noelamador
10 August 2004, 03:09 AM
Ticket to renewal in downtown Plano
Light-rail service is driving development
12:04 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 10, 2004
By STEVE QUINN / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO – The concrete foundation for a group of townhouses in downtown Plano has been dry barely a week, yet developer Richard Howe has already sold five units. He hasn't broken ground on adjacent condominiums, but he has sold the two most expensive condos available. What's driving the early interest in these homes built in the city's oldest area? Foot access to Dallas Area Rapid Transit's light-rail service, he said.
Since DART began its light-rail service 20 months ago in Plano, commercial, residential and retail development is moving faster than city, business and DART leaders projected.
So far, downtown Plano has attracted about $70 million worth of public and private investment for transit-oriented projects, said Frank Turner, Plano's executive director for business development.
And a program being considered by mortgage giant Fannie Mae may soon make it easier to buy Mr. Howe's townhouses and condos.
"I know if DART weren't here, I couldn't even get financing for the condos," he said. "You still have to have other elements – culture, restaurants and shops – but DART's made the difference.
"What I tell people is they are really just a few blocks away from Mockingbird Station or West End or the American Airlines Center."
These bright yellow trains are bringing more than commuters to the city center, but no one is giving DART the full credit.
A park with a pond, the Interurban Railway Museum and 19th-century buildings do their part as well. But many say DART has been a catalyst for downtown redevelopment.
And while Plano's not the only area enjoying DART's light rail – Richardson, East Dallas and South Dallas also have some signature development – the Collin County city is among the most closely watched.
City leaders in Irving, Farmers Branch and Carrollton, where DART lines are planned in the next five or six years, are taking meticulous notes.
In addition to Mr. Howe's project – called 15th Street Village – new restaurants and shops are moving in, and a new apartment complex is about 98 percent leased.
Robert Shaw, the Addison-based builder who brought Uptown to Dallas, took the first chance with his Eastside Village I apartments next to the 15th Street station.
He began leasing nearly one year before service started; then he "doubled down" with the Eastside Village II complex on 14th Street.
"More and more people are making a decision based on access to mass transit," Mr. Shaw said.
Restaurant arrivals
As service started and apartments filled, restaurants such as Jörg's Café Vienna, Coffee Haus, Kelly's Eastside and Poppy's Italian restaurant arrived.
They either found homes in the historic buildings or opened on the ground floor of Mr. Shaw's "new urbanism" apartment buildings.
"Word is slowly getting out," said Tim Kelly, who opened Kelly's Eastside last November. "But we still need more restaurants and shops to bring more life to downtown Plano."
Still in the works is a program from Fannie Mae, a publicly traded corporation that buys mortgages from lenders.
Fannie Mae is considering downtown Plano to test a transit-driven program designed to give borrowers considering a townhouse or condo near public transportation more home-buying power.
A decision is expected in October.
Should Fannie Mae follow through with the program, Plano would be the pilot city for the area, said Steven Bradley, senior director for Fannie Mae's Dallas office.
The initiative, Mr. Bradley said, is working in El Paso and other cities such as Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia.
Two assets
Plano has two assets for transit-oriented development, said Robert Cervero, a professor of city planning at the University of California-Berkeley who visited Plano four years ago.
The city has leadership willing to make zoning changes to accommodate redevelopment and an old commercial center that once served the city's farming community, he said.
"When I was there, all I saw were Ross Perot's remnants" – the Electronic Data Systems campus at Legacy Park – "and the downtown was dead," said Dr. Cervero, whose book, TOD in America, which is to be released this month, features a chapter on the Dallas area.
"But the city had a plan and was willing to make changes, and that makes this a good case for the public sector to be out in front in some areas."
Getting ideas
Farmers Branch, Irving and Carrollton are hoping for the same return once the rail lines arrive, perhaps as early as 2010.
Greg Vick, the Farmers Branch assistant city manager, recently took a lunch-hour tour through downtown Plano.
"We want to make sure we get it right because we've only got one chance," Mr. Vick said. "We think Plano represents a lot of the ideas we are trying to use."
Last month, Farmers Branch named Harwood International Inc. to be the lead developer for Farmers Branch Town Center, a residential and commercial community to be built near the southeast corner of Valley View Lane and Stemmons Freeway.
Construction on the first phase, a 7.4-acre apartment and retail complex, begins next year, said Harwood chief operating officer and general manager Tap Pritchard, who gleaned ideas from downtown Plano, Mockingbird Station and Addison Circle.
Making plans
Irving officials are planning for three DART stations and have prepared an area east of Lake Carolyn with new roads featuring a 40-foot-wide median designed to handle rail lines and a transit station.
Carrollton city leaders want its downtown station, one of three, to be a North Texas hub for mass transit to include four lines: DART's line to downtown Dallas, and separate lines to Denton County, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and downtown Fort Worth.
Plano's model may be studied by other cities, but it's hardly the lone blueprint for successful transit-oriented development.
This is especially true along DART's north-south red line, which covers 27 miles from Westmoreland to Parker Road, one stop north of downtown Plano.
The area in South Dallas near the Cedars Station includes the South Side on Lamar project featuring apartments and office buildings developed by Matthews Southwest.
Gilley's Dallas opened on Lamar between South Side and the Dallas Convention Center, and Poor David's Pub is completing its move from Greenville Avenue to the area.
The area also will receive a face-lift – landscaping, bike lanes, brick walkways – thanks to a $4.5 million grant.
In East Dallas, Mockingbird Station is one of DART's most familiar destinations thanks to the Angelika Film Center, restaurants, loft apartments and shops.
Mockingbird Station has an advantage Plano and South Dallas do not: It benefits from being along Central Expressway and another major thoroughfare, Mockingbird Lane.
Richardson – which has stations at Spring Valley Road, Arapaho Road, Galatyn Park and the Bush Turnpike – has an urban hub around the Galatyn Park station.
The city built the Charles W. Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts, while Galatyn Park Corp. has developed adjacent land with the Renaissance Dallas North Hotel and a group of office buildings.
The city recently approved zoning changes to permit construction of apartment and office buildings with ground-floor retail around Galatyn Park and Spring Valley.
Changes such as these are essential to fostering transit-related economic development, said Bill Keffler, Richardson city manager.
"You're dealing with a different community fabric brought on by transit development, and you to have a complement of all the uses," he said.
this is pretty good news for Dart. it's nice to see the suburbs are reaping the benefits as well. Hopefully Allen, Frisco and Arlington will one day see the light and consider mass transit as an alternative and not just a service for the lower class.
Light-rail service is driving development
12:04 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 10, 2004
By STEVE QUINN / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO – The concrete foundation for a group of townhouses in downtown Plano has been dry barely a week, yet developer Richard Howe has already sold five units. He hasn't broken ground on adjacent condominiums, but he has sold the two most expensive condos available. What's driving the early interest in these homes built in the city's oldest area? Foot access to Dallas Area Rapid Transit's light-rail service, he said.
Since DART began its light-rail service 20 months ago in Plano, commercial, residential and retail development is moving faster than city, business and DART leaders projected.
So far, downtown Plano has attracted about $70 million worth of public and private investment for transit-oriented projects, said Frank Turner, Plano's executive director for business development.
And a program being considered by mortgage giant Fannie Mae may soon make it easier to buy Mr. Howe's townhouses and condos.
"I know if DART weren't here, I couldn't even get financing for the condos," he said. "You still have to have other elements – culture, restaurants and shops – but DART's made the difference.
"What I tell people is they are really just a few blocks away from Mockingbird Station or West End or the American Airlines Center."
These bright yellow trains are bringing more than commuters to the city center, but no one is giving DART the full credit.
A park with a pond, the Interurban Railway Museum and 19th-century buildings do their part as well. But many say DART has been a catalyst for downtown redevelopment.
And while Plano's not the only area enjoying DART's light rail – Richardson, East Dallas and South Dallas also have some signature development – the Collin County city is among the most closely watched.
City leaders in Irving, Farmers Branch and Carrollton, where DART lines are planned in the next five or six years, are taking meticulous notes.
In addition to Mr. Howe's project – called 15th Street Village – new restaurants and shops are moving in, and a new apartment complex is about 98 percent leased.
Robert Shaw, the Addison-based builder who brought Uptown to Dallas, took the first chance with his Eastside Village I apartments next to the 15th Street station.
He began leasing nearly one year before service started; then he "doubled down" with the Eastside Village II complex on 14th Street.
"More and more people are making a decision based on access to mass transit," Mr. Shaw said.
Restaurant arrivals
As service started and apartments filled, restaurants such as Jörg's Café Vienna, Coffee Haus, Kelly's Eastside and Poppy's Italian restaurant arrived.
They either found homes in the historic buildings or opened on the ground floor of Mr. Shaw's "new urbanism" apartment buildings.
"Word is slowly getting out," said Tim Kelly, who opened Kelly's Eastside last November. "But we still need more restaurants and shops to bring more life to downtown Plano."
Still in the works is a program from Fannie Mae, a publicly traded corporation that buys mortgages from lenders.
Fannie Mae is considering downtown Plano to test a transit-driven program designed to give borrowers considering a townhouse or condo near public transportation more home-buying power.
A decision is expected in October.
Should Fannie Mae follow through with the program, Plano would be the pilot city for the area, said Steven Bradley, senior director for Fannie Mae's Dallas office.
The initiative, Mr. Bradley said, is working in El Paso and other cities such as Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia.
Two assets
Plano has two assets for transit-oriented development, said Robert Cervero, a professor of city planning at the University of California-Berkeley who visited Plano four years ago.
The city has leadership willing to make zoning changes to accommodate redevelopment and an old commercial center that once served the city's farming community, he said.
"When I was there, all I saw were Ross Perot's remnants" – the Electronic Data Systems campus at Legacy Park – "and the downtown was dead," said Dr. Cervero, whose book, TOD in America, which is to be released this month, features a chapter on the Dallas area.
"But the city had a plan and was willing to make changes, and that makes this a good case for the public sector to be out in front in some areas."
Getting ideas
Farmers Branch, Irving and Carrollton are hoping for the same return once the rail lines arrive, perhaps as early as 2010.
Greg Vick, the Farmers Branch assistant city manager, recently took a lunch-hour tour through downtown Plano.
"We want to make sure we get it right because we've only got one chance," Mr. Vick said. "We think Plano represents a lot of the ideas we are trying to use."
Last month, Farmers Branch named Harwood International Inc. to be the lead developer for Farmers Branch Town Center, a residential and commercial community to be built near the southeast corner of Valley View Lane and Stemmons Freeway.
Construction on the first phase, a 7.4-acre apartment and retail complex, begins next year, said Harwood chief operating officer and general manager Tap Pritchard, who gleaned ideas from downtown Plano, Mockingbird Station and Addison Circle.
Making plans
Irving officials are planning for three DART stations and have prepared an area east of Lake Carolyn with new roads featuring a 40-foot-wide median designed to handle rail lines and a transit station.
Carrollton city leaders want its downtown station, one of three, to be a North Texas hub for mass transit to include four lines: DART's line to downtown Dallas, and separate lines to Denton County, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and downtown Fort Worth.
Plano's model may be studied by other cities, but it's hardly the lone blueprint for successful transit-oriented development.
This is especially true along DART's north-south red line, which covers 27 miles from Westmoreland to Parker Road, one stop north of downtown Plano.
The area in South Dallas near the Cedars Station includes the South Side on Lamar project featuring apartments and office buildings developed by Matthews Southwest.
Gilley's Dallas opened on Lamar between South Side and the Dallas Convention Center, and Poor David's Pub is completing its move from Greenville Avenue to the area.
The area also will receive a face-lift – landscaping, bike lanes, brick walkways – thanks to a $4.5 million grant.
In East Dallas, Mockingbird Station is one of DART's most familiar destinations thanks to the Angelika Film Center, restaurants, loft apartments and shops.
Mockingbird Station has an advantage Plano and South Dallas do not: It benefits from being along Central Expressway and another major thoroughfare, Mockingbird Lane.
Richardson – which has stations at Spring Valley Road, Arapaho Road, Galatyn Park and the Bush Turnpike – has an urban hub around the Galatyn Park station.
The city built the Charles W. Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts, while Galatyn Park Corp. has developed adjacent land with the Renaissance Dallas North Hotel and a group of office buildings.
The city recently approved zoning changes to permit construction of apartment and office buildings with ground-floor retail around Galatyn Park and Spring Valley.
Changes such as these are essential to fostering transit-related economic development, said Bill Keffler, Richardson city manager.
"You're dealing with a different community fabric brought on by transit development, and you to have a complement of all the uses," he said.
this is pretty good news for Dart. it's nice to see the suburbs are reaping the benefits as well. Hopefully Allen, Frisco and Arlington will one day see the light and consider mass transit as an alternative and not just a service for the lower class.