Curtains for Trees

[CityLove]

Tim-berrrrr!
Trees to close its doors to the public on January 2, 2006
By Sam Machkovech

Published: Thursday, December 29, 2005

http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-12-29/music/music.html

After months of attempting to reach an agreement, the Entertainment Collaborative, owner of Trees and Gypsy Tea Room, has finally and officially lost its lease to Trees' building.
On Wednesday, December 28, U.S. District Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale ruled that Trees' landlord, Belmor Corp., can reclaim the building on Elm Street because Tree Amigos, the EC subsidiary that runs Trees, failed to pay rent for two months after EC filed for bankruptcy.

Belmor Corp. wanted the property immediately, but Hale ordered the EC "to vacate the premises and turn the property over" by 3 p.m. on Monday, January 2, which means New Year's Eve weekend shows (and a potential final concert on Sunday, January 1) will proceed as planned.

"Trees was the least tenable of all of [the EC's] properties," EC lawyer John Leslie said. "The lack of interest by buyers was a concern."

When asked how this ruling would affect the remaining EC operations--the Green Room, Gypsy Tea Room and Jeroboam--Leslie answered, "Business as usual." He also stated in the hearing that he is "optimistic that an agreement" to sell the Gypsy Tea Room will happen soon, though Leslie did not say when.

As of Wednesday, Entertainment Collaborative CEO Whit Meyers was not able to confirm any details about a final concert for January 1. "I've already started the e-mail ring" in search of potential performers for that night, Meyers said. As soon as he confirms a bill, we will update this page with more information.

[texman]

Whoah..what a blow to Deep Ellum. I'm sure someone will step in though.

[cowboyeagle05]

Working for a certain former part of the EC everything is going great we are regualrly producing a profit and are full during the weekends and are currently replacing old outdated equipment and are booked with a long waiting list for New Years Eve!

[FoUTASportscaster]

Whoah..what a blow to Deep Ellum. I'm sure someone will step in though.


With the decline of the area over the last decade, I'm not so certain that something of the calibur needed for that area will come in.

[carousel]

The neighborhood is, most certainly, going further decline prior to any rebirthing or awakening in the area. Club Dada recently closed its doors due to having its liquor license pulled for not paying taxes - one more huge blow to Deep Ellum. There are, also, credible rumors about the Entertainment Collaborative giving up the Green Room. I have heard scenarios were the landlord was going to take over the restaurant. If that comes to pass, my prognastication is that the food quality will quickly decline and the restaurant will not be an entity of going concern for the foreseeable future. I imagine the new restaurant, Crustaceans, that was a part of the EC deal (and other deep ellum landlords) to lure business from New Orleans w/ a few months of free rent will quickly close its doors. Difficult to keep a restaurant open when you have no patrons and potential patrons are afraid to walk the streets. It is truly a sad state of affairs for Deep Ellum given the neighborhoods potential, beauty, proximity to downtown, and history. Another blow to the Elm Street business will come w/ the DART expansion. It is difficult to imagine a scenario where these business will survive the prologned construction. However, the end result of the DART expansion will be beneficial to the neighborhood.

[RadicalBender]

^The most succinct and correct description of the state of Deep Ellum I've seen in a long time.

Most people who live and work here have a hard time saying it, but Deep Ellum is dying. And the fact is, it has been for some time. It's basically been one piece of bad news after another, the death of The Met, that guy who was nearly killed at the Old 97s concert at the Tea Room last year, the loss of the Arrangement, Sambuca, Voyager, Club Dada and now Trees apparently. And this is all while *every* other neighborhood within spitting distance of the CBD has something to sing praises about in the past year or so: Downtown, Uptown, Victory, West Village, LoMac, Cedars, the Trinity, even West Dallas will at least have a bridge soon.

The DART line might stop the bleeding, whenever it happens. What will happen though is that Deep Ellum will change (probably for the better, but many here now won't see it that way). Deep Ellum will have to be cleaned up to make way for some new development. There will probably still be a core of artsiness and any clubs, restaurants and shops that stick it out through the lean years will be rewarded in the end, even if their audience changes a bit. But this trend of the month, nightclub district crap that Deep Ellum has become isn't working and something has to give.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Has anyone been to pre-Katrina Bourbon Street and the French Quarter? Does that area have new development or is it a mainly historic district. Also, were those areas ever in a period of decline? My problem is that Dallas tears its heritage down for shiny new buildings, which can be nice, but historical character just can't be built, it has to be made.

[RadicalBender]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not in favor of razing everything and starting over. Frankly, I wish we could do more for some of these buildings that are already down here. Of all the buildings in Dallas that I wish someone would figure out a way to rehabilitate, the Union Bankers Building in Deep Ellum would be tops on my list.

[vman]

I am sad to say I feel Deep Ellum is dying. Deep Ellum was where I lived when I first moved to Dallas in 2000. What has puzzled me is that with all the problems in Deep Ellum, the nearby Bryan Place neighborhood is still booming with new residential construction. With Deep Ellum so close, I always thought the problems there would affect possible residential in Bryan Place, but it hasn't.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Which makes the plight of Deep Ellum all the more odd.

[UrbanHope]

Have the sewer issues in Deep Ellum ever been resolved?
http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2004-06-24/news/feature_print.html

Has the new councilperson ever weighed in on Deep Ellum?

Curious

[tamtagon]

What's bad for one section of Elm-Main-Commerce Streets is good for another. Sounds like Deep Ellum needed pruning anyway, the crowds got out of balance. The West Village basically removed one very large customer group from the party scene. All of a sudden, "roving gangs of street thugs" become much more visible and are blamed for the financial troubles of Deep Ellum business owners.

Lets keep it real, the "street thugs" have been in Deep Ellum since the area began as a gathering place for minorities, and Deep Ellum businesses are having financial trouble because people are spending their money in the West Village instead.

I think it will be very fortunate if party scene in Deep Ellum continues to cool off for a couple years, making it much much easier for heavy infusion of mid- & highrise residential properties. Restaurants, dance clubs, venues for big touring acts and see-and-be-seen types of places will naturally congragate along Elm-Main-Commerce in the CBD, while Deep Ellum will be returned to local music scene.

Rather than Deep Ellum becoming an extention of Downtown Dallas, Deep Ellum has been liberated to bind with Exposition Park. It sucks about Trees closing - some of my favorite memories come from there (NOT too sad about Club DaDa because I thought the bartenders were jerks), but in the grand sceme of things, I think this will turn out to be a very fortunate turn of events.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Let's hope so.

[AndyIvey]

I think tamtaon is pretty close with the West Village comment. However I do not think revitilaization will occur in the form of demolitions and new constuction. The area can be reborn without razing any of the core structures. The ability for Deep Ellum to rebound will determine our city's ability to expand its entertainment dfistricts. The same goes for West End. While I have been a proponent of a new entertainment district in the CBD (minus the horse track), I think one would be hard pressed to back a new district if we can't support the ones we have. LEt's hope that the expansion of light rail is the cure.

[tamtagon]

However I do not think revitilaization will occur in the form of demolitions and new constuction. The area can be reborn without razing any of the core structures.
I think one would be hard pressed to back a new district if we can't support the ones we have. LEt's hope that the expansion of light rail is the cure.

There are a few parking lots and probably a handful derelects structures fronting Elm, Main or Commerce which could be replaced, but any new buildings must match the scale of the core structures. I'm as optomistic about the future of Deep Ellum as any Metroplex neighborhood. Unless once again there is a catastrpohic economic event halting the development of Dallas urban lifestyle opportunities, the CBD will return as the societal crossroads of the Dallas area; Deep Ellum had been the temporary omnihost for nighttime entertainment. Dallas City Experience has a much better chance at sustained development with the specialization of CBD satellite neighborhoods: LoMac/Victory, Citiplace/West Village, East Dallas/Deep Ellum/Fair Park, South Dallas.

I'm thinking the big residential expansion in East Dallas will occur a block or two away from the bars and clubs, initially as convenient to the DART stations as to the Deep Ellum party.

The Meadows Foundation will have as much impact as any single entity regarding the development of East Dallas - they own a lot of land!! I like to imagine the Meadows Foundation sponsoring an graduate level Art and Music University in East Dallas in collaboration with UNT and SMU.

[BigD5349]

Deep Ellum has to become the core of Dallas' "creative class"... more than just an entertainment district, this needs to be where the environment is more open, laid back, and diverse. It already is "organic" and historical, other traits that give it a leg up. It's a great idea for Meadows to do a nearby educational program or institution. That can build into other areas. Tax incentives and an area wide wi-fi network would help facilitate a new creative class.

Someone in Deep Ellum ought to start understanding the talent pool that lies in Central Dallas, because that can be marketed to creative businesses. If we can get VCs and start-ups interested in making Deep Ellum the core of North Texas' creative class, then we're on our way. That focus for Deep Ellum would complement the laid-back style, the arts and music scene.

This is the place for it. I mean, what creative start-up wants to be on the tollway in West Plano? Deep Ellum ought to be the place to go, because the environment is perfect, and they will go there if that's where they can find the talent.



There are a few parking lots and probably a handful derelects structures fronting Elm, Main or Commerce which could be replaced, but any new buildings must match the scale of the core structures. I'm as optomistic about the future of Deep Ellum as any Metroplex neighborhood. Unless once again there is a catastrpohic economic event halting the development of Dallas urban lifestyle opportunities, the CBD will return as the societal crossroads of the Dallas area; Deep Ellum had been the temporary omnihost for nighttime entertainment. Dallas City Experience has a much better chance at sustained development with the specialization of CBD satellite neighborhoods: LoMac/Victory, Citiplace/West Village, East Dallas/Deep Ellum/Fair Park, South Dallas.

I'm thinking the big residential expansion in East Dallas will occur a block or two away from the bars and clubs, initially as convenient to the DART stations as to the Deep Ellum party.

The Meadows Foundation will have as much impact as any single entity regarding the development of East Dallas - they own a lot of land!! I like to imagine the Meadows Foundation sponsoring an graduate level Art and Music University in East Dallas in collaboration with UNT and SMU.

[The Great Hizzy!]

You know, it just dawned on me that I've been to Dallas three times in the last four months and have not even thought about going anywhere near Deep Ellum on any of those trips. I used to make it a point to go all thet ime and now I don't even think about it.

I hope others aren't disregarding it either. Be a shame to let such an area fade.

[Agnus Dei]

With Good Records moving and now this, Gypsy Tea Room is probably the only thing that will have me in Deep Ellum regularly.

[Columbus Civil]

We can always hope the Magic Wand Effect takes hold once the Bryan Place/City Lights area develops.

[carousel]

DEEP ELLUM: DEAD YET?
How many times does the question need to be asked before we finally get the answer? We heard rumblings over the break about businesses down there shuttering. An alert FBvian points us to this item about Club Dada having some trouble with the TABC. I also hear the Observer is working on another "Deep Ellum: WTF?" story.


Tim Rogers · 09:04 AM

[carousel]

RE: DEEP ELLUM
An Ellum-dwelling FBvian gives us a report from the street:

Just walked by Dada, and the signs are still up. Poor planning and decisions by some folks and a couple of mud-headed property owners can really drive a neighborhood nuts. But a lot of places (Local, Pepe and Mitos, Monicas, plus businesses like Orange, Francis Simun, Reel F/X, Rudolph's and, heck, even 7-Eleven) continue to pack 'em in. Hate to shill, but check out the Deep Ellum Residents Councils web page, Deepellumhome.com, to see that reports may be premature. Club life made Deep Ellum but can only sustain so much. Hate to see old friends in trouble, but me and my many neighbors enjoy being downtown's close-in suburb.

Tim Rogers · 10:16 AM