I decided to post the information on the Skillman/Audelia/Whitehurst/Adleta/ LBJ intersection in the freeway section. TX Dot wants to build another stack!!!! A 3 Level Interchange!!!Originally Posted by LakeHighlands
Wow, there really is a lot going on. I always thought that driving range thingie would become homes eventually.
I decided to post the information on the Skillman/Audelia/Whitehurst/Adleta/ LBJ intersection in the freeway section. TX Dot wants to build another stack!!!! A 3 Level Interchange!!!
Last edited by LakeHighlands; 10 December 2004 at 01:05 AM.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
Operation “Kitchen Sink”
For those select few people who chose to stay ignorant to the fact that the apartments in NE Dallas have some serious crime problems. (I won’t mention any names but there are a few people on here).
Here is an article by the DMN. In addition to this article over the last few weeks all of the new stationswith Fox 4 being the first has reported on the crime at the multi family apartment complexes in the area. Considering all the media outlets in Dallas has reported on the crime in the apartments in the area, it is not just a problem that homeowners and the LHAIA see.
Link to Ch 8 video is http://www.wfaa.com/perl/common/vide...hensink_am.wmv
Police operation aims to take bite out of NE Dallas dealing
At least 5 recent deaths at complexes linked to drug activity, police say
01:32 AM CST on Monday, December 13, 2004
By HOLLY YAN / The Dallas Morning News
About 100 Dallas police officers will descend this morning on a crime-ridden set of apartment complexes in northeast Dallas where drug activity might have played a role in several recent killings.
At least five people have been killed and five others injured in shootings over the last two months at the Autumn Ridge, Providence Apartment and Bent Creek complexes.
Dallas police Deputy Chief David Brown, who supervises the Northeast Patrol Division, described today's operation as "order maintenance." He said the emphasis would focus on more than simply making drug arrests, but also on helping law-abiding residents improve their surroundings.
"We'll be talking to citizens, following up on crimes and creating a dialogue about crime watch participation," Chief Brown said.
He said police would also serve a number of arrest warrants, but he declined to publicly specify how many or what type.
For the last week, undercover narcotics agents have been making deals in and near the apartment complexes. On the first day of the undercover sting, 11 arrests were made.
Police believe eradicating drug activity – and keeping it out – is the most critical step in cutting down on all violent crimes in these apartments.
"We have to become intolerant to open-air drug sales in multifamily complexes," Chief Brown said. "That's the biggest problem: drug sales, and the violence that goes along with it."
Residents at the Autumn Ridge and Providence Apartment complexes said they are bewildered by what has happened to their communities recently.
"It was quiet here until the past six months," said Calista Mutasa, who has lived at Providence for two years.
Mrs. Mutasa said she suspects some of the young men who mill about her complex are drug dealers or gang members.
"I'm very worried about my children," said Mrs. Mutasa, a mother of two who no longer goes out alone late at night.
That fear helped inspire this operation, designed to help residents "take back" their communities and be more self-sufficient in preventing crime.
Over the next month, as many as 75 officers will be stationed at the apartment complexes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Police hope that after those 30 days, residents will have established crime-watch groups in each of the complexes, with the help of existing crime-watch groups from single-family neighborhoods.
But ultimately, it's up to tenants to help police fight crime.
"When a drug comes into the complex, we want them to call us," Chief Brown said. "We don't want to wait until there's a murder. We want you to call when someone moves in next door looking suspicious that you think might think about selling drugs.
"We're not leaving until the last drug dealer is gone. That's our goal."
E-mail hyan@dallasnews.com
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
The LHAIA did meet with Deputy Chief Brown at the Northeast Police Station today to talk about the crime at the apartment complexes. Like I said before, this area is putting intense pressure on problematic complexes and will not tolerate any criminal elements. Ch 11 and Univision (Spanish Channel) was there but none of us speak Spanish.
I was very surprised by this; Deputy Chief Brown said that RISD schools in LH do not use Dallas PD cops but Richardson Police!! He said there is not much communication between Richardson PD and Dallas PD. What I want to know is how does one city (Dallas) have another city school system operate within it boundaries and not know what is going on in the schools?
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
I think you're wrong in the assessment that people here think there isn't serious crime there. What many are saying here, is that in all likelihood the vast overwhelming majority of people in these complexes are law abiding citizens. By losing their homes they will be punished along with those committing the crime. That has nothing to do with believing whether there is lots of crime there. Lots of people are simply going to be displaced.
I notice the media have been using "NE Dallas" instead of LH. I imagine most LHers do not consider themselves any part of East Dallas - except for some who want to claim our historic mansions in their statistics...
Do you think that is a coincidence? We want the media to use “NE Dallas”. The last thing the area wants is Lake Highlands to be synonymous with Apartment Crime. We want the apartment names to be shown on the news to show people where not to live and to put pressure on the “bad” property owners. “NE Dallas” sounds a lot better and the apartments are in heavy concentrations in small parts of Lake Highlands. The apartments only take up 20% of the land in Lake Highlands; the other 80% is homes and businesses. The apartments are also concentrated in the Northern part of LH especially around Skillman. There are almost no apartments in the old part of Lake Highlands. The few people who chose to break the law, commit heinous crimes, and destroy everything this community has spent decades to build, should not be seen as representative of Lake Highlands. About 20% of the apartment’s communities are causing 80% of the problem among apartments.
As far as crime statistics goes, most of Lakewood and all of Lake Highlands is part of the Northeast Dallas Police Division. See MAP!
I’ll be honest here!!! For years if not a lot longer the majority of Lake Highlands ignored the apartments. We drove by them on a daily basics paid them no attention. We did not try to reach out to the apartment community. Yeah, the apartments were in Lake Highlands, but did the Homeowners embrace them or even consider them to be part of Lake Highlands, or the community? No. We went about our daily lives not really knowing or caring what went on in the apartment community.(Always cared about crime, talking about other issues) The apartment kids went to school with our kids, yet how many homeowners would let apartments kids over to their homes. Had we as a community done more for the apartments in the 1990s, maybe things would not have gotten to this situation.
We are doing a lot now! It is a lot more work than if we started 10 years ago, but it is never to late to fixed the problems of the past.
We realize to truly make Lake Highlands a better place we must reach out to the apartment communities. The LHAIA started a team last year call ART (Apartment Relationship Team). We are building bridges between homeowners and the apartment community. The apartments are here in LH, kids go to the same schools, and people shop in the same stores as us. The area is happy to embrace good apartment tenants that want a better life, but will no longer tolerate the people and the land lords that allow blatant criminal activity in their apartments.
We meet with property manager, find out their concerns, and since we are a very large and influential organization, we have the ability to do things to help the apartments. There still is a long way to go and still to this day many homeowners have an impression of the apartments being a lot worst that they really are. We are doing something.
Photo 1
Dallas Police Divisions
Photo 2
Map with all of the Apartments, Condos in Lake Highlands. The map is copyrighted.
Last edited by LakeHighlands; 15 December 2004 at 01:54 AM.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
^We love ya man. Some of us just like to give a hard time. What's going on in LH will be good for Dallas. Don't ever doubt that we think that.
It would be nice if the Dallas Morning News and the TV news outlets employed a few people who actually know the difference between Oak Cliff/South Dallas, Old East Dallas/Far East Dallas, Lake Highlands/NE Dallas, etc. They can't seem to get anything right these days. I've seen some things reported as being in neighborhoods many miles from where they really happened.
Good old fashioned walking through the hoods can help the distinctions become clearer.
This is what City Councilman Bill Blyades (Represents District 10/Lake Highlands) wrote in the December Issue of the “Lake Highlands Advocate.” (Local Magazine)
PROGRESS AHEAD
More positive changes in store for our neighborhood
December 2004
By City Councilman Bill Blaydes/ Lake Highlands Advocate
I cannot believe that another Christmas is upon us. This year has flown by like no other I have experienced in my life. I even received a new grandson in the process. Sara and I have been blessed to be your Representatives and have felt your support in all our endeavors on behalf of District 10. We certainly wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year from the Blaydes clan.
This year has brought some changes to our community that I believe are going to be positive influences in the coming years. The opening of the Children’s Theater on Skillman, the Skillman Home Depot, the Lowe’s on Northwest Highway, the Highland Café and Michelle’s restaurant on Audelia, and the new and wonderful additions to the High School are but a few of our advances.
The promises of things to come are also kind of fun. I want to express my thanks to all of the LHAIA for taking on many tasks, including renewing the LH “can do” spirit and exposing problems not even considered, from taking on our dead retail to truly contacting the people and the companies that can, and will, make a difference in our quality of life. You folks are truly good neighbors. The Town Center development is now more than a dream. This next year will be a time of positive growth and excitement in that arena as well.
Again, from each of us to all of you, have a safe and glorious holiday season. And thank you for allowing me to represent you downtown.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
Project # 11
Office Condos Planned at Greenville and Royal
Resident: ‘It is the best we could’ve hoped for’
December 17,2004
By Paige Phelps/ Lake Highlands People
The lot on the corner where kids once played and pecans scattered across the grass is dimming from Bill Hendrix’s memory.
The land on the north east corner of Greenville Avenue and Royal Lane will be overrun with buildings soon, falling to the same fate as so many other lots since Lake Highlands’ quieter, less- developed days.
Shea Commercial, a Phoenix-based company bought the land recently and plans to develop a series of professional office condos on the site. Construction is under way and is scheduled for completion by mid-April.
Neighbors and home owners’ associations had claimed uncommon owner ship of the site, which includes a quiet patch away from the street. With Mr. Hendrix among them, they had fought, and won, against prior development plans for that space.
Development itself wasn’t the residents’ complaint. Surely such a high- traffic intersection would eventually fall prey to commercialism. But it would take the right deal to get the neighborhood’s blessing, even if an aspiring company won permission to build.
Mr. Hendrix says the planned development meets the appropriate zoning requirements and should be an asset to the location, even if it means giving up some of his beloved pecan trees.
“(The lot) has such a neat history. It’s such a beautiful property,” he said. “There has been a battle to change the zoning for 25 years. It’s been a long, interesting development.”
The land is zoned commercial/neighborhood, a compromise with the city that put both developers and neighbors at ease.
Peter Meyer, a principal with Shea Commercial, explained that the zoning designation calls for restrictions that will make the buildings more neighborhood-friendly.
“It is designed to have buildings that are ‘maxed’ at a certain height, and calls for more subdued designs in order to blend into a neighborhood,” he said. “It creates a gentle buffer between the streets and any residential area.”
Mr. Meyer said Shea Commercial became interested in the property a little more than a year ago. The firm’s plans call for office condos for professionals such as doctors and lawyers. Tenants will buy space in the building, not just rent it from a landlord.
Mr. Hendrix said neighborhood concerns revolved around proposed all-hour businesses and home- builders who would over run the 6.5-acre space.
“This part of Greenville, people tried to develop it in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. They wanted two 20-story buildings where the Episcopal Church [The Church of the Transfiguration] and the fire department are now.”
Mr. Hendrix rehashed the fight he and other members of the Moss Farm Home Owners Association dealt with years ago, when developers wanted to put a 24- hour Walgreens on the property. He also explained that through the years several homebuilders wanted to develop the land.
“Every one of them want ed eight or 10 town homes or condos per acre, and that would have taken out all the trees,” something Mr. Hendrix said the neighbor hood definitely didn’t want.
The surrounding residents are more concerned about the bulldozing of the lot’s mature trees, not the future occupants or the price per square foot.
“Even though it looks like all the trees are gone, the center was always a big open area to begin with, always vacant of trees,” said Mr. Hendrix. “They’ve torn down the trees all along the street and moved back the tree line. I sympathize with people [this issue]. I wish they could’ve left the pecan trees alone.”
Mr. Meyer said the neighborhood’s reaction has been surprisingly supportive as a whole.
“A couple of them have been disappointed that trees were torn down, but unfortunately you have to tear down trees to build buildings. But we’re replanting a whole bunch of trees and we’ve kept as many as possible. For every inch of trees you tear down, you must replant or face large fines [the city]. This lot is six-and-a-half acres. There’s plenty of room to replant. There are a ton of trees going back on the site.”
Mr. Hendrix, among others, sees the plans as a positive, compared to what might have occupied that space otherwise.
“It would’ve been nice to have left it the way it was,” Mr. Hendrix said. “But in my opinion, it is the best we could have hoped for, being realistic.”
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
Office condos. Very, very suburban. We have a few in Richardson, they're bad news.
I always thought that land had some huge mansion hidden back in the trees. Maybe someone named Lemony Snicket lived there.
That's areas already very suburban so it wouldn't be much different.
...
Last edited by LakeHighlands; 03 January 2005 at 04:33 PM.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
Dallas Looks to Blaze New Trails
Group seeks $3.9M to connect paths for hikers and bikers
December 24, 2004
By Stacey Yervasi and Scott Farrell/ Lake Highlands People
The paths are named for some of Dallas’ best-known areas. Hiking and biking enthusiasts don’t need a map to find their way to Cottonwood Creek, White Rock Creek, or the Katy and Turtle Creek trails.
Each presents a different look and feel. What they lack are connections between them, links that could join the farthest reaches of North Dallas to the central sectors around downtown and Fair Park.
Lake Highlands sits at the crossroads of an ambitious plan by a group called Make Ends Meet that will connect the popular White Rock Creek Trail to neigh boring Cottonwood Creek Trail to the north. Further expansion to the south, along what will be called the East Dallas Veloway, will connect it to the Katy Trail and grant access to the northern portions of downtown Dallas.
By 2006 there could be a three-mile trail connecting White Rock Creek Trail to Fair Park.
“What we’re trying to do is create a citywide net work, a ‘veloweb,” Mr. Heilman said. “There will be citywide trails that connect so people can access trails without getting on the road. We see them as interstate highways for non-motorized transportation.”
Public funds will cover most, but not all, of the project’s costs. Thus far the city has been supportive, in par ticular former city council woman Mary Poss and city council members Gary Griffith and Veletta Forsythe Lill. But a $3.9 million short fall for the 1.5-mile connection to Cottonwood Creek will have to come from out side sources.
Make Ends Meet hopes to benefit from partnerships with private groups and corporate sponsors to supplement the government money. Texas Instruments has already donated staff time and funds to the project. TI asked Mrs. Poss to coordinate the fund-raising effort.
Michael Hellmann, senior park planner with the city of Dallas, said multi-use trails were the No. 1 need cited by residents in a survey used to prepare the Park and Recreation Department’s Renaissance Master Development Plan. Mr. Hellmann said trails have become a priority for the city.
The project will be a calaborative effort between the city’s park and transportation departments. Feasibility was determined on the transportation side, and the departments are negotiating design.
“Within five years I think we’ll be able to roller skate, bike, and walk — although it would be quite a hike — from north of the George Bush Turnpike all the way to Fair Park, or to the American Airlines Center” said P.M. Summer, city transportation alternatives coordinator, explaining the breadth of the city’s intentions.
Make Ends Meet is focused on helping fund the northern end of those plans. To connect the White Rock and Cottonwood trails, the proposed connections stem from both ends of the existing Hamilton Park bike trail just east of Central Expressway between Forest Lane and the LBJ Freeway. The trails will have easy access to the LBJ/Central, Forest Lane, and White Rock DART rail stops.
Connections to the LBJ overpass to the north, and to the White Rock Creek Trail to the south, have yet to be funded. The southern connector through Lake Highlands will cost $1.4 mil lion on its own. Mr. Hellman said one mile of trail costs about $1 million to build.
Make Ends Meet initiated a customized-brick sponsor ship program in which individuals or groups can pay to have their name inscribed on the brick borders that will complement the new trail sections.
Once the trails have been completed, the Parks and Recreation Department will take over operation and maintenance of the newly constructed areas.
Funding continues to be an obstacle to finishing the East Dallas Veloway, a string of four separate trails each with neighborhood-specific names including Santa Fe, Tenison, Calhoun, and Vickery. Two of the trails enter the design phase this winter, with construction to last between six and 18 months. The Tenison Trail, the third to be built, will run underneath East Grand, over Garland Road, over Winsted, and then tie into the White Rock Lake Trail.
“We’ve been planning those for about the last 10 years,” Mr. Summer said.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
Now that I think about it, all the train stations in Lake Highlands will be in the vicinity of the trail system. In addition to the trail that will be built in the western part of LH, there will be a trail running along Jackson Branch Creek east of Skillman that will go right through the Lake Highlands Town Center and up to the New Lake Highlands Trail by the high school and up towards the Skillman/LBJ Station via the pedestrian bridge over 635.
White Rock Station --- White Rock Trail
Forest Lane Station --- Hamilton Park Trail
LBJ/Central Station --- Hamilton Park Trail
Lake Highlands Town Center Station (Skillman/ Walnut Hill) --- New trail along Jackson Branch
Skillman/LBJ Station --- New trail from Jackson Branch
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
A trail right under the High Five. That will be rather intresting. Its good though there connecting them to the rail stations.
"And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."-"Farewell to Penn Station," New York Times Editorial, October 30, 1963
I was just informed this entire development has died. It was just too complicated and people involved back out. Sorry to hear this. It would have been good for the area. Anyone else hear this?
Holy cow...are you serious? LakeHighlands....any input here?
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Whoah...rail station access was kinda weird, but how was this complicated? Sorry about this LH.
"And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."-"Farewell to Penn Station," New York Times Editorial, October 30, 1963
By "complicated" I read too expensive, too many parties, too many moving parts, etc.
doh
^ Yep...there goes the neighborhood...eh?
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Yes it is in life support right now, I am in discussions right now, I will let you guys know later on today on the final outcome. DMN is also being informed. But is only one of several projects. Others have already started; grated nothing is as unique as this one. I did warn them before they even started on this project that it would be very expensive. Look at my earlier post!! I will give all the details later tonight once everything is settled.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
I am not ready to say that this project is dead, but there are some huge set backs.
1) Developer says there are some environmental concerns and they want more money from the city of Dallas.
2) Fannie Mae contract on the 2 properties expired this week.
There is A LOT going on here and there will be some massive changes to take place because of the way the project is being handle.
I will explain as soon as I get some time. There will be “hell” to pay for some entities in LH once the dust has finally settled. I have a horrible headache right now, because of this, C.C. young, and whole bunch of other projects going on, not to mention the troops are mobilizing and the massive offensive is being planned. LH is about to do something that has never been done in DFW on such a large scale. There are going to be entities out there that wished they never step foot in LH when this is over.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
You got that right except it is about to mobilize a lot of people. If you only knew they are about to do!!!!
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
^ Uhhh I was kidding though. I somehow get the feeling that you are not and we are about to see a race riot...
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
I want to make it clear that this has nothing to do with race, or social class. I will explain ASAP. If the town center does fail one company in particular is going to pay dearly. (Not talking about the developers or the architect.) One of the U.S. Senators for the State of Texas has already been contacted.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
I'll loan you guys my crystal ball next time.
A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something. - Plato
^ Good call Mbala. You read between the lines. We did not. We could use yor forutne telling ability in other areas around Dallas.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
dude, sweetI'll loan you guys my crystal ball next time.
Hopefully, we're only following the natural evolution of a project like this. Delays are bound to happen, theis may just be a really big delay?!?! It sounds like all the drama LakeHighlands et. al. are experiencing right now will end up setting the bar higher for large, impactful developments planned to reshape an entire neighborhood.
A small little story today in the Dallas Morning News says that this project is dead. It's on page 3 of the business section.
DAGNABBIT!
Aww. 335 posts wasted on nothing. Reminds me of the 1,604 put on the New Dallas Cowboys Stadium thread. Things like this really speak volumes about Dallas' (the government, people, businesspeople, whatever) inability to land big projects, much less start them. It's just talk talk talk.
[ xvisionx.com 13 - my photo gallery + journal ] - be sure to check out my new interactive downtown dallas picture map.
^ Take it easy RED OAK...I am sure it was very complicated and expensive.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Was this really that big of a project to begin with?
"And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."-"Farewell to Penn Station," New York Times Editorial, October 30, 1963
In it's entirety...yes.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
cheap shot.
everything is complicated and expensive, unless it's going into to be built in Frisco.
In the past year:
<table border=1><tr><td><b>Project</b></td><td><b>Dallas</b></td><td><b>Frisco</b></td></tr><tr><td><b>Stadium:</b></td><td>no</td><td>yes</td></tr><tr><td><b>Convention Center Hotel:</b></td><td>on hold</td><td>yes</td></tr><tr><td><b>Town Center:</td><td>no (LH)</td><td>yes</td></tr></table>
This is a very small sampling of projects.. but still. You'd think a megacity like Dallas could get these things done.
[ xvisionx.com 13 - my photo gallery + journal ] - be sure to check out my new interactive downtown dallas picture map.
And you think we didn’t have a plan B!?
Actually the LHAIA found out before most people because Fannie Mae told us that that the 2 properties were no longer under contract. We knew days before everyone else found out. We first thought it was a mistake, but the phone calls were made and then everyone found out. The reason Fannie Mae told us is that we are in the process of securing 4 other properties from Fannie Mae for another development in Lake Highlands.
Bill Blaydes is working diligently on fixing this. There will be something built at that location.
There is a lot going on and a lot more to issues involved than the public really know.
There will be a lot of positive changes because of how far the plans for Trademark Town center went. I will explain the changes, but the way apartment complexes in LH changes hands will drastically change.
Remember this is only one project, and there are many more in which construction has already started. Most are homes and people are very happy with single family homes being built.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
drummy, i was kidding. I see your point, but you need to compare apples to apples here.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
It's a softspot of mine.
[ xvisionx.com 13 - my photo gallery + journal ] - be sure to check out my new interactive downtown dallas picture map.
That's the LH copycats with pitchforks and torches on a rampage..
Urban center plans hit a snag
Developer won't buy property for retail, residential complex
03:57 PM CST on Saturday, January 8, 2005
By WENDY HUNDLEY / The Dallas Morning News
Lake Highlanders are expressing hope that a setback in a plan to build an Uptown-style commercial and residential center won't lead to its demise.
Late last week, Dallas City Council member Bill Blaydes said the project was halted after Fort Worth-based Trademark Cos. decided not to purchase rental property on Skillman Street near Kingsley Road.
Plans called for demolishing three aging apartment complexes near that intersection to make way for the proposed urban center and a new DART light-rail station.
"The plan itself is very sound. A lot of work has gone into it," said Terri Woods, president of the Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association.
"I think it's going to happen," she said.
Mr. Blaydes indicated through an e-mail sent to homeowner associations that the cost of the land was the deal-breaker but said he was attempting to find another residential developer for the project.
The correspondence also said the city of Dallas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the North Central Texas Council of Governments are still on board.
Mr. Blaydes did not return phone calls seeking comment. However, in a prepared statement Friday, he said: "We are not dead yet. We have a three-week reprieve. We are trying to put the package back together again."
The "reprieve" apparently refers to an agreement with Fannie Mae, the biggest provider of money for the U.S. mortgage industry, to keep the properties off the open market while Mr. Blaydes tries to resurrect the project.
Doug Allen, DART's executive vice president for program development, said officials have been putting together some estimates and ideas for a station at the site.
"It's a neat location and a great opportunity," he said. "If this developer doesn't do something, we're hopeful somebody will do something there."
Mr. Allen said a station probably would not be built if the town center project falls through.
Last year, Mr. Blaydes announced plans for the transit-oriented development that would combine offices, stores, restaurants, loft apartments and townhouses on a 59-acre site.
He said it would create a much-needed downtown village for Lake Highlands.
Ms. Woods of the improvement group said such a center "would be wonderful for the community."
"These projects are much more complicated than anyone could ever believe. I respect Bill Blaydes for the amount of effort he's put into this. I think something positive will come of it."
E-mail whundley@dallasnews.com
or call 469-330-5641
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...ter.4e9ee.html
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
I have heard many things before but “Lake Highlanders”? What about “Dallasities”? “Lake Highlanders” does have a nice ring to it though.
Another thing, this article was in the Richardson Morning News, actually almost all of the Lake Highlands articles in the DMN are in the Richardson Morning News. Unless someone lives in Richardson or Lake Highlands, they never get to see these articles in the regular paper.
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
LH:
Keep us posted. This is my first post, but I have been reading your postings about Lake Highlands re-development with particular interest for quite some time. I have my broker working on a deal in the neighborhood right now and if all goes well, I'll be your newest neighbor.
Your enthusiasm for Lake Highlands has sold me on buying there.
It should be "Dallasites", pal c'mon.
Also, this is one of my beefs with the DMN. I hate how they dilute the content of the paper with all the editions. I personally think it would be a better paper if all the content were aggregated into one, but that is for another thread.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Welcome to the forum, Razorback! Where are you moving here from? You'll love it in LH.
And LH (the member), you should be proud
[ xvisionx.com 13 - my photo gallery + journal ] - be sure to check out my new interactive downtown dallas picture map.
Drum:
I've been in DFW for three years, originally from Arkansas (hence the moniker). In Little Rock I lived downtown in a renovated warehouse loft overlooking the river just up the boulevard from where the new Clinton Library opened recently.
In DFW I've lived in DTD (Manor House) and M Streets. I'm currently renting in Wylie (north of Garland, east of Plano) so that I can save up a little more before buying my first property in the city.
Thanks for the welcome. I've enjoyed reading the postings. Since I found this board I've been lurking constantly, and I've shown it to a few other people.
I may soon be a Lake Highlands copycat as well.
Dallas uber alles
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