DALLAS FORT WORTH | Urban + Suburban P & C

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Azure announces 2005 start in the LoMac area joining the W, Ritz-Carlton, St Anne's, ZaZa, The Ashton

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Azure announces 2005 start in the LoMac area joining the W, Ritz-Carlton, St Anne's, ZaZa, The Ashton

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ZOM Rosewood has now taken the name ZOM Uptown I, and has a new rendering. Construction started in late July. This is the neighborbor directly south to the Azure.

Older rendering with the name ZOM Rosewood



New ZOM Uptown I


here's a pic of the construction site. You can see the 22 story Ashton(brick tower on the right) as it finishes out for a late fall opening

[Owlhorn]

ZOM Rosewood has now taken the name ZOM Uptown I, and has a new rendering. Construction started in late July. This is the neighborbor directly south to the Azure.

Older rendering with the name ZOM Rosewood



New ZOM Uptown I


here's a pic of the construction site. You can see the 22 story Ashton(brick tower on the right) as it finishes out for a late fall opening

[Owlhorn]

Official announcement of the Merryvale in the West End

GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Developer Blazes West End Trail
By Connie Gore
Last updated: Thursday, September 2, 2004 08:52pm

DALLAS-The Toronto-based FRAM Building Group expects to break ground by year's end on a second phase to the $30-million-plus 1001 Ross, which opened doors two days ago with 204 apartments to rent and 80% pre-leased in a 30,000-sf retail component. With one nearly done and one on the way, the developer says he's already eyeing more land in the city.

The sister project, the Merryvale Residences at the West End, will be the first multifamily product to rise from the ground inside the designated bounds of the West End historic district. "For most developers, it's a pretty gutsy move without proving yourself in the first phase," Luciano Bettin, FRAM's regional manager tells GlobeSt.com. The project, with an estimated, all-in $15-million cost, will replace a 1.2-acre parking lot at 407 N. Lamar St., bought in April, and go up caddy corner from 1001 Ross, billed as the first brand-new product in 20 years in the CBD. Bettin will hold focus group meetings on the newest project: 104 units and 14,000 sf of retail. He says the October meetings are aimed at finding out what the market really wants. There's a chance the Merryvale will end up with "for sale" units, he says.

"They keep saying if you build new, people will come to the downtown," Bettin says. "We'll see how it goes." He's expecting to lease 30 apartments per month at 1001 Ross, where rents start at $1,134 per month and the concession is one month free for a one-year lease. "It's cheaper to build outside the West End than it is in the West End," Bettin says of the city's top tourist destination with the Texas School Book Depository and a retail mix set in 1880s-era warehouses. "But, it's sexier to be in the West End. Our trick is to make it look like it was built 100 years ago."

FRAM's crew is finishing up the third and fourth floors of 1001 Ross so the plan is to wrap up and immediately head across the street to start the Merryvale. If Bettin's plan stays on track, the Merryvale will open by fall 2006. Like its big sister, the Merryvale has been designed by Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners and set to have the same retail leasing team, Brandon Harris and Darrell Hernandez from United Commercial Realty in Dallas, who scored a coup for the downtown by hooking the Woonsocket, RI-based CVS Corp. for 11,500 sf of 1001 Ross' street-level retail. CVS/Pharmacy is being joined by Coldstone Creamery, Subway, Porta di Roma restaurant and bar, Orex Printing and Downtown Wine & Spirits. Three more deals, totaling 2,500 sf, are under negotiation.

Bettin says the average lease is 10 years and rents hover $25 per sf. Subway's finishing out its space now. The bulk of the roster, including CVS, opens Dec. 1. The four-story 1001 Ross, positioned on 1.7 acres, has two levels of parking, a spot for each resident and 60 free parking spaces for retail customers.

Bettin says he's already looking for another tract in the CBD. The projects are the first to rise under the FRAM banner since it made its mark a decade ago with the 24-story condo tower, the Mayfair on Turtle Creek. The projects are rising in partnerships made up of FRAM, Slokker Investments of the Netherlands and the Schlatter family, owner of the Merryvale Vineyards in St. Helena, CA.



The article doesn't mention it, but this is adjacent to the West End light rail station.

[Owlhorn]

Official announcement of the Merryvale in the West End

GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Developer Blazes West End Trail
By Connie Gore
Last updated: Thursday, September 2, 2004 08:52pm

DALLAS-The Toronto-based FRAM Building Group expects to break ground by year's end on a second phase to the $30-million-plus 1001 Ross, which opened doors two days ago with 204 apartments to rent and 80% pre-leased in a 30,000-sf retail component. With one nearly done and one on the way, the developer says he's already eyeing more land in the city.

The sister project, the Merryvale Residences at the West End, will be the first multifamily product to rise from the ground inside the designated bounds of the West End historic district. "For most developers, it's a pretty gutsy move without proving yourself in the first phase," Luciano Bettin, FRAM's regional manager tells GlobeSt.com. The project, with an estimated, all-in $15-million cost, will replace a 1.2-acre parking lot at 407 N. Lamar St., bought in April, and go up caddy corner from 1001 Ross, billed as the first brand-new product in 20 years in the CBD. Bettin will hold focus group meetings on the newest project: 104 units and 14,000 sf of retail. He says the October meetings are aimed at finding out what the market really wants. There's a chance the Merryvale will end up with "for sale" units, he says.

"They keep saying if you build new, people will come to the downtown," Bettin says. "We'll see how it goes." He's expecting to lease 30 apartments per month at 1001 Ross, where rents start at $1,134 per month and the concession is one month free for a one-year lease. "It's cheaper to build outside the West End than it is in the West End," Bettin says of the city's top tourist destination with the Texas School Book Depository and a retail mix set in 1880s-era warehouses. "But, it's sexier to be in the West End. Our trick is to make it look like it was built 100 years ago."

FRAM's crew is finishing up the third and fourth floors of 1001 Ross so the plan is to wrap up and immediately head across the street to start the Merryvale. If Bettin's plan stays on track, the Merryvale will open by fall 2006. Like its big sister, the Merryvale has been designed by Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners and set to have the same retail leasing team, Brandon Harris and Darrell Hernandez from United Commercial Realty in Dallas, who scored a coup for the downtown by hooking the Woonsocket, RI-based CVS Corp. for 11,500 sf of 1001 Ross' street-level retail. CVS/Pharmacy is being joined by Coldstone Creamery, Subway, Porta di Roma restaurant and bar, Orex Printing and Downtown Wine & Spirits. Three more deals, totaling 2,500 sf, are under negotiation.

Bettin says the average lease is 10 years and rents hover $25 per sf. Subway's finishing out its space now. The bulk of the roster, including CVS, opens Dec. 1. The four-story 1001 Ross, positioned on 1.7 acres, has two levels of parking, a spot for each resident and 60 free parking spaces for retail customers.

Bettin says he's already looking for another tract in the CBD. The projects are the first to rise under the FRAM banner since it made its mark a decade ago with the 24-story condo tower, the Mayfair on Turtle Creek. The projects are rising in partnerships made up of FRAM, Slokker Investments of the Netherlands and the Schlatter family, owner of the Merryvale Vineyards in St. Helena, CA.



The article doesn't mention it, but this is adjacent to the West End light rail station.

[Owlhorn]

Azure update:

Still no rendering, but pre-leasing must be going great as they expected an early 2005 groundbreaking. Perhaps this pic says otherwise. Preleasing for residential towers in Uptown and Turtle Creek areas has generally hit the 80% mark very quickly. To serve memory this is supposed to be a residential tower with 200+ units, and ~30 floors. Prices start in the $300,000 range. This site is just across the street on the right(Wolf) from the ZOM Uptown I

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Azure update:

Still no rendering, but pre-leasing must be going great as they expected an early 2005 groundbreaking. Perhaps this pic says otherwise. Preleasing for residential towers in Uptown and Turtle Creek areas has generally hit the 80% mark very quickly. To serve memory this is supposed to be a residential tower with 200+ units, and ~30 floors. Prices start in the $300,000 range. This site is just across the street on the right(Wolf) from the ZOM Uptown I

[Owlhorn]

Condo addition to the Hotel ZaZa shaping up nicely. You can also see the Modrian in the upper left as it recieves its skin

[Owlhorn]

Condo addition to the Hotel ZaZa shaping up nicely. You can also see the Modrian in the upper left as it recieves its skin

[Owlhorn]

Modrian update:

nearing completion

Looking NE. Very different look from every angle.


Retail Corner at McKinney and Blackburn


Looking west across Central Expressway.


Looking NW across Blackburn St. The light in the distance is McKinney Ave and the high rises in the background are along Turtle Creek Blvd.

[Owlhorn]

Modrian update:

nearing completion

Looking NE. Very different look from every angle.


Retail Corner at McKinney and Blackburn


Looking west across Central Expressway.


Looking NW across Blackburn St. The light in the distance is McKinney Ave and the high rises in the background are along Turtle Creek Blvd.

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Camden Farmers Market Phase II update:

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Camden Farmers Market Phase II update:

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Projects afoot for South Lamar area:
Developer plans a retail center, upscale condos and a boutique hotel

The glowing neon sign that sits atop South Side on Lamar signals activity in a once tumbledown section of southern Dallas.

Orchestrating much of the activity is Jack H. Matthews, president of Lewisville-based Matthews Southwest. Matthews' company jump-started the revitalization of the area in 1999, when it renovated the derelict Sears Roebuck & Co.'s building into the 455-unit South Side on Lamar loft complex.

Reinvesting

In the upcoming months, Matthews and partners will invest about $20 million in property on South Lamar Street and surrounding blocks. About $3 million of that will be spent on a 36,000-square-foot retail strip and $5 million on the first phase of a 30-unit upscale condominium residence. Plans for a long-awaited boutique hotel are also gaining momentum.

About $80 million has been poured into the South Side on Lamar project, which is now 90% leased.

"The business model is to reinvest in the area," Matthews said, adding that he and investors do not expect to see a return on investment for many years.

Now, Matthews is gearing up to "in-fill" the land between South Side on Lamar and Interstate 30, which is dotted with vacant buildings and asphalt parking lots. Matthews Southwest controls 30 acres in the area.

Most of the financing for the projects will come from debt and equity from three partnerships in Europe, the United States and Canada, while the rest will come from "various sources," Matthews said.

Matthews believes the area's population can support a retail strip center at 1005 S. Lamar St. on the corner of Cadiz Street.

Plans are moving forward for the conversion of a 36,000-square-foot vacant building into a retail center complete with a canopy stretching along a 4,000-square-foot deck.

Underserved

The $1 million, 12,000-square-foot first phase of the retail project may break ground in the next nine months. However, construction also hinges on when the project can become one-third pre-leased. Pre-leasing is set to begin soon, Matthews said. The second phase will include 24,000 square feet and may include a music venue. Matthews Southwest plans to approach the city of Dallas about a tax deferral.

The area, called The Cedars, which lies across I-30 in southern Dallas, is underserved by retailers, experts say.

"There are a lot of people living in The Cedars area," said real estate broker Jack Gosnell of Dallas-based UCR, a retail brokerage firm. "There is regentrification taking place and there is a need for neighborhood services and restaurants."

Rooftops

There are about 750 new apartment units in The Cedars, according to Bennett Miller of Bennett Miller Co., who has been involved in numerous residential renovation projects south of downtown.

"Whether that is enough (to support retail and restaurants), I simply don't know," Miller said.

The retail complex will be closely followed by a new upscale condominium project that will bring more people to the area.

Matthews said that a letter of intent has been signed to develop a 200-unit upscale condo project where a parking lot now sits at 1300 Belleview St., adjacent to Dallas police headquarters. Matthews Southwest and an unnamed developer may break ground on the first 30-unit phase within the next six months.

A 70-room boutique hotel, long part of Matthews' vision for the area, is also moving forward. A 55,000-square-foot, five-story building at 1325 S. Lamar St., formerly a coffin assemblage facility, has been earmarked for a $10.5 million "four-star, artsy" boutique hotel with a "sky bar" and rooftop swimming pool.

[Owlhorn]

Projects afoot for South Lamar area:
Developer plans a retail center, upscale condos and a boutique hotel

The glowing neon sign that sits atop South Side on Lamar signals activity in a once tumbledown section of southern Dallas.

Orchestrating much of the activity is Jack H. Matthews, president of Lewisville-based Matthews Southwest. Matthews' company jump-started the revitalization of the area in 1999, when it renovated the derelict Sears Roebuck & Co.'s building into the 455-unit South Side on Lamar loft complex.

Reinvesting

In the upcoming months, Matthews and partners will invest about $20 million in property on South Lamar Street and surrounding blocks. About $3 million of that will be spent on a 36,000-square-foot retail strip and $5 million on the first phase of a 30-unit upscale condominium residence. Plans for a long-awaited boutique hotel are also gaining momentum.

About $80 million has been poured into the South Side on Lamar project, which is now 90% leased.

"The business model is to reinvest in the area," Matthews said, adding that he and investors do not expect to see a return on investment for many years.

Now, Matthews is gearing up to "in-fill" the land between South Side on Lamar and Interstate 30, which is dotted with vacant buildings and asphalt parking lots. Matthews Southwest controls 30 acres in the area.

Most of the financing for the projects will come from debt and equity from three partnerships in Europe, the United States and Canada, while the rest will come from "various sources," Matthews said.

Matthews believes the area's population can support a retail strip center at 1005 S. Lamar St. on the corner of Cadiz Street.

Plans are moving forward for the conversion of a 36,000-square-foot vacant building into a retail center complete with a canopy stretching along a 4,000-square-foot deck.

Underserved

The $1 million, 12,000-square-foot first phase of the retail project may break ground in the next nine months. However, construction also hinges on when the project can become one-third pre-leased. Pre-leasing is set to begin soon, Matthews said. The second phase will include 24,000 square feet and may include a music venue. Matthews Southwest plans to approach the city of Dallas about a tax deferral.

The area, called The Cedars, which lies across I-30 in southern Dallas, is underserved by retailers, experts say.

"There are a lot of people living in The Cedars area," said real estate broker Jack Gosnell of Dallas-based UCR, a retail brokerage firm. "There is regentrification taking place and there is a need for neighborhood services and restaurants."

Rooftops

There are about 750 new apartment units in The Cedars, according to Bennett Miller of Bennett Miller Co., who has been involved in numerous residential renovation projects south of downtown.

"Whether that is enough (to support retail and restaurants), I simply don't know," Miller said.

The retail complex will be closely followed by a new upscale condominium project that will bring more people to the area.

Matthews said that a letter of intent has been signed to develop a 200-unit upscale condo project where a parking lot now sits at 1300 Belleview St., adjacent to Dallas police headquarters. Matthews Southwest and an unnamed developer may break ground on the first 30-unit phase within the next six months.

A 70-room boutique hotel, long part of Matthews' vision for the area, is also moving forward. A 55,000-square-foot, five-story building at 1325 S. Lamar St., formerly a coffin assemblage facility, has been earmarked for a $10.5 million "four-star, artsy" boutique hotel with a "sky bar" and rooftop swimming pool.

Wow, great news. I have been hoping for a long time that the Cedars area would grow into a real attraction. What's done now is nice, but not enough to draw most people down there.

I hope these plans are realized!

Wow, great news. I have been hoping for a long time that the Cedars area would grow into a real attraction. What's done now is nice, but not enough to draw most people down there.

I hope these plans are realized!

[Owlhorn]

Design revealed for I-30 bridge

03:23 PM CST on Tuesday, November 16, 2004

By SCOTT CANTRELL / The Dallas Morning News

Four slender steel arches will carry Interstate 30 across the Trinity River if the Santiago Calatrava design displayed Monday at City Hall gets funded.
Also Online

En español: Muestran modelo de puente para el centro de la ciudad de Dallas

Mayor Laura Miller and members of the City Council unveiled a model of the proposed bridge, the second of three the acclaimed Spanish architect is designing for downtown Dallas. The design calls for 12 lanes of traffic, one being a reversible HOV lane. It also provides four "collector-distributor" lanes to be cantilevered outside the main bridge structure, but these would be added only in a later phase.

The 1,950-foot span would be entirely suspended from arches parallel to the roadway, without piers in the middle of the river. Besides giving a graceful look to a very broad bridge, the pier-less design wouldn't obstruct floodwaters. The two central arches would be longer and higher than the two on the outsides.

By contrast, Mr. Calatrava's previously unveiled design for a new Woodall Rodgers Freeway extension across the Trinity will have suspension cables torqued from a high, single arch spanning the road. Mr. Calatrava is also to design an Interstate 35E bridge.

"I tried to make each one of them fit the place and the function," Mr. Calatrava said Monday, "but also to have all three speak together, so they would become what we call a horizontal landmark."

Ms. Miller introduced Mr. Calatrava at the morning news conference, calling him "an extraordinarily hot architect at the moment." He's been particularly acclaimed for his recent addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum and his design for an underground transportation center at New York's Ground Zero. A Calatrava pedestrian bridge opened in July in Redding, Calif., but the Dallas bridges would be his first highway bridges in the United States.

The completion of Calatrava's vision depends on public funding.

After thanking Dallas County and local philanthropist Margaret McDermott for funding the design of the I-30 bridge, Ms. Miller also urged people to contact their representatives in Congress to secure construction funds.

The I-30 bridge is one of many nationwide projects that are being delayed because the House and Senate haven't agreed on a federal transportation bill. The Senate approved a $318 billion reauthorization in February, but the House approved only $275 billion. The White House has threatened to veto any version of more than $256 billion. A lame-duck congressional session could deal with the problem as early as this week, or it could delay action until the next Congress. The Woodall Rodgers bridge is fully funded.

Meanwhile, the Texas Department of Transportation says the existing I-30 bridge, which is 50 years old and inadequate for current traffic, needs to be replaced. Rebecca Dugger, the city's Trinity River project director, said the new bridge design could be completed in early to mid-2006, with construction completed in 2010.

E-mail scantrell@dallasnews.com

[Owlhorn]

Design revealed for I-30 bridge

03:23 PM CST on Tuesday, November 16, 2004

By SCOTT CANTRELL / The Dallas Morning News

Four slender steel arches will carry Interstate 30 across the Trinity River if the Santiago Calatrava design displayed Monday at City Hall gets funded.
Also Online

En español: Muestran modelo de puente para el centro de la ciudad de Dallas

Mayor Laura Miller and members of the City Council unveiled a model of the proposed bridge, the second of three the acclaimed Spanish architect is designing for downtown Dallas. The design calls for 12 lanes of traffic, one being a reversible HOV lane. It also provides four "collector-distributor" lanes to be cantilevered outside the main bridge structure, but these would be added only in a later phase.

The 1,950-foot span would be entirely suspended from arches parallel to the roadway, without piers in the middle of the river. Besides giving a graceful look to a very broad bridge, the pier-less design wouldn't obstruct floodwaters. The two central arches would be longer and higher than the two on the outsides.

By contrast, Mr. Calatrava's previously unveiled design for a new Woodall Rodgers Freeway extension across the Trinity will have suspension cables torqued from a high, single arch spanning the road. Mr. Calatrava is also to design an Interstate 35E bridge.

"I tried to make each one of them fit the place and the function," Mr. Calatrava said Monday, "but also to have all three speak together, so they would become what we call a horizontal landmark."

Ms. Miller introduced Mr. Calatrava at the morning news conference, calling him "an extraordinarily hot architect at the moment." He's been particularly acclaimed for his recent addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum and his design for an underground transportation center at New York's Ground Zero. A Calatrava pedestrian bridge opened in July in Redding, Calif., but the Dallas bridges would be his first highway bridges in the United States.

The completion of Calatrava's vision depends on public funding.

After thanking Dallas County and local philanthropist Margaret McDermott for funding the design of the I-30 bridge, Ms. Miller also urged people to contact their representatives in Congress to secure construction funds.

The I-30 bridge is one of many nationwide projects that are being delayed because the House and Senate haven't agreed on a federal transportation bill. The Senate approved a $318 billion reauthorization in February, but the House approved only $275 billion. The White House has threatened to veto any version of more than $256 billion. A lame-duck congressional session could deal with the problem as early as this week, or it could delay action until the next Congress. The Woodall Rodgers bridge is fully funded.

Meanwhile, the Texas Department of Transportation says the existing I-30 bridge, which is 50 years old and inadequate for current traffic, needs to be replaced. Rebecca Dugger, the city's Trinity River project director, said the new bridge design could be completed in early to mid-2006, with construction completed in 2010.

E-mail scantrell@dallasnews.com