DTD: 2100 Ross

[TexasStar]

All four of the monoliths fronting the San Jacinto Tower on Ross Ave. have had all the marble shaved off.
The beginning of a total facelift for the building?

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/samclark/dallas/san_jacinto_twr.jpg

[CTroyMathis]

^ Probably goes along with the relatively quiet renaming/rebranding of the tower to 2100 Ross Ave. I guess that's where the main entrance is now - facing the burgeoning Arts District. . .

[carousel]

So what are they doing w/ these concrete pillars?

[CTroyMathis]

Maybe they are de-eighties'ing them? ; )
And, perhaps making that new main entrance more 'inviting'?

[CTroyMathis]

I want waterfalls and hanging foilage. . . Listen up Crow!

[Tnekster]

I thought they were going to do some kind of restaurant on Ross that would extend a patio out in front.

[carousel]

I don't recall what was there. Are these new pillars or are old pillars being stripped down?

[CTroyMathis]

I think tnek is right, I believe there is a hope/plan for a/another restaurant on the ground floor. Would be nice if there was an outdoor patio portion as well.

Yeah, the pillars were already there.

[Lakewooder]

Perhaps they will paint them as dominos and pass it off as pop art...

[carousel]

Is La Madelaine still located on the ground floor?

[CTroyMathis]

Perhaps they will paint them as dominos and pass it off as pop art...

Haha.

[RobertB]

Is La Madelaine still located on the ground floor?
Looks like it -- but it doesn't do any good if you aren't downtown during the day.

http://www.lamadeleine.com/Location.aspx?CityID=4
San Jacinto
2121 San Jacinto Street, Suite 120, Dallas 75201
Ross & Pearl
Closed weekends
TEL: 214-220-3911
Mon. - Fri. 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sat. - Sun. CLOSED

As for the pillars, they're not merely decorative, right? I've seen steam coming out of the tops on cold winter days. It makes for a pretty cool effect, but I wonder if the temperature change and moisture is hard on the marble veneer and the stuff (super glue? duct tape?) that holds it to the concrete.

[clipper]

The pillars used to be covered with red granite. I saw signs it was wanting to peel off. And, yes, they are also exhaust stacks for the underground mechanical.

[vman]

Funny, I drive past that building everytime I drive to work and I never noticed the pillars until the work started on them.

[crescentboi]

I also noticed all of this work starting a week or two ago. And Lakewooder I think that your idea is great! What a unique idea imo!

[I45Tex]

go for it! let's get Ninjatune a paint sprayer and have him take care of the installation the next time he's wandering downtown in the wee hours...

[Boredkid]

I noticed acouple days ago, the fence has a pic of what facelift will look like. I will try to take a pic of it soon, unless someone beats me to it.

[clipper]

The design of San Jac tower was loosely based on San Francisco's Embarcadero Center which Trammell Crow started in the '70s. Then in the '80s when they needed a plan for that building they had architects base it in part on that style. There had been some talk of doing a second building of similar style in the next block but that never happen. The architect for San Jac was John Carl Warnecke, who did many buildings in California and San Francisco. I don't mind the shape of that building but the curtain wall is very cheap looking. In evolution, Crow did the Bryan Tower, then KPMG Tower, then San Jac, then Trammell Crow Center and finally the Chase Tower. The buildings got more elaborate and expensive as they went along.

[RobertB]

There had been some talk of doing a second building of similar style in the next block but that never happen.
Were there *any* buildings built in the '80s that *didn't* have a plan for a twin? The green building, the Republic Bank tower, Cityplace...

[Tnekster]

^Fountain place did too, Dallas would have been sea of twins. It would be interesting to see what the city would have looked like with all the twins in place.

[RobertB]

^Fountain place did too, Dallas would have been sea of twins. It would be interesting to see what the city would have looked like with all the twins in place.
http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2004/07/07/inside1-07-twins.jpg

[Kelley USA]

^Excellent!!!!

[Boredkid]

Here are some pics of the construction fence. I am assuming this is what its going to look like when done.

[Tnekster]

Interesting, any sign of a restaurant and patio facing Ross?

[Boredkid]

no idea, I was "sick" this morning, so walked all around downtown and uptown, taking pics of everything being built as I went.

[Tnekster]

^Good, glad you made good use of your sick time.

[Kelley USA]

Yea- thanks for sharing...

[Boredkid]

i also took pics of the ritz, hunt, and 7-11, go check them out.

[Tnekster]

saw them, they are good. do you live downtown?

[Boredkid]

....

[Tnekster]

oh cool, well we need more people out taking pics so thanks for doing so.

[Boredkid]

Well I have way too much free time and lots of free memory on my digital camera. So be prepared so many pics to come.

[crescentboi]

Here's a shot from Feb 14th...sorry it's taken so long!

[jsoto3]

Anyone else been by here lately? They're making a lot of progress. It appears that it won't be long before they get the frosted glass panels onto the exhaust "monoliths" (steel embeds are placed and ready to receive glass attachment structure). Also, on the northeast corner they have erected an exposed, suspended steel canopy structure. I presume it will have glass suspended from it to form the covering. Looks like it will be nice. Can anyone get out there and get some good pictures?

[jsoto3]

Update as of this afternoon:

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/173/picture0424cl.th.jpg (http://img126.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0424cl.jpg) http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/9985/picture0436rg.th.jpg (http://img126.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0436rg.jpg) http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/6136/picture0454wq.th.jpg (http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0454wq.jpg) http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/6951/picture0475xx.th.jpg (http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0475xx.jpg)

There are updated renderings in the lobby, but of course security wouldn't let me take pics of those. The long arched canopy will be clad in metal panels.

[Cole]

Its funny, I kinda grew up in that building.

My mom worked in it and I used to always be there.

I am glad the building is getting a facelift.

Thanks for the pics.

[CTroyMathis]

Great update Jorge.

[Bryant]

There are updated renderings in the lobby, but of course security wouldn't let me take pics of those.

Ughhh! :rolleyes:

The changes look great...

[incrediculous]

Construction crews were working hard putting up glass panes on a late Saturday afternoon.

[BigD5349]

Looks like it's almost done...

[freewaytincan]

Any plans to replace the eighties glass down there at the lobby level?

[barrycb]

Looks like it's almost done...

Reminds me of the Galleria remodel...nice but certainly not timeless.

[crescentboi]

I really like the frosted glass look, I just think it looks tacky or "amateur" with the, for lack of a better word, squiggles all over it. Otherwise it looks great, but you're right barry, definetly not timeless. Probably in 15-20 yrs we'll see another re-do.

[Tnekster]

http://www.globest.com/news/758_758/dallas/149788-1.html
By Connie Gore
DALLAS-With office leasing overall on an upswing, owners of two premier buildings in the Greater Dallas metro are rolling red carpets for the brokerage community to win their fair share of the deals. One is a $3.5-million re-branding of a well-known CBD high rise and the other is the first class AA to open in the far northern tier--in all, 1.2 million sf of upper-end office space.
In the CBD, IPC US REIT has unveiled 2100 Ross Ave., formerly San Jacinto Tower. A new look, new address and new positioning in the Downtown's Arts District has taken nearly 18 months of work for the Canadian IPC, the majority owner to a JV with locally based PNL Cos. Trammell Crow Co., which leases and manages the asset, was project's construction manager. "It's not the old 2121 San Jacinto; it's the new 2100 Ross Ave.," emphasizes Douglas W. Brewer, IPC's regional vice president. "We've come a long way in accomplishing a change in the brokerage community's mind about the building."

The JV started mapping out the 843,728-sf repositioning in January 2005 when it bought the 70%-leased building. Occupancy is now 77%. Brewer tells GlobeSt.com that "it's still a little early" to determine how much of an impact the renovation will have on leasing. "The market is still relatively soft," he adds, "but we're guardedly confident that we'll do a fair amount of leasing in the next 12 months."

The brokers' parties are over; the hard leasing drive is under way at 2100 Ross, with its class A space on the market at $17.50 per sf plus electric. The largest contiguous block in the 33-story high rise is 110,000 sf on floors 24, 25, 26 and 27 and two more full floors on six and 12.

The reintroduction has started with a full-floor lease by Gordon & Rees LLP, which took the 28th floor, 18,743 sf, in its third expansion since moving into 5,000 sf just two months ago. The law firm's new office is being built out now. The law firm of Kessler Collins recently moved into 13,402 sf on the seventh floor.

Part of the new look is a feature wall by Paul Deeb's Vox Environmental Design firm. Artistic additions like the 30-foot frosted-glass kinetic art piece proved to be the most challenging and time consuming, according to Brewer. Staffelbach Design Associates of Dallas led the team for the building's redesign.

In far north Dallas, Granite Properties has opened doors on the 369,000-sf Granite Park Three. The 14-story, class AA spec building, with a 25,000-sf retail component, is hitting the market at 30% occupancy.

"We've incorporated architectural style and function while raising new standards for the market in the Plano-Legacy-Frisco area," Greg Fuller, Granite's managing director in Dallas, says in a press release. The opening pushes Granite Park to one million sf of office space, with its newest product coming on line at $25.75 per sf plus electricity.

Granite Park Three's interior highlights include blown glass-and-steel hanging light fixtures by Tim deJong of Wimberley Glass Works Inc. in Wimberley, TX and Texas Hill Country artist Jimmy Harwell. BOKA Powell was Granite Park Three's architect; Austin Commercial, the general contractor.

[Tnekster]

Dallas Business Journal - December 1, 2006by Christine Perez
Work has been completed on the $3.5 million renovation of 2100 Ross Ave. in downtown Dallas.

The 33-story, 845,000-square-foot skyscraper previously was known as San Jacinto Tower. The ambitious renovation involved removing one of its four granite mechanical towers, and switching the building's main entrance from San Jacinto Avenue to Ross Avenue.

Dallas-based Constructors & Associates Inc., also based in Dallas, was the general contractor. Staffelbach Design Associates, also based in Dallas, oversaw the project.

"We deliberately repositioned the front door at the threshold of the emerging Arts District to visually open the lobby and transform the entry to the property," said Andre Staffelbach, creative principal.

One goal of the renovation was to create a dramatic entryway. This was achieved through a 30-foot-tall wall feature designed by artist Paul Deeb.

2100 Ross Ave. was acquired in late 2004 for $56 million by Toronto-based IPC (U.S.) REIT Inc. and Dallas-based PNL Cos. It is managed by Trammell Crow Co.

[ApathyFern]

I work in this building. At the end of the day, I am not sure whatever they did was worth the money. It wasn't so bad before - I wouldn't say what they did made it better - in some cases maybe - but definitely worse in other areas. For example, they replaced areas of decent marble in the lobby with less appealing grey granite. I also thought there was supposed to be a decent push toward more retail at ground level beyond the La Madeleine but nothing as yet.

[Kelley USA]

Shows you how much I know- I had no idea there was even a La Madeleine in this building!

[RobertB]

I also thought there was supposed to be a decent push toward more retail at ground level beyond the La Madeleine but nothing as yet.
Perhaps they raised the price on the retail space -- "dramatic" may describe more than the entryway. Or maybe they just didn't push for new retail while the area was a construction zone.

[grantboston]

Shows you how much I know- I had no idea there was even a La Madeleine in this building!

It's a decent sized one, popular with the lunch crowd. I used to eat there from time to time. Of course, I wish whatever retail in this building and others would keep more than banker's hours. Maybe that's in the cards for a later date.

[Kelley USA]

11:54 AM CDT on Thursday, September 25, 2008
By SHERYL JEAN / The Dallas Morning News
sjean@dallasnews.com

Dallas chef Stephan Pyles plans to open a new restaurant called Samar by Stephan Pyles next spring at the 2100 Ross Ave. office building in downtown Dallas.

The new restaurant will feature an international tapas menu and indoor and outdoor seating for 95 people. CB Richard Ellis, which handles leasing at 2100 Ross Ave. announced the plans on Thursday.

Construction on the 2,800-square-foot restaurant will begin later this year.

Samar by Stephan Pyles will be slightly north of Mr. Pyles’ existing restaurant that goes by his name at 1807 Ross Ave.

Mr. Pyles, George Majdalani and Michael Welch will own the new restaurant.

“Our new location is in sync with the direction the downtown Arts District is moving,” Mr. Pyles said in a release. “In the restaurant business we strive to create an experience for every guest; 2100 Ross offers both a recognizable address and the high-energy atmosphere we were looking for.”