Ritz-Carlton condo tower planned
10:33 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 20, 2006
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Uptown's luxury condo boom is getting its second wind.
Another tower will soon be going up in the Ritz-Carlton project under construction on Pearl Street - and it will be even larger than the first phase.
Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.
The 21-story Ritz-Carlton hotel and 70 condos will open in fall 2007, with a second phase opening a year later. The 23-story story Tower Residences at The Ritz-Carlton will have 96 condominiums priced from $700,000 to $8 million.
The curved building designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern will be constructed on the north side of the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Dallas, which is being built at McKinney Avenue and Pearl.
The 21-story Ritz-Carlton hotel and 70 condos will open in fall 2007.
The new building announced Tuesday will be finished a year later in the fall of 2008, according to developer Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.
The second phase will be connected to the hotel and first building with a second-floor glass walkway.
"We are pleased to bring The Ritz-Carlton lifestyle to the Dallas market and are thrilled with the response to the development and the tremendous sales in phase I," John C. Goff, Crescent's vice chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The first condominium tower in the project - located across the street from the landmark Crescent complex - has sold ahead of schedule at prices ranging from $800,000 to $6 million.
But with a handful of other high-rise condo developments planned for the neighborhood, Fort Worth-based Crescent needed to move ahead with the next building to capture more buyers.
"They had 135 reservations when they started" the first phase, said Mike Puls, a Dallas real estate market consultant. "They had good momentum.
"The high end part of the market doesn't go away where as the more price sensitive market is driven by financing and momentum."
Along with the condominiums, the project will include four "Regency Row" townhomes that will face on Olive Street.
"Our demand is outstanding and I expect phase two to be a huge success," said Crescent president Denny Alberts.
Fort Worth-based Crescent also owns the vacant block across the street between Olive and St. Paul streets where it has plans to build a Canyon Ranch spa and condominium towers. No timetable for that project has been set.
With the plans for the Ritz II project, almost a dozen luxury condominium developments are under construction or announced in the Uptown area.
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