Uptown: Cityplace West + West Village

[mdunlap1]

Does anyone know of a web site for the West Village development in Uptown along McKinney Avenue? Does anyone have any information about its progress or when it will be finished?

[CTroyMathis]

I believe it's supposed to be in July '01. Don't know a specific website on it, just lots of quick 'bits' about the subject in different places.

[ibryant]

Just a quick note...the first store has opened up at the West Village development. Tommy Bahamas is currently open and it looks as if Gap, Banana Republic, Lucky Brand, and the Voice Stream stores are about to open as well.

Also, in case you missed it, the proposed Landmark Theater that was to be developed in West Village is no longer going to be built. Landmark was recently bought out (saved from bankruptcy) and there are currently no plans to continue developing the West Village theater.

It's still going to be a great new development though. I can't wait until they finish it out and get the trolley running through there to the Cityplace station!

[skelley]

I have a specific interest in this property. It'll be my new home at the end of July. I'm meeting with the leasing agent on Monday- we get to tour the site and pick our apartment. I'll let you know what it's like on the inside of the fence! The property will open in phases, with the last phase due to open in September. It won't be until December when the trolley line is actually extended.

Some of the other tenants include Ann Taylor, Taco Diner, Starbucks and Legacy Trading Co..

[skelley]

I took the tour on Monday- very impressive. I honestly think this property will help kick off other retail and residential properties in the area. The 4th floor of the apartments have some amazing views of downtown and Oak Lawn. The units have berber carpeting with 2 color schemes (both earth tone colors) with white or black appliances.

I got some additional info on the retail sector. Polo will anchor a large corner section on the McKinney side- also there is an underground nightclub (for the high-tone crowd no doubt)- should be interesting. I didn't know this was part of the plans- but the developer wanted to give the complex a New York touch. The movie theatre is still a go- obviously a different company has bought the space. It will still show independent movies, as well as, new releases. A gift shop and flower shop have also signed-up, Celebrity Bakery has leased space next to Tommy Bahamas- and several home furnishing stores will pay rent.. When finished- this will a great destination place!!!

[John T Roberts]

Sounds interesting.

[CTroyMathis]

I'm also looking forward to the McKinney Avenue Streetcar reaching closer-in with it's planned turntable at nearby Cityplace. That will be quite exceptional! And,also, the mysterious Cityplace Co. planned 43-story tower that's still lingering around in their office!

[KelleyUSA]

Come on people- the lack of talk on this site has greatly declined! OK- my topic is the new West Village- to which I am a resident of. I read in the DMN this morning that 2 new phases are set to get underway in the next 60-90 days. This means that they probably already have designs for this completed- or at least exterior sketches. Has anyone seen anything about these next phases and what it may look like? Unlike the 1st phase- the 2nd phase includes both office and retail space. I do have an inside track on some of the leasing- but not sure if I can say anything at this time. I will say that 1 retailer is a high-profile home furnishing place and the other is a major bookstore. OK- let's get this site going again! Welcome home T-Dawg!!

[mdunlap1]

I am excited to see the talk picking back up, Kelley. I check this site regularly and was sad to see Troy had left suddenly and the site activity screech to a halt. I have thought for awhile now that the West Village development was one of the best in Dallas recently. If not for the rail station, the Mockingbird Station wouldn't have gotten so much more hype than West Village. I was in Dallas at Christmas time (I have moved from U. of Georgia to NYC in the past year) and enjoyed seeing the progress on the WV development although I am still anxious to see it fully complete with the surrounding roads cleaned up and the trolley connecting it to the Cityplace Station's West Side entrance.

Along with the West Village, I am interested to know the status of the Knox@Travis building (this thing's construction has moved like a snail) as well as seeing what will become of the 3001 Knox project (South corner of Knox and Central), so if anyone has any info, keep it coming.

[KelleyUSA]

I think it's funny that while bickering continues between the Victory development and downtown- the West Village is quietly expanding. Beware Victory- you better get going before the West Village grabs the next wave of new tenants!!

[John T Roberts]

Good Point, KelleyUSA.

[LonghornFan96]

I can't agree more concerning Victory. I was sitting in the Starbucks in West Village Sunday afternoon thinking the same thing. How can this have been built so quickly with expansion already on the way while Victory and the redvelopment of downtown just sit on drawing boards. It is so frustrating...bear with my since I am new to the board, but I want downtown Dallas to be great so badly.

[jsoto3]

welcome to the board LonghornFan96!

[KelleyUSA]

Yes- Welcome LonghornFan96... Dallas is all about frustration- we've had city leasers that have failed us for decades. Too much dreaming and no action! I think the West Village has the potential to be something specail. There's plenty of room to expand and now that the Jennivine restaurant has given up the fight- I have no doubt that the developers will purchase this land (as was supposed to the be the case in the initial design). Keep on rolling West Village!!!!!!

[KelleyUSA]

Just wanted to pass along an update on the West Village. It looks as though Phase 2 is officially underway. They have fenced off the area and bulldozers have been working the dirt the past 2 days- they also have the portable buildings put in place. I would love to see a rendering of the new buildings. OK- good news for the WV!!!

[CTroyMathis]

Kelley, so would I....

Trust me, I've been looking and looking. No luck as of yet. Thanks for the good update!

[KelleyUSA]

I sent an email to Steve Brown of the DMN last Friday regarding the West Village. He said they have not released a rendering yet and that he had no new news on the project. It'll sure be nice to watch the complex go up- though I wonder what will become of the tract between the new phase and the existing phase. I know it'll be incorporated as part of the WV- but I wonder how long until that tract is developed too...

[CTroyMathis]

I do to (about the tract.)

And, I definitely look forward to a rendering of some kind to help us all with a more exact idea of what's going to be constructed in this next phase.

[KelleyUSA]

Troy,

There is some informatiuon on this in the Dallas Morning News- column by Steve Brown. Actually- the new area being developed right now is not considered a phase of West Village. Phase 2 has not yet broken ground. This development will be a 7 story residential building with 10,000 sq. ft. of retail along the ground floor. It's developed by Fairfield Resdidential. The good news is that with this addition- the area is developed quicker than what we thought. I believe the West Village Phase 2 will be located between the existing WV and new the Fairfield development. It's good to see other developers showing interest in this area!

[bloodandpopcorn]

I took DART around a bit today (I needed to pick up some stuff at Urban Outfitters, Virgin Mega, and wanted to check out the Vespa Store), and when I was walking to hte West Village, I noticed how nicely the two mid-scale developments there are coming along. Though I wish they wre both a bit taller, they are both monstrous in comparision to the West Village and are huge improvements to what was there before. Does anyone know if there has been any recent news on retail or restaurants being booked in these? Or when they are supposed to be done? At the rate their going, I wouldn't imagine it'd take more than another 6 months. Likely quicker. Either way, That area is really turning into a great urban corner that Dallas is definitly ready for.

On a similiar note, any news on the expansion of the Mockingbird Station deveopment? Or on the other phases of the West Village?

[psukhu]

Mood is upbeat in Uptown
As economy dives, the area is enjoying a building boom

09/20/2002

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

For years, driving down McKinney Avenue in Dallas' Uptown neighborhood has been a slow crawl through blocks of construction.

Those construction trenches aren't going away, even though the economy's in a ditch.

"Everybody has acknowledged that it's a great area, and a lot of people want to play here," said property broker Newt Walker, who's worked in the area for almost 20 years. "Uptown has done a lot better in the current real estate market than some of the suburban areas, and developers want to capitalize on it."

If even half the projects currently in the planning stages get off the ground, Uptown will look dramatically different in the years ahead.

Most of the pending development is centered in two areas – near the new West Village retail and apartment center at Lemmon Avenue and around the Crescent office and hotel complex closer to downtown.

A Dallas firm working with one of the West Coast's biggest apartment builders – Legacy Partners – is negotiating to buy the former Red Cross building at McKinney and Pearl Street.

The potential owners are proposing more than 200 residential units on top of a 25,000-square-foot retail and restaurant complex, property brokers say.

A few blocks away, at Akard and Cedar Springs, developer JTS Interests of Baton Rouge, La., is buying a vacant block for more residential.

"We're working on plans for an eight-story building which we plan to start after the first of the year," said partner Thomas Wells. "We think it's where a lot of people want to live, and it is centrally located to all the amenities."

Outlook inviting


The perception that development locations are limited is prompting builders to take positions in Uptown even though the overall apartment market is about 8 percent vacant, said analyst Ron Witten of Witten Advisors.
"The market may be soft now, but if I think the economy is going to get better next year, I may start a project late this year, or in early 2003," Mr. Witten said. "A successful real estate investment is all about the future."

Brokers and developers say another factor in the building boom is the delay of the Victory retail and residential development near downtown.

Some builders held off potential projects in Uptown because they didn't want to compete directly with the $385 million Victory complex, Mr. Walker said. But with delays in funding approvals from the city of Dallas, the project was not started as early as expected.

Developers have now set the start date for Victory in summer 2003.

"The earliest we could start is next summer," said Ken Wong of Related Urban Development, formerly Palladium Group. "But I would not want to mislead you and say a groundbreaking is scheduled. I've got a lot of work to do."

The agreement between Victory developers and the city of Dallas stipulates that the project must be completed by the end of 2005.

Most of the projects on tap in Uptown will be finished long before then.

"A lot of people were scared by what Victory might have been able to do," Mr. Walker said. "But Uptown developers now believe they can go ahead and do their deals.

"It has opened the flood gates again, and those that have been sitting idle have revved up their engines," he said.

Two towers


Two apartment buildings being built near Lemmon and McKinney avenues will each have seven to nine stories. The residential towers are within sight of the West Village complex that opened this summer.
Developers in that area credit West Village with causing a building boomlet. "West Village has really brought in a lot of great tenants, and it has attracted more people to the area," said Barry Howard of Fairfield Residential, which is building the 232-unit mid-rise apartment complex on Lemmon Avenue east of McKinney. "West Village has moved the ground zero location for Uptown to Cityplace."

Fairfield Residential plans to finish its apartment building next summer, along with 10,000 square feet of retail space on the new trolley line running from McKinney to North Central.

"I've already had a number of retailers contact us about space," Mr. Howard said. "Everybody wants to get in on the act."

A block away on McKinney, Austin developer CWS Apartment Homes LLC is building the 144-unit Marquis on McKinney apartment building. It will be completed next year.

And on Blackburn Street between West Village and Turtle Creek, construction is under way on the Drexel Grand, a four-story, 28-unit loft apartment building.

More to come


Even bigger deals are still to come.

At the northeast corner of McKinney and Blackburn, Florida developer ZOM Inc. is buying land for a 20-story residential project.

"There has been a lot of energy down here in the Uptown area," said Kevin Wisdom, senior vice president of ZOM Texas. "It continues to be a very resilient market.

"The access to transportation and the DART light-rail line is also important."

West Village's developers aren't sitting still while their competitors take all the deals. Builders Henry S. Miller III and Robert Bagwell are wrapping up plans for the second phase of West Village on Blackburn Street. "We want to break ground on the building before the end of the year," Mr. Bagwell said. At Lemmon and Cole – the vacant corner once known as the "Hole on Cole" – a Denver apartment builder, Archstone Communities, is working on preliminary plans for a mid-rise apartment building.

And closer to downtown, on Cedar Springs Road across from the Crescent, Houston-based builder Hanover Co. has a property under contract and plans to build yet another mid-rise residential project. It will be on the site of the Dallas Children's Theater, which plans to relocate.

Near McKinney and Routh, Hotel ZaZa will open its doors next month with 146 rooms, meeting space and a restaurant.

Neal Sleeper of Cityplace Development said that even if Victory's project starts as planned next summer, there won't be much direct competition with the Uptown projects around West Village.

"Victory is a lot closer to downtown," he said. "If Victory gets built, it's two different markets, and both can survive successfully."

E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

[ibryant]

I don't know if any of you guys have been to the ZOM website (www.zomusa.com), but it looks like they do some really great work!

While some of their developments are garden apartments, some of their buildings (especially highrise residential, as has been proposed for uptown) have wonderful architecture. I would suggest taking a look. I think uptown could definitely use their development...obviously. It would provide a nice contrast (while still fitting in) to the uptown look. And besides, at 20 stories, maybe after showing some success, it would lure other developers to the idea of building taller and therefore more dense developments in the area.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope that this project in particular makes the transition from a sketch or rendering to an fully-implemented project.

[JaeTex]

This is an email that got forwarded to me today, I have no reason not to believe it.

"I'm letting all of my friends In Dallas know that I just got mugged in the
parking garage of the West Village at 10:30 this morning!
There was a running car with the driver's side door left open and no driver inside parked in the lane of the parking garage near my car (the police said that is the MO for this guy). When I got into my car he ran up to me while my door was still open, hit me in the face and tried to get me out of the car and take my purse. I started screaming REALLY loud and kicking him in the stomach with my high-heeled boots and he took off because these
construction workers were running over.
Anyway, tell all of your female friends and employees to valet park at the
West Village and beware of the parking garage. The police made it sound
like it's not the first time. It was really scary. I've never been hit in the face in my whole life!"

If it is not the first time, WV should be cracking down HARD! Can't have a good development that people are afraid of. It happens even in suburban malls this time of year, but people ignore that and unfairly will say that's what happen in Dallas.

[KelleyUSA]

I certainly appreciate you posting that. We can all usa a reality check now and then and need to be aware of our surroundings. I actually just moved from the West Village- not because of any crime but more so because of the noise. The parking garage does seem very secluded from the foot traffic. They do have security at the WV but I have rarely seen them monitor the parking garage. When I first moved in- the Polo store had been broken into twice and I have heard of other accounts that have gone on their. I certainly hope they can get a handle on this!

[UrbanLandscape]

I hate to say it, but this is what my father understands. He lived in NYC in Manhattan for three and a half years, no problem. He lives here six months, and he got mugged near Oak Lawn. Sadly, that is how Dallas is.

[bloodandpopcorn]

That's really disappointing. Perhaps we shold all email the west village with a complaint 0on their lack of security presense in the parking garage, and cite this? If it seems that alot of people know about it, maybe fear will lead them to fixing the problem?

[Kelley USA]

I thought most of you would like to check out the new West Village website. I check it often and was surprised by what I saw today- the site looks amazing!!!!!!!! www.westvil.com

Make sure you check out the Master Plan Rendering!!

[psukhu]

awesome...

Those new buildings look tall.

[tamtagon]

I wonder about the future of North Dallas High School.

[rantanamo]

guess that answers the question about a second Cityplace tower, which saddens me a little. But that rendering is the next best thing. Hopefully the economy picks back up and we can get some of this stuff done.

[tamtagon]

Too bad about the twin tower; as long as nothing is built on the land, there's still a chance, maybe???

It looks like the design theme of the expansion is not linked to the existing Citiplace tower either. That's cool.

Is there a schedule regarding the Knox-Henderson DART station? The whole segment of McKinney/Cole between Blackburn and Knox may be re-developed by the time DART has money to finish out the station. Cole Park already makes an excellent front yard, but it's just a matter of time before midrise residential buildings replace aging apt. complexes. Personally, I think any high density residential construction adjacent to Cole park should included very little retail space.

[bloodandpopcorn]

That website and those renderings seriously made my day! Thanks so much for posting them. Now I'm even more eager for them to hurry and get started on some of this. God, can you imagine all of that on that land? Imagine photographs of that, imagine the images we could send to the rest of the US and the world from that area? Show people that Dallas really is a GREAT place to be...

I'll be down there just about every day, I think.

[JaeTex]

Knox Henderson station is probably at the very end of DART plans. I remember reading ages ago that a station was planned there and room left for one, but that the neighborhood got together and killed it, they didn't want a train station in their neighborhood. So a new station, no matter how smart it would be, has got to be at the end I think the burbs would be pissed if they got bumped back, they're already making a fuss about Love field delaying their train stations. Knox folks must be kicking themselves now.

[jsoto3]

a couple years ago my urban design studio was fortunate enough to get a tour of the DART system. we were told exactly what jaetex has just said, except that more than likely the station would not happen at all. it would be exceptionally expensive to finish out the station.

[Quiz03]

Didn't the cityplace station require some funds from cityplace corp to get finished? Without that I don't think it would have been finished out. Some developers or association in that neighborhood will have to provide some monetary assistance for DART to finish out the station.

[bloodandpopcorn]

Isn't there that new retail/office development with the uber-sucessful phase 1 going into a bigger phase 2? Perhaps some large tenant there will grow desperate for a subway station...

Personally, I think that from about Knox down, excepting downtown, trolleys should be extended and fill out the area. DART should be a way to get to uptown/knox-henderson, but moving around should be confined to trolely and foot traffic. So I think getting a trolley to Knox-Henderson should be much higher priority than getting light rail there. And it wouldn't be difficult, either -- just continue right down, and you'll hit the center of it all. I hope after the West End and Main street expansion they go for that.

Eventually, though, it would be nice to have a subway station there... have Cityplace and Knox be two streetcar hubs... And downtown should evenutally be very well subway-ed out, with street cars just in a loop from arts district to west end to main street.

[aceplace]

The tracks at the corner of Blackburn and McKinney already have a turnout going north to Knox-Henderson, so there may be an expectation that the streetcar will continue north to Knox street.

I'd think that a subway station at Knox is inevitable... especially when DFW has 9 million people at about 2030... as the reality of these numbers begin to sink in, we may have a floodgate of money for transit. And yes, the station probably would be in conjunction with a large development at the site.

If and when the West Village development (and maybe Victory) really catches people's imaginations, I'd think that a few hundred million for a similar development at Knox and Central would be viable and pretty darn intriguing...

To continue the discussion about where downtown Dallas really is located, I'll suggest that North Central is Dallas' new Main Street.

[psukhu]

Will anything new break ground in 2003 in the West Village?

What's the plan for the big field at Lemmon and the Katy Trail?

[rantanamo]

The ZOM project breaks ground this summer. Also, one of the articles posted here said the West Village was ready for phase II. Wouldn't be surprised if that broke ground in the late summer or early fall.

Maybe that's the Drexel Highland Field. That would be a cool spot for it. Ok, I'm just wishing.

[JaeTex]

1) I hope anything at Katy and Lemmon is Katy friendly or Katy centric, and doesn't cut off public access to the Katy at Lemmon. That site has tremendous potential with its proximity to WV and Katy.

2) I think it would be difficult for anyone at Knox to kick in the $$$ for a station there. The development there is way more small scale than Mockingbird or City Place. The new development there is good- kind of a cross between the pedestrian friendly nature of Knox and the necessity of car access demanded by location next to Central. There will probably be plans for more development around there, maybe an extension of the new development but I think it will also be more small scale stuff and/or City Homes. Again it will be great, but not big enough to pay for a station, and can you imagine trying to get all the people around there that would benefit to contribute for a new station? Most on the Henderson side (which I think is where the station would be???) are really small. The best bet is to wait for the good times to roll again and for City of Dallas to finance a station. Why not a Knox-Henderson Rail Station TIF? The City could set it up and incremental rises in property taxes at commercial and residential propert could finance until the thing is paid off. No idea what the numbers are so it might not work, but for once a TIF would not be implemented to increase some developers return on investment.

[mdunlap1]

Any updates on the West Village project? Anything breaking ground yet or in the near future? I haven't gotten back to Dallas in over a year, so I haven't gotten to see the completed West Village. The new picture at this site looks pretty cool.

[CTroyMathis]

Thought I'd go ahead and throw in their photos and renderings for those who forget to go and look at links...!

This is just too good to miss.

http://www.westvil.com/images/frontpic2.jpg (http://www.westvil.com/home.html)

http://www.westvil.com/images/render2.jpg (http://www.westvil.com/home.html)

http://www.westvil.com/images/plan2.jpg (http://www.westvil.com/home.html)

[bloodandpopcorn]

That tall glass-looking structuer where the ground entrance to Cityplyace Station -- is that just a re-doing of the entrance that is planned? It's very beautiful, and will make the station a definite landmark in the middle of all that development. Does anyone have any specific information on that?

[jsoto3]

i remember a few years ago there was a design competition announced, i think by the dallas young architects forum, for the subway entrance and trolley turnaround. it was required to include a landmark tower visible from central, even allowed to cantilever over it. i haven't heard anythinig about it since. this (http://www.deathbyarch.com/html/transitional_fusion_competitio.html) is all i could find on a websearch so far.

[jsoto3]

i just came across this competition entry for the new subway entrance/trolley-turnaround, apparently to be called 'unity plaza,' by laguarda low architects (http://www.laguardalow.com/) of dallas. i have no idea who won the competition or if a winning entry will infact be built. i think i might email these guys and get the scoop.

[gc]

those are sweet.

[boozo]

Did you see their Deep Ellum redevelopment?

What is up with that?

Is that an actual project? Great renderings.

[gc]

great question and who knows!

[CTroyMathis]

Wow, good find on the design comp. renderings jsoto!

Good link, I'm off to go look through the site now...

[CTroyMathis]

As an aside, here's those Deep Ellum renderings: