

They've done a great job of concealing the parking garage.

[kenc]

This is textbook urban renovation at its best! Dallas is hot.

[DallasMan]

Newsletter for DowntownDallas this week has notice that JASON'S DELI is moving into the Third Rail Lofts on Main!!! It says more details are to come later, but that it will be open this fall. Great news - Main St. is really going to have a lot more street-level dining options - surely the shopping will follow.

[Kelley USA]

That is awesome! I love JD's... They'll do great DT- that's a good sign!

[CityLove]

I'm just hoping they'll stay open past 6 PM. Not holding my breath or anything, just hoping.

[DallasMan]

Yeah, I agree - if Jason's is to have a big impact downtown on Main, it would really need to be open at night as well as at lunch.

[TexasStar]

Update 07-28-2007

http://urbandallas.us/images/3rd_rail_072807_01.jpg

http://urbandallas.us/images/3rd_rail_072807_03.jpg

http://urbandallas.us/images/3rd_rail_072807_02.jpg

[hamiltonpl]

That looks like a real city block. Well, except for the lack of people.

[dfwcre8tive]

CVS is moving fast. Anyone know what date they open?

[msutton]

Let's not be too harsh, hamilton. I see at least one person. Depending on whats in her bag, maybe even two.

This building is really beautiful, though, I think. Looks like a really great development. Should almost totally change the feel of that part of Main St. from the way I remember it.

[sogod]

Again, great pics TexasStar.

[freewaytincan]

I know this was probably answered, but in terms of storefronts, what goes where? Is the CVS in the new building, and the Jason's Deli in the old? And is anything scheduled to go in on the northern storefronts?

[vman]

That looks like a real city block. Well, except for the lack of people.
Have any of you tried to walk down Main St. lately?? There's so much construction, it's like a war zone. I think that's one reason for lack of foot traffic. I know I usually avoid it...for now. However, I'm glad to see so many projects being developed on Main at once. It's a mess right now, but it is going to be a really something when those projects are completed.

[kenc]

I was on this very block today, (a Sunday). and there were dozens of people. The sidewalks were crowded. Sorry I have no camera...but that's the truth. Still a lot of dead zones, like around City Hall, but that's a dead zone during the week too.

[grantboston]

I was on this very block today, (a Sunday). and there were dozens of people. The sidewalks were crowded. Sorry I have no camera...but that's the truth. Still a lot of dead zones, like around City Hall, but that's a dead zone during the week too.

And that's the way the government likes it. :)