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301 S. Harwood (right) & 1915 Wood (left):
1900 Jackson:
1815 Wood:
DTD: Lone Star Gas Lofts
Atmos Energy giving buildings to city
Donation could help redevelop long-ignored section of downtown
09:53 PM CST on Tuesday, February 8, 2005
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...own.a764f.html
Atmos Energy plans to donate at least two little-used downtown buildings to the city of Dallas, three officials confirmed Tuesday, creating the potential for new development in an increasingly blighted section of the city's center. The buildings are part of the former TXU Gas complex – Atmos bought TXU Gas last year – at the convergence of Harwood, Jackson and Wood streets, and range in height from seven to 13 stories. "It would enable critical mass in that area of downtown," one city official familiar with the deal said Tuesday. "We would pursue the best developer of that property. And certainly, the buildings need to be redeveloped, and we're not in the construction business."
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller declined to comment on the pending deal. Ms. Miller's official schedule indicates she met with Atmos officials Tuesday afternoon. She also scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m. today in City Hall to make an announcement regarding downtown redevelopment. "They're still studying options, and they hope to have a decision made soon," Atmos spokesman Ray Granado said before his company's meeting with Ms. Miller. He confirmed that Atmos and Dallas are discussing a change in ownership of the TXU Gas buildings. The buildings originally housed Lone Star Gas Co. and have been prized by developers for potential conversion into loft apartments. Alice Murray, president of the Central Dallas Association, said she knows of Ms. Miller's announcement but declined to comment further, saying that she is "sworn to confidentiality."
The four buildings that comprise the complex include:
• 301 S. Harwood St., built in 1930. The building contains 87,000 square feet of space, rises 13 stories and is valued on tax rolls at $1,064,290.
• 1900 Jackson St., built in 1979. The building contains 123,000 square feet, rises 12 stories and is valued on tax rolls at $2,315,480.
• 1915 Wood St., built in 1924. The building contains 66,000 square feet, rises 10 stories and is valued on tax rolls at $814,600.
• 1815 Wood St., built in 1966. The building contains 115,000 square feet, rises seven stories and is valued on tax rolls at $1,225,240.
City officials couldn't confirm whether Atmos plans to donate all of the buildings or only two of them. One city official who confirmed the deal recommended that the city thoroughly investigate the condition of the buildings before assuming ownership because they could contain asbestos. "I hope everything is aboveboard as to why they are offering them to the city," the official said. The former TXU Gas buildings are a couple of blocks from the vacant Mercantile complex, which Dallas officials have tried for years to redevelop, and the former Dallas Grand Hotel, which is also vacant. The National Park Service is reviewing an application by Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprise, the Mercantile complex's developer of record, which would allow it to demolish portions of the building while obtaining tax credits to redevelop the main tower.
Forest City has not formally committed to turning the Mercantile complex into residential units and retail, as Dallas officials hope it will. One city official suggested that the city might ask Forest City officials to redevelop the former TXU Gas complex once the city owns it, in exchange for a firm commitment to redevelop the Mercantile complex. Forest City officials could not be reached for comment. "It's being considered," the city official said. "It may or may not end up being them."
Staff writer Steve Brown contributed to this report.
E-mail dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
Quick Reference:
MAP
301 S. Harwood (right) & 1915 Wood (left):
1900 Jackson:
1815 Wood:
Last edited by drumguy8800; 08 February 2005 at 11:59 PM.
[ xvisionx.com 13 - my photo gallery + journal ] - be sure to check out my new interactive downtown dallas picture map.
This could be huge.
Nice! They all look like decent buildings. I like the ones in the first pic.
Dallas uber alles
^ Thanks for the pics drummy. Wow, this really could be huge for that area.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
The first two are great, with wonderful architectural detail. I really like the third one with it's glass lobby and all of the trees (if it's the one I'm thinking of). It would be nice to see some development in that part of downtown. I do wonder though why they would just donate these buildings. Maybe it's a tax write off so that they can combine and build a new great tower! Or maybe that's only in my dreams!
( And, then they could build the Atmos-phere Tower.)
It could be even bigger than this. The city is going to offer to give these buildings to Forest City if they in turn agree to redo the Merc, the old Hilton and another building they have under contract downtown. It would mean that whole area of town would be redone over the next five years or so.
So basically this deal is going nowhere.The city is going to offer to give these buildings to Forest City if they in turn agree to redo the Merc
Dallas uber alles
The only time I've paid a gas bill was in the early '90s, and at the time my payments were often on the wrong side of timely. In those days, oh so long ago nowOriginally Posted by crescentboi
Doesn't the building have an historic designation of some sort by now?
Also worth noting: I've got a subway stop planned for the area.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals... Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. - B. Obama 1/20/09
Well that would be nice. I know Forest City has a good reputation and they would be a natural fit for such a large redevelopment effort. Let us know more if you get a chance clipper. thanks.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
That should help to convince htem to redo, i'd think... these buildings would go into profit pretty quickly, i'd assume, if they dont have to pay to puchase them. man, if all of their redo happens including this, we'll have an amazingly residential downtown.
Look at what these people have to say.. LOL
http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/bi...gi?survey=2589
Press veiw results... LOL
Walmart
Homeless shelter...
The First Two... AHHHHH
Atmos donation heralded as catalyst
09:57 PM CST on Wednesday, February 9, 2005
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
They're four noble structures peering out at empty lots and vacant buildings – sad specters of a bygone era when downtown Dallas' southeast section bustled with business.
Within years, however, the former TXU Gas complex ringed by Jackson, Harwood, St. Paul and Wood streets will become a catalyst to urban renaissance, transformed from sparely occupied office towers into classy residential units housing hundreds of downtown dwellers, city officials envision. The rebirth of the immediate neighborhood will come next, they suggest.
"Once you get rooftops, retail follows," City Council member Veletta Forsythe Lill said Wednesday. "We'll return to the time when you saw new construction everywhere downtown."
Ms. Lill and some of her council colleagues also predicted that the city would now progress more rapidly on redeveloping such blighted structures as the former Dallas Grand Hotel, which sits empty across the street, and the long-vacant Mercantile Bank complex two blocks away.
Such optimism comes after Atmos Energy's formal decision Wednesday to donate the complex to the city. Dallas-based Atmos bought TXU Gas last year, assuming control of the TXU Gas complex as a result.
<!-- Refer begins here -->Tell Us What types of development would you like to see in the buildings?
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<!-- Refer ends here -->Although Atmos initially had sought to sell the buildings, Mayor Laura Miller in recent days persuaded company officials to reconsider during a series of meetings and conference calls, they said.
The company's decision to hand over the complex free of charge is evidence of its commitment to Dallas' goal of creating a vibrant city center filled with more than 10,000 permanent residents, said Robert Best, Atmos' president and chief executive officer.
"The mayor asked nothing of us; we asked nothing of the mayor," Mr. Best said. "It's the right thing to do. There was really no other motive. We have no other goal than just to help the city. We believe that civic involvement is a responsibility."
Atmos also plans to give to the city about 3,800 square feet of land, along with a storage structure and a parking lot located one block south of the complex. In all, Dallas will control more than 401,000 square feet of space valued at slightly less than $6 million, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District.
The deal should be completed by early summer, Ms. Miller said. The city then plans to find a suitable developer to turn the complex into apartments or condominiums.
"Atmos Energy is really and truly our new hometown hero," Ms. Miller said. "For them to do this is unprecedented and extraordinary."
It's also timely, as Dallas is in the midst of an aggressive campaign to revitalize downtown.
Success so far is mixed: Although developers have renovated or are renovating more than a dozen former office buildings into residential dwellings, only a trickle of retail businesses have followed.
A plan to create three downtown parks is stalled, its funding in limbo. And city officials and downtown business interests are still undecided as to whether the city itself or a group or a semi-autonomous "local government corporation" made up of commercial leaders will guide further redevelopment efforts.
Some nearby business owners also worry that many of the city's homeless people will continue to frequent the neighborhood surrounding the buildings.
"They're urinated on; they're defecated on," said Jack Harper, who runs the Harper House printing and imaging business several blocks away.
Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans said he is preparing a wide-ranging briefing for the council that addresses these and other downtown issues. He's scheduled to present it March 2.
In the meantime, the city knows of three developers "seriously interested" in converting the TXU Gas complex into residential buildings, Ms. Miller said. She confirmed that one of the three is Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, the developer of record for the nearby Mercantile Bank complex.
Dallas-based developer Ted Hamilton said the two oldest, Art Deco-style buildings in the complex – one at 301 S. Harwood St., built in 1930, and the other at 1915 Wood St., built in 1924 – will immediately attract attention from apartment builders.
"Those buildings are very well suited to be converted to residential," said Mr. Hamilton, who remodeled downtown's historic Davis Building into loft apartments and is now working on the Dallas Power & Light Building.
"They have fantastic lobbies and lots of great architectural features," he said.
The complex's two other buildings are a 12-story structure at 1900 Jackson St., built in 1979, and a seven-story structure at 1815 Wood St. built in 1966.
If there is a downside to Wednesday's announcement, it was word that Atmos is shipping jobs to the city's fringes.
The company plans to move the almost 275 workers in the former TXU Gas buildings to its offices on Interstate 635 in North Dallas. The company now has about 220 employees in the Lincoln Centre building at the Dallas North Tollway and I-635 and has rented extra office space to house the people moving from downtown.
The workers will be relocated starting in May, Atmos spokesman Gerald Hunter said.
Staff writer Steve Brown contributed to this report.
E-mail dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
I hope they were joking
Dallas uber alles
H-o-u-s-i-n-g
If you think it's credible that here we have an energy company that isn't exploitative, then what's your problem believing the rest?
And furthermore, why am I not majoring in a field that can interview with such a company?
I had never seen the 1924 and 1930 buildings before, and my heart went pitter-pat. The only way those turn out anything less than mouth-wateringly wonderful is if... you guessed it; it was lurking in the backs of all of our minds... the city picks Maharishi to redevelop them.
Or perhaps the Maharishi actually lives in one, Jehovah's Witenesses take another, Mormon's the third, with the last being apportioned to the long awaited "Master's Healing Center". Just jesting ... I certainly hope they don't go a religious or charitable route.
Actually, I like ALL these buildings and hope they enlarge and diversify the housing stock downtown. Great locations. Getting quite a few residential possibilities sprinkling either side of the Main Street area. I like this a lot. And fingers are crossed. And wondering what the catch it. Nothing's ever really free. Will be staying tuned for next weeks episode.
I hope if Forest City does develop the buildings, that they go ahead and start on them instead of hoping/waiting for the Mercantile deal to work out (because we all know the history of that project). If the Atmos buildings won't be developed until the Mercantile deal is done, then I don't hold out much hope for them.If you think it's credible that here we have an energy company that isn't exploitative, then what's your problem believing the rest?
Dallas uber alles
I don't see why any developer would want to wait. These buildings are just too juicy to wait for the Merc.
This part seems to be getting lost in the discussion. A vibrant downtown needs the full spectrum of activity: residential, retail, government entertainment and employment. Here is another regional office that should be proud to base its operations in the heart of downtown, and is instead moving out to the tollway. Was there no suitable office space downtown that could house the city's gas company?
Well, at least they're staying in the city limits.......
The suburbs sprung up virtually overnight, and for 50 years the travel pattern has been from the suburbs to the core in the morning and back at night. Why not turn the whole thing on its head?
What if we're seeing the start of a new urban dystopia: the major employers have sprawling suburban campuses, and their employees generally live in the downtown core? The choice employers would be the ones that located close to the new suburban rail lines, especially as the highway system fails to deal with the change in traffic patterns.
(By the way, there is no "Gas Company". It's just a Holding Company. Just like there's no Southwestern Bell, just a holding company whose only real connection to Southwestern Bell Company is its vestigal name, "SBC Corporation". Don't get me started on how corporatism is destroying the free enterprise system more surely than anything the Communists of the '50s threw at it. But I digress (again)...)
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals... Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. - B. Obama 1/20/09
We're already there...with slightly different destinations. Through the 80's we had the traffic pattern you point out with traffic moving into the city center in the mornings, and out to the burbs in the afternoon. In the late 80's and 90's we had a gradual switch. Now the major employment centers are along the 635 from Irving to N. Dallas and out the tollway and the 75. As any Dallas commuter will tell you, the southbound lanes on I-35E and US 75 are worse south of I-635 in the afternoon as people are making their way home towards Old N. Dallas, Lakewood and Oak Cliff. The northbound lanes flow relatively free, with exceptions for accidents and construction (hello, high five). The suburbs are already the major employment centers, not downtown.
Hence why the mixmaster is such a current disaster since it was built with the idea that downtown was the major destination and/or starting point of a journey, and now it is just a cluster of expressways we must pass through, to get somewhere else.
^So true.... getting into the city South on Central at 5pm is a biatch.
I'm all for a reversal of trend. I'm tired of traffic jams just going one direction in the morning, and the other way at dusk. As soon as a few more "power-types" realize they'd rather live and work in the same neighborhood, new construction will begin on offices again. And in spite of the ingrained auto-mentality, more and more people will start leaving their cars and using their feet. These buildings have simply outlived their usefulness as "Class A"( or worse), office space. I would much rather they become homes than parking lots. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they aren't laden with asbestos or nuclear waste materials, and haunted by the ghosts of employees who died from breathing "sick air". Actually, the ghosts might be a selling point.
Back to the original topic... I can see many reasons why this is a win for Atmos.
1) They want to move their employees to modern facilities North Dallas.
2) They don't want to be responsible for a bunch of empty buildings in an underutilized part of downtown.
3) Owning a building that has (or qualifies for) historic status means you can't paint the wall without going to the Horseshoe for a permit.
4) The tax write-off will be at least the DCAD appraisal amount -- and possibly more, if their accountants are creative and can show that the property's real "value" is much higher because of its development potential.
5) Public relations. Who here had ever heard of Atmos before? What the heck is an Atmos, anyway?
6) Shareholder relations. A publically-traded company is responsible to its shareholders and nobody else. This is good for the bottom line, *and* it makes for pretty pictures in the annual report.
7) City relations. I don't know too much about Atmos' operations, but if they still own pipes and distribution facilities, they want to be on the good side of the city that the pipes run underneath.
8) One word: Asbestos
I'm sure others with more experience can round this list out to an even 10, but I'm bushed. I missed my siesta.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals... Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. - B. Obama 1/20/09
To your point Robert B, it was interesting that the very day all this publicity is on the news, my gas bill shows up saying "Atmos" as the return address instead of "TXU Gas." Very interesting timing.
I still wish they could have piled all of their offices into that 1979 building though.... it doesnt seem like there would be as much work needed on that one for offices. C'est la vie. The focus now should be making that part of downtown come alive again with whatever uses can be profitable. There's a lot of good news with this announcement.
....and in a few years Atmos will be kicking themselves for leaving what will have become the most vibrant area of the city.....downtown.
Office space along LBJ is probably as cheap as it will ever be, also. Agreed, at least its in Dallas.
Art Deco fans will enjoy this video:
2005-02-10
The revitalization of downtown Dallas got a huge boost Wednesday as gas provider Atmos Energy donated a big chunk of property, buildings and all, to the city of Dallas. Chris Heinbaugh reports.
WFAA Video: http://www.wfaa.com/perl/common/vide...00atmos_am.wmv
That building is gorgeous. I can't wait to see what they do with the property.
I hope they do a mix of pricing for the condos/apartments.
I agree, I had no idea about those.
"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
Here's a rear view of the complex from today. I love the more modern building with the large windows on the top floor. That would be a great place for a signature club or restaurant with great views of downtown.
I too, used to go pay my gas bills downtown just to get a gander at that Lone Star Gas lobby...then they closed down that center and I would gripe at the call center about not having a place to pay anywhere near downtown...aRRRRGhhhH.Oh well, I have a charming habit of calling stores and saying, "now y'all are waaaay up where?"
The more modern building looks to me like every building built in the early '70s -- a miniature replica of the NYC World Trade Center (1973-2001). Although it's not as close a replica as the one I knew as a kid -- the Williams Center Tower in Tulsa, which was designed by the same architects and even shares interchangeable building elements.
(Oddly enough, I didn't realize the simliarity until we visited Tulsa last year...)
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals... Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. - B. Obama 1/20/09
They sure did love those boxes back then.
"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've just put some recent photographs of these buildings on my site. They're mostly of the north tower (corner of Harwood and Jackson), which retains many wonderful art deco elements on its ground floor.
http://nostalgicglass.org/display.php?pn=17
Has anyone heard how Forest City is coming along with the plans for these buildings?
After the mercantile block is finished (the block bounded by Main, Commerce, Ervay and St. Paul) they'll move their attention to the Continental building, the Lone Star Complex last.
Thanks, jgrant.
Those pictures are great!
Thanks, jgrant, wonderful work again!
I think I've posted before here about how I used to go pay my gas bill in person just to see that building...
We should hear a construction schedule in December if Forest City decides to forward with this project, right?
^ Seems so, thereabouts.
http://www.dallascityhall.com/counci...a_08222007.pdf
August 22, 2007 6
CONSENT AGENDA (Continued)
Economic Development (Continued)
32. Authorize Supplemental Agreement No. 3 to the development agreement with Forest
City previously approved on June 13, 2007, Resolution No. 07-1821, Section 2B, to (1)
clarify that Forest City shall initiate a due diligence process on the Atmos Complex and
advise the City by December 31, 2007, of their future intentions regarding
redevelopment of the property; (2) provide a timetable, including a construction
schedule and completion date for the Atmos Complex if Forest City decides to go
forward with such redevelopment and, (3) that if Forest City decides not to go forward
with such redevelopment at that time, then Forest City maintains its election currently
described in Section 3.03 of the Development Agreement pertaining to ownership,
payments and reversion of the Atmos Complex until October 31, 2009 - Financing: No
cost consideration to the City.
What happened with this?
I know they have been busy with Mercantile and Element.
But, is this still a go?
I dont want to see this block neglected. This would awaken the eastern edge of downtown.
Be patient...this will happen but will take some time. There are many projects building up to Lone Star to make it a more viable option for residential conversion. Its coming soon! I PROMISE!
Maybe we will hear something soon. . .
http://www.dallascityhall.com/commit...mos_100208.pdf
Have a friend at another architecture firm where they are currently working on a design for the complex.
Am I reading this correctly?? ... Forest City is turning the Atmos complex redevelopment over to Hamilton? :huhcld:
I wonder if this would free Forest City to redevelop the Grand Hotel? That way Hamilton can get Atmos going since they tend to do solid redevelopment of historic properties anyway.
First of all, kudos for to the city for nailing the developers to their obligations with penalties.
Anyway, I just read through that whole powerpoint, and I gleamed a couple of interesting tidbits from it:
1) in a nutshell, the agreement is that by certain 'milestone' dates if forest city hasn't acquired the agreed on permits, then they get penalized $250,000 by the city. They have already been penalized once last year, and have 2 more 'milestone dates' to go.
2) there is, however, a stipulation in the agreement that basically says that if forest city wants to, they can hand the complex over to another developer to make sure it gets done so they don't get penalized. In this case, they chose the Hamiltons (who as we all know have a great reputation).
3) the proposed amendment would not only hand over the complex to the hamiltons, but it would also extend the 'milestones' and completion dates (which if i'm not mistaken there was no required completion date for forest city but there would be for the hamiltons). If all goes as planned and the amendments made, the agreement states that the Atmos complex should be completed by October 2013.
4) the hamiltons will not only add more apartments and parking than what was originally planned by forest city, but they will double the amount of retail.
5) if the amendments pass, forest city would also get a 1 year extension of the penalty dates, after which point the penalty would transfer over the the hamiltons
6) the Hamiltons would get a $10-million TIF for redeveloping it, and forest city nothing
7) it also looks like petroleum tower, 1900 pacific and 1600 pacific are still on the books as well(!)
Now, if only the city would nail don silverman and rita sweeny to the same cross, we'd be golden.
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