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New Victory news

Victory development gets ball rolling again
Work scheduled to begin on four buildings within six months
10:48 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2004
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...tory.4e731.html


After years of doubts and delays, the Victory project is gaining momentum. Developers will start construction within 90 days on two blocks of residences with ground-floor shopping next to the W hotel. Then, in January, they will break ground on two retail buildings at the south entrance of American Airlines Center. All the projects are scheduled to open in early 2006. "In less than six months, we will have five buildings under construction down here," said Jonas Woods, president of developer Hillwood Capital. "The idea is you create an urban place."

Construction is under way on the 33-story W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences. The tower with 258 hotel rooms and 80 luxury condos is being built south of the arena. More than 200 condos and apartments in two buildings will be built along Houston Street, Mr. Woods said. Hillwood is developing them in a partnership with Fairfield Residential, a San Diego-based apartment builder. "It will be modern but brick," Mr. Woods said of the development. "It will have some stainless steel and limestone" on the exterior. "The entire project is based on pedestrian orientation, street-front retail and liveliness," he said. WDG Architecture designed the buildings, which will have seven floors of residences above shops and restaurants.

Park included

The condo building at the far south end of the Victory development will overlook a park. "It will create an incredible residential environment with this park," Mr. Woods said. "We'll have three blocks of retail running south of the arena." The two smaller buildings between the arena and the W will face Wichita Street and hold retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues. Los Angeles architect Richard Orne – who designed the Universal CityWalk projects in California and Florida and worked on the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas – planned modern buildings with glass and metal exteriors covered in giant LED display screens.

'Different retailers'

"In all, there will be about 60 stores and a dozen restaurants in this entire next phase," Mr. Woods said. "We are specifically targeting new-to-this-market retail tenants. "The idea that a consumer in North Dallas is going to drive by three Gaps to get to a Gap in our project doesn't make sense," he said. "Our focus is different retailers." Combining apartments and condos in the next phase of the project is a good move for Victory, said apartment industry analyst Greg Willett of M/PF Research.

"When you are just creating a desirable neighborhood environment, you have to appeal to both sides of the equation," buyers and renters, Mr. Willett said. "A lot of times the renters in these projects are people who are younger and mobile and don't know if they are going to be in the market for a couple of years."

Those renters often come back as buyers, he said.

Variety of looks

Early plans for Victory called for homogenous architecture, but Mr. Woods said the developers are using a variety of designers. "We have specifically used different architects for almost every building we're doing," he said. "We don't want it to feel like Disneyland, but like a real urban district that would have been created over time." Dallas architects HKS Inc. designed the W. A high-rise office and residential building planned for the lot west of the W has been designed by architects Kohn Pederson Fox and BOKA Powell. That project won't start until at least next year, Hillwood said.

Mr. Woods said that condo sales and retail leasing have picked up since ground was broken for the W. "It shows people we are real, and things will begin to happen a lot quicker," he said.
Attached Thumbnails

Victory Plaza Buildings





Highrise planned for the lot west of the W