DALLAS FORT WORTH | Urban + Suburban P & C

[Austin55]

Some upsetting news out of Fort Worth.

A few months back the former Landmark tower site had a parking garage proposed for it. It looks as if this has been approved. This particular lot is the most prime location for a skyscraper in the entire city, and XTO had at one point a few years ago proposed a 50 floor tower for the site. Instead we are getting an 8 level garage with ground floor retail.


http://www.fortworthbusiness.com/news/xt...f-11e5-bb97-432ddbffb3dc.html?mode=story

[KevinFromTexas]

http://interactives.dallasnews.com/2015/lewisville-dam/

NORTH TEXAS
The Dam Called Trouble
The Army Corps of Engineers will need millions of dollars to repair the Lewisville Lake Dam, one of the nation’s most dangerous. A breach could put 431,000 people in harm’s way.

By George Getschow | Special Contributor Photos and video by Nathan Hunsinger | Staff Photographer Published December 12, 2015

The problem — one of many — first appeared as last May’s record rainstorms quickly filled the region’s reservoirs. An instrument at the Lewisville Lake Dam showed pressure building under the downstream side.

Only 34 miles upstream from Dallas, the Lewisville Dam holds back 2 million acre-feet, or 2.5 billion tons, of water when the lake is full. If the dam failed, the magnitude of all that water unleashed from Lake Lewisville down the Trinity River would dwarf the worst dam disaster in American history.

431,000 in harm’s way

With a full reservoir behind it, a 65-foot-tall flood wave traveling 34 mph would quickly inundate a wide swath of Lewisville, Coppell, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Irving, Las Colinas and other communities bordering the Trinity River.

Like a tsunami, the wave would submerge downtown Dallas in roughly 50 feet of water, the Corps estimates, causing more than $21 billion in property damage, before continuing south down the Trinity River toward the Gulf of Mexico. “It would be a much bigger magnitude to the Dallas area than Hurricane Katrina was to New Orleans,” says Vazquez. “It’s a nightmare scenario.”

[TTU Arch]

^ Listened through the video clip and I'm hoping the spokes person was not the right one answering the questions. It was disturbing for the corps and city / governing officials have known about this for sometime, but the public / media has not been educated on this until now. The solutions talked about did not sound like good long term solutions, and the representative seemed to chuckle at some the serious nature of this issue. Lastly no solution can be taken seriously depending on cost?

[Sic'EmBears]

JP Morgan to partner on North Dallas apartment community
Steve Brown
December 15, 2015

Called The Laurel, the 4-story project is just across Northwest Highway from the popular Preston Center shopping and office district.

“This luxury product will be comprised of larger homes that cater to the nearby down-scaling and renters-by-choice that want to stay in this prestigious neighborhood with the bonus of the adjacent Preston Center amenities.”

Full Article

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by TTU Arch

^ Listened through the video clip and I'm hoping the spokes person was not the right one answering the questions. It was disturbing for the corps and city / governing officials have known about this for sometime, but the public / media has not been educated on this until now. The solutions talked about did not sound like good long term solutions, and the representative seemed to chuckle at some the serious nature of this issue. Lastly no solution can be taken seriously depending on cost?

Well, you see, that's the dam trouble. As it is, thoughts of putting a freeway in the Trinity River bottom have probably been submerged for good.

[dollaztx]

Lincoln Property is starting work on new Dallas Arts District tower

Less than six months after buying the high-profile corner of Woodall Rodgers Freeway and Pearl Street in the Dallas Arts District, the developer is breaking ground on a 25-story office high-rise.

The 260,000-square-fooot metal and glass tower will go up right next door to the Dallas Symphony Center.

The building will open in about 18 months.

[jshdodd]

Backers of the project point to current occupancy rates in the 70 percent range, which is high for Dallas, as evidence that if you build it they will come.

"Now, more than a dozen hotels – with more than 2,500 rooms – are in the pipeline or already open in a central Dallas area that includes downtown, Uptown, the Cedars, the Design District and the area near Baylor University Medical Center.

“I am aware of the other hotels,” said William Hutchinson, founder of developer Dunhill Partners Inc., which plans to begin building Texas’ only Virgin Hotel in May of 2016 in the Design District. “I’m sure some of these probably shouldn’t be built.”

"Twenty-four major conventions – called citywides – are expected in Dallas in 2016. That’s up from 22 held in 2015, but it’s a 26 percent jump from 2012, the first full year of operation for the Omni. And the city is working with popular travel guide Lonely Planet to boost Dallas’ appeal to tourists."

HOLY SHIT

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/20...el-rooms.html/

[SLO]

Originally Posted by Austin55

Some upsetting news out of Fort Worth.

A few months back the former Landmark tower site had a parking garage proposed for it. It looks as if this has been approved. This particular lot is the most prime location for a skyscraper in the entire city, and XTO had at one point a few years ago proposed a 50 floor tower for the site. Instead we are getting an 8 level garage with ground floor retail.


http://www.fortworthbusiness.com/news/xt...f-11e5-bb97-432ddbffb3dc.html?mode=story

That is terrible news, hopefully something happens to halt this.

[Sic'EmBears]

View of Klyde Warren Park from the new Arts District tower.

Park District, the two towers in the center, are visible.

[Thymant]

I Managed to catch these pictures of the number of cranes along I 35, these include Blue Ciel, The Ascent, Skyhouse victory Place, and Katy Station, sorry not the best quality

[cjreisen]

Can someone enlighten me? I've yet to go to Dallas, but from those who've visited, I've heard that for it's size it's a bit "underwhelming" in terms of street level vibrancy. As stated, I've no experience going there. But from what I gather from street view and google maps, it appears Downtown Dallas is business-oriented and overly populated with surface lots (which I suspect are being held for development, and will all be gone in time). Whilst Fort Worth seems to be the more livable, progressive city, from an Urban Planning perspective.

So here's the question! Is Dallas actively working (and have you witnessed over the years) to shift to a more residential downtown? I'd love to see more midrise development around the core, because Dallas clearly has a lot of wealth in the area, a diverse economy, and all the fundamentals to create a truly vibrant downtown. So it's sad to see the wasted potential here, and the extent of urban sprawl. I'd think with the, albeit rather low, tornado threats, a condo would be the more appealing solution anyway.

It seems to me though that the new park created over the highway, and the effort Dallas is making to create a very visibly present arts district shows a well planned, concerted effort by Dallas to become more residential. So can someone speak to the efforts at large that Dallas is making, and perhaps Fort Worth as well?

[toxteth o'grady]

Dallas is actually considered to be more downtown-centric on the residential than Houston and has at least two long-time nightlife-oriented neighborhoods - Deep Ellum and the West End - that are doing well. You'll have to see it to understand what's going on.

[Dallas Snob]

I live downtown. 10 years ago 3,000 people lived downtown, Now there are over 35,000. Uptown, Bishop Arts and Deep Ellum are the most vibrant, with Bishop Arts being my favorite choice. Downtown is really taking off as well.

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

Dallas is actually considered to be more downtown-centric on the residential than Houston and has at least two long-time nightlife-oriented neighborhoods - Deep Ellum and the West End - that are doing well. You'll have to see it to understand what's going on.

[Thymant]

Yes, downtown Dallas is located in the center of where the majority of major develpments in Dallas are happening and there are many renovation and restoration projects that are currently ongoing in the core. Yes there still are a good number of surface lots but its not as dramatic from the ground level as what you can see from the air in google maps. And areas such as uptown and victory park which are across the highway from downtown are actually getting quite dense and in a matter of probably 10 years there will be few to no surface lots in these areas. And I have not spent as much time in Forth Worth but what I do know is that its more affordable than dallas but not nearly as urban as the dallas core, its more so like a giant suburb but it does also have a number of interesting areas and projects that are currently in the works.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by Dallas Snob

I live downtown. 10 years ago 3,000 people lived downtown, Now there are over 35,000. Uptown, Bishop Arts and Deep Ellum are the most vibrant, with Bishop Arts being my favorite choice. Downtown is really taking off as well.

35,000 people living downtown? I visited Dallas back in July and didn't feel like there were enough residential developments for there to be 35k people living there. Are you including adjacent neighborhoods around it? 35,000 living in Downtown Dallas is close to Downtown Seattle's population.

[mhays]

The numbers aren't comparable, because the land areas or standards are rarely parallel.

As for Seattle, using 2010 numbers it was about 20,000 per square mile whether you drew the boundaries tighly or losely. It seems possible that we'll hit 30,000 per square mile for the same areas by 2020.

[colemonkee]

As the lots north and south of Clyde Warren park get developed, downtown and uptown will slowly merge into one contiguous neighborhood.

[Sic'EmBears]

A plan to expand Klyde Warren Park to the Perot Museum is in the works
Robert Wilonsky
December 23, 2015

Now, there is a plan in the works to expand the park, adding acres to its 5.2-acre footprint and bringing it closer to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

Wednesday afternoon, Jody Grant, chairman of the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation and the key fundraiser for the park, confirmed long-swirling rumors that he’s in talks to extend the popular park all the way to North Field Street.

Grant says he’s been “consulting with architects” about a plan, but nothing’s been done other than a conceptual video and a few renderings shown to a select few, including the mayor.

Rawlings said what he’s seen so far shows two elevated walkways — one from the west end of the park to the second floor of the Perot, and another to the Arts District.

Full Article

[R1070]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

35,000 people living downtown? I visited Dallas back in July and didn't feel like there were enough residential developments for there to be 35k people living there. Are you including adjacent neighborhoods around it? 35,000 living in Downtown Dallas is close to Downtown Seattle's population.

I've heard somewhere around 40,000+ for downtown and the immediate area that encircles it. Which excludes other Central Dallas neighborhoods like Oak Lawn, Knox-Henderson, etc. That sounds about right and it continues to grow. Downtown proper within the loop still has quite a bit of growth to do before it hits 35,000, but I think it's currently somewhere around 10,000 which isn't that terrible considering where it was not that long ago and the fact that the area is not that large. The fact that a university to include student population isn't located in downtown Dallas also causes the numbers to be lower as well.

[TTU Arch]

Originally Posted by R1070

I've heard somewhere around 40,000+ for downtown and the immediate area that encircles it. Which excludes other Central Dallas neighborhoods like Oak Lawn, Knox-Henderson, etc. That sounds about right and it continues to grow. Downtown proper within the loop still has quite a bit of growth to do before it hits 35,000, but I think it's currently somewhere around 10,000 which isn't that terrible considering where it was not that long ago and the fact that the area is not that large. The fact that a university to include student population isn't located in downtown Dallas also causes the numbers to be lower as well.

I believe its now north of 8,000. Back in 2010 the number the census estimated just short of 6,100 and there is an oline estimate of 7,800 for 2012. In 2000 the number was 2,100. I cannot find an official number online, maybe we'll get a fun PR piece updating the numbers in 2016. There have been a bevy of projects that have now opened that were in construction or being drawn back in 2010 so 10K is a safe bit. There is also a group of several hundred units opening in 2016 that have been under construction / development for the past 2-3 years. FYI - 10,000 was the key number the experts like ULI stated was key to get downtown to be a true neighborhood that would sustain its own retail. Well..... there is a number of retail outlets opening in the next few years including the very upscale 4510 across from the original Neiman Marcus.

Downtown investments:
http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-...nvestors-are-flocking-to-downtown-dallas

New Department Store? and retail:
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retai...ent-store-may-be-in-downtowns-future.ece