Vickery Meadows: West Side/ Old Sam's Club Area

[BigD5349]

I noticed yesterday that Acacia Village, one of the derelict apartments complexes east of Greenville Ave, is currently being demolished. Here's a pic from yesterday, windows have been broken out and the space between buildings is littered with debris:

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/8742/parklane.jpg (http://img704.imageshack.us/i/parklane.jpg/)

This is the property north of Park Lane, directly across the street from Sam's Club, at the intersection of Shadybrook Lane. I checked DCAD, this property is owned by the City of Dallas. I would guess that the previous owner couldn't pay their taxes...

In any case, since Sam's Club is relocating to the Timbercreek development in 2011, I still believe there is a medium-term development opportunity here.

Call me crazy. But there is a bunch of abandoned or underutilized retail facing Greenville, including the old Million Dollar Saloon property. Sam's will be vacant soon. This old apartment complex is going down and could be picked up on the cheap.

There are a few other complexes along Shadybrook and Park Lane that are on their last legs. Some of them look so bad, it's hard to imagine them lasting another 5 years. There's some really seedy retail and nightclubs along Shadybrook, like the El Gato Club, which is like a box of dry tinder waiting for someone to thow a match on it.

The area has several positives, like Half Price Books, Starbucks, Henk's, and the new Whole Foods across Greenville.

There is the DART station at Park Lane... so far, a disappointment because it is only utilized as a commuter station. I realize the connectivity across Greenville stinks, but that could be overcome in the interest of accelerating the momentum and touching off the redevelopment east of Greenville that is needed.

It's going to take some years for the redevelopment wave to roll through Vickery Meadows, but eventually it will, through which this area connects to the parks and bike trails east of Pineland and north of Park Lane.

I still believe that with a good connection to DART, plus Half price books, Whole Foods, Top Golf, horse stables, parks, bike trails, tennis courts, etc... there's a great demographic that would interest developers in the long term.

Let's keep our eyes on this one. One more old complex near Sam's goes down, then another, then Sam's flips to a developer.... you can already see the drip drip drip starting.

Edit: Does anyone know if the city is proactively looking at how future zoning in this area will be setup? I think this is the one area in Dallas that would benefit from a little less density than currently exists... It would be desirable to not simply replace the rows and rows of old apartments with rows and rows of new apartments, so another future ghetto is not created. It would be great if they included bike lanes as well, given the proximity to the parks and bike trails nearby.

[metrosteve]

Well spoken!

[CasperITL]

I believe there is already a thread about this.

The city bought the property.

The city wants to build a library there.

The city is broke and lacks the money to build the library. It will be many years before they can have a bond election for one.

The city had to pay moving fees and rent for all the tenants displaced by the sale. In some cases tenants of this rathole apartment complex were given $40,000 each to move. 18 months in rent. Hooked the city for over $750,000.

Personally, I think it was the ugliest, wornout, broken looking pile of crap apartment complex in Vickery.

[BigD5349]

^Thanks ITL, I missed that. It'll be a long time before anything happens there then.

As I drive through Vickery, there are a few complexes that look salvageable for updates. But there are 3-4 other complexes nearest to Greenville that look like total crap, like they'll just fall over when the next big storm comes along. I hope some developers see potential here if just a few of the most offending complexes are leveled in the coming years.

[LH_Newbie]

Aren't some of the multi-family complexes in VM condos? I figured the number of condos in the area will slow down the rebuilding process.

I live in the area, so I drive through there rather often. Many of the buildings are definitely in very advanced stages of disrepair. I would have to believe several of the complexes would have issues keeping the doors open if code enforcement came through. So it probably is just a matter of time before the area has some pretty serious building turnover - though I wouldn't consider a Sams+Walmart to be anything near a "catalyst project" for the area. With any luck, the old Sams club area - as mentioned by BigD could be that catalyst. Luckily, the new Sams won't be ready for a while... hopefully the financial markets continue to heal during now and then.

Brian

[MorganB]

Where to and when is Sam's Club moving?

[lakewoodhobo]

Where to and when is Sam's Club moving?

Timbercreek Crossing on NW Hwy and Skillman. Should be open next year.

Thread link: http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?t=3778&highlight=timbercreek+crossing

[Lakewooder]

I had a construction and design class way back when I was earning a Real Estate degree -- one of the mantras of that class was 'never buy a flat-roof garden apartment complex'.

A lot of these places in that area went up when I was a kid - when I think about it, they were really only popular for ten years or less...I lived in the one where Home Depot is today - it was called "The Place" but we called it "The Pit" - I bet it was only 8-9 years old back then!

[tamtagon]

Does anyone know if the city is proactively looking at how future zoning in this area will be setup? I think this is the one area in Dallas that would benefit from a little less density than currently exists.

...also wondering if Dallas has any zoning mechanism addressing anticipated lifetime of a structure.

[BigD5349]

I had a construction and design class way back when I was earning a Real Estate degree -- one of the mantras of that class was 'never buy a flat-roof garden apartment complex'.

A lot of these places in that area went up when I was a kid - when I think about it, they were really only popular for ten years or less...I lived in the one where Home Depot is today - it was called "The Place" but we called it "The Pit" - I bet it was only 8-9 years old back then!

Was the shopping center at the corner of NW Hwy and Shadybrook around in those days (east of Shadybrook, where the Starbucks is now)?

I thought Half Price Books had alot more character when it was in that shopping center, in the space that was previously occupied by the Spanish Galleon (if memory serves). I peered in the window on a swing through there last year, it's still a cool space which could be restored if the surrounding area begins to redevelop.

[MDE]

I thought Half Price Books had alot more character when it was in that shopping center, in the space that was previously occupied by the Spanish Galleon (if memory serves). I peered in the window on a swing through there last year, it's still a cool space which could be restored if the surrounding area begins to redevelop.
Half-Price Books owns it.


On Jan. 29, 2006, Wright stood on her office balcony and watched an office tower in NorthPark East being imploded to make way for Park Lane Place, a mixed-used development on the east side of North Central Expressway.

She made a quick and resolute decision. She turned to Doyle-Thomas and told her to buy the shopping center next door, where Half Price was originally located.

Doyle-Thomas nailed down deals with the three property owners in less than a week.

The company paid "many millions" in cash.

Wright says she'd like to entice Trader Joe's or REI into the old Half Price Books location. She figures either would be a good fit and could use the existing building. But other than that, she's willing to wait out the recession before doing anything with the property.

These days, Park Lane Place is open, and North Texas' largest Whole Foods Market is being built on a nearby lot on Greenville Avenue. "Sweet, huh?" she says.

(Dallas Morning News Business Section, Sunday, July 5, 2009)

[BigD5349]

^Thanks for posting that. Sharon Anderson Wright is a smart lady and she appears to have recognized the potential long ago.... An REI there would be perfect, great fit with the HPB and Whole Foods crowd.... if just a couple more of the worst complexes get torn down, the area could start to flip sooner than later!

[Hannibal Lecter]

Was the shopping center at the corner of NW Hwy and Shadybrook around in those days (east of Shadybrook, where the Starbucks is now)?

I thought Half Price Books had alot more character when it was in that shopping center, in the space that was previously occupied by the Spanish Galleon (if memory serves). I peered in the window on a swing through there last year, it's still a cool space which could be restored if the surrounding area begins to redevelop.Spanish Galleon was in the Medallion Center. Steak & Ale was at Shady Brook. I believe that was their second location.

[Lakewooder]

I went to that Steak and Ale sometime pre-1970 for a girl's birthday party at Lakewood Elementary (the Brinker girls attended our school, lived on Frontier). There was something.."Cargo" in that space which later housed Half-Price.

Sterling "Discount" (you had to have a membership card) Jewelry (also had many other items) was a very big deal in the 1960s...

[SDORN]

I bit of history for you before there was half price books the tenent was Captain Cargo a cheap version of pier one i when it failed half price bought until it relocated in the old sterlings location. I like the old HPB location with the squeaky floor and everything. now it some damn regee club GIGI I think there is some mexican billard hall in what used to be the chlldren books part of HPB. I guess I need to document acacia village again

[BigD5349]

There's another rag-tag complex on Shady Brook, across from the Sam's Club site, which has a dwindling number of cars parked there, and now yellow tape has gone up around a couple of the bldgs, with no cars parked there at all. The complex is called Rosemont, and I'm wondering if it might be on the way to demolition... just something to keep an eye on.

It also looks like the jazz club at NW Hwy and Shady Brook (GG's) is closed as well....

[BigD5349]

This is the complex across from Sam's on Shadybrook, called Rosemont... It's goin' down, the boards are being nailed up in the windows across the complex. There are two other ratty complexes that need to be demolished, plus the El Gato night club area, and then this immediate area has a fighting chance to see some redevelopment when the money is flowing again.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/6673/rosemount.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/i/rosemount.jpg/)

[BigD5349]

Tonight I noticed that another complex in this area appears to be emptying out... Park Vali is the complex directly behind Half Price Books... A door was ripped off a vacant unit, several are now covered with tarps, and the interior sections has multiple empty units... This is another complex that really needs to go.

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6575/parkvali.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/i/parkvali.jpg/)

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