DTD: Jefferson at West End Station

[dallasag00]

http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/bus/stories/012904dnbuswestend.22cf4.html

FRAM wants a neighbor so they build one.

[rantanamo]

OK, it's official. These guys rule!!!

Looks like they may be taking the Post Properties Uptown approach to the West End. Build your their own damn neighborhood!!!!! We may be seeing the birth of the next great urban neighborhood if these two buildings are successful. The West End station and West Transfer Station already have great foot traffic, so I guess this location is a no-brainer for retail.

[CTroyMathis]

(I love late evening postings like this one on The News.)

Excellent. I love these guys too.

[tamtagon]

will be built in the style of turn-of-the-century commercial buildings...to the point of putting a water tower on the roof

Yeah! More instant history. tee hee hee

Next up in Dallas: The West Village cries it's urban lifestyle title has been usurped by The West End. It's all about living near McKinney Ave, I suppose.

Cheers to Fram (thank you architect Mark Humphreys) for being the first.

[tamtagon]

so I guess this location is a no-brainer for retail.

I was surprised Planet Hollywood left the monster in cowboy boots when the venue closed. The restaurant space is still as vacant as the movie theater next door, right?

[Jack Flack]

This is indeed great news! These two developments will remove two more parking lots and help the West End become a cohesive area of development.

[Columbus Civil]

Next up in Dallas: The West Village cries it's urban lifestyle title has been usurped by The West End. It's all about living near McKinney Ave, I suppose.

I think both of these projects can coexist with all of the heavy pedestrian activity on McKinney.

[JaeTex]

If only MATA made it a few more blocks into the West End the two areas would be a nice pairing. As it is, I fear few tourists would walk or even realize they could walk the 4-5 blocks to the trolley and end up in WV. Though I guess the train serves both area.

[Jack Flack]

Agreed. The West End draws a different crowd than McKinney Ave. During the week there are downtown workers and convention goers and on the weekends there are a fair amount of suburban adventurers rediscovering downtown via DART.

[gc]

Antonio DiMambro's recommendation is really starting to come to fruition. He recommended many low-to-mid rise urban infill developments in the CBD.

This is truly great news. FRAM is really taking big chances on DTD and I think it will pay off huge for them in the long run. However, my only concern is filling all the retail.

anyhoo...this is great.

[Kelley USA]

My concern is the retail too... I think the quality of the retail could have an effect on the leasing of the apartments... I'm sure most of it will be service oriented (dry cleaners, nail salon, etc...). Wasn't it reported that CVS Pharmacy is in talks to take a big chunck of the space at the 1001 building?

But- none-the-less, great news!!! I bet we hear of several more developments for this area by the end of the year. Perhaps Fram will revisit their initial idea of highrise condos...

[tamtagon]

Regardless of the route, MATA, the city of Dallas, the residents and businesses of uptown and the CBD need a MATA stop at Union Station. The light rain should bring the people in from far away, the trolly and/or street car should get them around downtown.

FRAM seems to have all their ducks in a row and the diversification of retail outlets is probablly on the project list. The West End needs retail geared toward neighborhood residents to balance the area.



Perhaps Fram will revisit their initial idea of highrise condos...

sweet

[clipper]

The owners of the West End Marketplace have considered turning the upper floors into apartments or condos and keeping retail only on the lower level. That is really the best option. Vertical shopping centers don't work too well in that kind of building. The theater space is still empty. Some modest additions on the upper floors could add more units.

[snooch]

The building manager where I work (the Awalt building in the West End) knows quite a bit about these FRAM projects. He told me that they are working their butts off to buy the lot across the street for a THIRD West End residential project. Apparently they’ve convinced two or three of the four landowners where the liquor store and Taqueria are. Would be great to see the third go up. That square of land is so perfectly positioned in DT for a great project, and right now it’s nothing but parking lot, liquor stores, and bums.

Also, he told me that when they built the original West End development, they dug the foundation to support a high rise. Then way down the road they can tear down the existing low rise development and build a high rise, if and when the land prices and the economy make it sensible.

[Columbus Civil]

Would that explain the wood frame construction?

[crescentboi]

That would be awesome.

I hope that explains the wood construction. If you look at the building now it just seems cheap to me. The windows even look cheap to me. But who knows, I'm not a construction buff.

Does anyone know of a website for them?

[gc]

http://www.framhomes.com/fram.htm

It does not say much about the developments though.

[clipper]

The wood construction on top of that concrete lower level is the only way they can build and keep their costs down. To do an all concrete or steel building would cost too much for that many floors. And when you go higher - add more floors - the costs go up even more with more expensive mechanical systems. While the stick structure looks "cheap" the wrapper they will put on the building should change that.

[dallastophoenix]

Originally posted by Columbus Civil
Would that explain the wood frame construction?

It's always nice to hear your neighbors at night in your $1200/mo apt, right?

lol... i'm really excited, nonetheless.

[Columbus Civil]

$1295 :(

[dallastophoenix]

Holy crap! My 5 bedroom house out here is only $1100/mo!! (okay, i'm in an interest-only...)

[Kelley USA]

$1675 for a 2 bedroom when I lived at the West Village... Perhaps that explains why I live in Euless now!

[Columbus Civil]

Holy crap! My 5 bedroom house out here is only $1100/mo!!

yeah but you live in a shit hole.

[gc]

easy.....that was a joke i hope

[Columbus Civil]

Vera lived in Phoenix. She knows what I'm talking about.

[dallastophoenix]

yeah, it is somewhat a hell-hole, newer suburban tract home in phoenix, but a nice $280,000 investment that has grown to $325,000 in 2 years...

[Columbus Civil]

Cool. I need to buy soon. Depressing thinking about all the money I've thrown away on rent.

[dallastophoenix]

I did the same thing for years, cc... i'm never in the same place for more than 3 years at a time, so going interest only gets me into a good place - while the value quickly goes up... I'll never pay rent again, and i'll make money. of course, it's sometimes expensive to buy in or near dt dallas... (blah, blah, blah... you'd never know that i'm a loan officer, huh? geez, i'm boring myself).

[crescentboi]

I just checked out their website and what is the "Pavillions at Turtle Creek" that they are talking about. It says "326 Super Luxury High-Rise Condos", that's almost twice the size of the Mayfair!! Is there something that I'm missing?

[Kelley USA]

I noticed that too...

[psukhu]

Try to buy your townhouse/condo now, we'll all be priced out of the market in few years. :)

[snooch]

So is that a new project they haven't officially announced yet? Is there another new highrise in Dallas' future?

[psukhu]

Pavillions at Turtle Creek - 326 Super Luxury High-Rise Condos

Maybe the empty lot at the Cedar Springs/Bowen/Turtle Creek?

[gc]

Not necessarily new, but I am getting a thread ready for the official announcement. Here it is...The Merryvale Residences in the West End.

[freewaytincan]

Not necessarily new, but I am getting a thread ready for the official announcement. Here it is...The Merryvale Residences in the West End.

AKA 1001 Ross...right?

[CTroyMathis]

No, not aka 1001 Ross.

[freewaytincan]

No, not aka 1001 Ross.

Ohhhhh yeah...this rocks!

[crescentboi]

Is there a website with more info on this or the other Ross development?

[texasyndicate]

i love it,even though i wish it was a couple of stories taller

[gc]

This is the best I can do: Humphreys & Partners Architects (http://www.humphreys.com/)

mhumphreys is a member of our forum. He was also mentioned in a DMN article today regarding a rezoning request in Highland Park.

[Foucault]

From that website:

Project Details:

4-story over parking
Retail, club & roof gardens
104 total units (rental)
750 - 1,206 Sq. Ft.
85 Units Per Acre

[freewaytincan]

This is the best I can do: Humphreys & Partners Architects (http://www.humphreys.com/)

mhumphreys is a member of our forum. He was also mentioned in a DMN article today regarding a rezoning request in Highland Park.

And his daughter is a fellow class of 2004 graduate. I will attempt to extract information from this near and plentiful resource. Perhaps even speaking with Mr. Humphreys.

[sterling]

Nice scale, nice companion to the other building they designed. Definitely the way to go. Taller things will be built on smaller footprints, but first this. This is good stuff.

[clipper]

But they still got to do something about that name.

[hamiltonpl]

That is an attractive design and an exciting development. We need these smaller buildings full before we can fill up a big tower. It seems to have worked for Uptown; hopefully the same thing will happen downtown.

I agree that "Merryvale" does sound a bit cheesy though. Anything with a "vale" turns me off.

[freewaytincan]

That is an attractive design and an exciting development. We need these smaller buildings full before we can fill up a big tower. It seems to have worked for Uptown; hopefully the same thing will happen downtown.

I agree that "Merryvale" does sound a bit cheesy though. Anything with a "vale" turns me off.

And anything with a "Merry" in it also turns me off.

[barrycb]

Did you guys see this:

http://www.humphreys.com/v3_projects.asp?project_id=12077&project_type=ob

I was eyeing that building this weekend as a nice residential redo.

[gc]

yeah, i saw it too. There is another post in here somewhere about that...

[clipper]

Unfortunately the rehab of the Petroleum Tower on Humphreys' site has gone cold. The developer pulled out and it's back on the market.

[CTroyMathis]

<TABLE class=quoteBox cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=10 width="65%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>"</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left><SMALLFONT>Quote:

But they still got to do something about that name.

I agree that "Merryvale" does sound a bit cheesy though. Anything with a "vale" turns me off.

And anything with a "Merry" in it also turns me off...
</TD><TD vAlign=top align=left>"</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

They gotta do something about the assclown who came up with that name, also. :jester: