DALLAS FORT WORTH | Urban + Suburban P & C

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One Arts Plaza by TexasStar and psukhu

[colemonkee]

Victory Plaza's looking good. Is that office space?

[Owlhorn]

yes, with a mixed-use ground floor

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Originally Posted by colemonkee

Victory Plaza's looking good. Is that office space?

Yes, it will be office space and retail space. The local ABC station will have a news studio on the bottom floor. (www.wfaa.com)

More info at: http://www.victorypark.com (then go to Vision--> Master Plan)

[CTroyMathis]

Victory Plaza is looking pretty damn impressive.

[Owlhorn]

Mercantile renovation progress by Ninjatune

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Ritz-Carlton by psukhu


Azure from webcam


Sugar Film Production HQ by BigD5349


Arlington Towncenter(near Ameriquest Field and Six Flags) rendering

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Mexico Club Operator Prepping First US Stage
By Connie Gore
Last updated: April 14, 2006 09:47am

(For more retail coverage, click GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)
DALLAS-With the spotlight always shining on the West End, a Mexico City entertainment giant has leased 8,472 sf to backfill dormant nightclub space with its first location in the US. The Mambo Cafe, getting ready for a minimum 10-year run, will open doors in late summer in the West End Parking Center.

Grupo Freedom is prepping the stage to redo the former Have a Nice Day space at 2020 N. Lamar St., a 38,000-sf retail and office complex tucked into the city's leading one-stop shop of clubs and restaurants. "Our overall strategy was to replace Have a Nice Day with a good, upscale club operator," says Steve Williamson, senior vice president in Dallas for Houston-based Transwestern Commercial Services.

"It's the beginning of a transformation for the parking deck," Mason Bishop, a Transwestern associate, tells GlobeSt.com. He, Williamson and Transwestern vice president Larry Jordan spent six months negotiating the deal with Grupo Freedom's local brokers, Jack Gosnell, executive vice president with UCR Urban, and Marcello Rosen, a senior vice president.

The entertainment lease fills the largest opening in the locally owned parking center. Quoted rates range from the mid- to high teens.

According to the operator's website, Mambo Cafe is the newest concept of Caribbean discotheques, fusing classical tropical music with Latin pop. The club will end up neighboring House of Blues, setting up hard-to-beat synergies to marry the West End and Victory nightlife scene. "It's going to be the most exciting thing for the nightlife business that's hit that area in years," Williamson says.

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Bill Reed Warehouse renovation by boozo

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Multifamily Developer Gets Trophy Tract on Galleria's Doorstep
By Connie Gore
Last updated: April 10, 2006 08:27am (To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)

DALLAS-With its development flag already planted in the Galleria submarket, Omaha-based Slosburg Co. has started interviewing architects to design another high-end residential project. This time, the project site is 3.58 acres on Macy's doorstep.

"We like what's going on there," says Rachel Slosburg, partner in an 88-year-old family firm that paid a possible record price for the 13420 Noel Rd. tract. "It's a premier piece," she says. "There's a need to make this an identity neighborhood. We're long-term owners and we want to know what we put up there is going to stand the test of time." She stresses that whatever rises will be designed to complement local developer Robert Shaw's $50-million Village on the Green, an urban-style, mid-rise setting with 200 apartment homes and 90,000 sf of retail.

The low-key developer of high-end multifamily properties is planning to advance the project "as quickly as possible," Slosburg tells GlobeSt.com. "By late summer or early fall, you'll start to see some development. We're excited. The Galleria has a lot of buzz going on."

Thomas Clarke, senior vice president in Dallas for Grubb & Ellis Co., and associate Lindsay Allen had the land on the market nearly four years at $40 per sf for Los Angeles-based USC Investment Partnership LP. "The pricing was such that it was the highest priced there," Clarke says.

Clarke says the deal closed within 30 days of Slosburg going hard on the price to outmaneuver three other offers. "They were willing to put money at risk and close quickly," he says. "This was the major sale of that pocket." In recent dealmaking, the highest price that he can recall was $32.50 per sf for vacant land. The new owner, he says, paid close to the seller's ask.

Slosburg will develop the site with Omaha-based partner, the Richdale Group, just as it did with its other Galleria footprints--the Dorchester Apartments at 5300 Spring Valley Rd. and Saxony Apartments at 14601 Montfort Dr. The newest undertaking, like the 1990s-era predecessors, is being planned as a long-term hold, Slosburg says.

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Victory Plaza

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Third Rail Lofts construction and Gulf States building renovation by Ninjatune

[TTU Arch]

ARISTOCRAT HOTEL TO BECOME HOTEL INDIGO

http://www.downtowndallas.com/current.htm#indigo

Hotel Indigo is an exclusive, limited line of upscale luxury hotels only found in a few select cities including Chicago, Atlanta and Houston. To be complete in June, the company has begun renovations on the Aristocrat Hotel in Downtown Dallas (corner of Harwood and Main Street).


Each room at Hotel Indigo will be designed around the soothing, simple yet intricate patterns found in nature. Rooms are being designed with the ultimate comforts in mind, including:

• Oversized beds standing high off the floor, stacked with plenty of fluffy, oversized pillows
• Hardwood floors
• Spa-style showers
• Wide-open foyers
• High-speed Internet access

The Aristocrat Hotel of Dallas, a one-of-a-kind hotel built in 1925 by Conrad Hilton was the first to bear his name. Today, faithfully restored, the building is a nationally registered landmark characterized by a wealth of architectural detail and the unmistakable luxury and tradition of yesteryear.

[colemonkee]

I'm sad to see the Aristocrat go, even if it is run by Holiday Inn now. I've stayed there few times and loved the old style of the rooms. A bit outdated, but still a ton of character.

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....4eddad8f.html

Chicago company will develop Frisco site

11:51 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 19, 2006

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

The city of Frisco is teaming up with one of the country’s biggest shopping mall builders on a mixed-use development.

General Growth Properties of Chicago has been selected to develop almost 200 acres that Frisco controls at the southwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Highway 380.

Plans call for a shopping center, hotel and conference center along with residential space.

“There were a number of quality development firms that were interested in the property,” said Jim Gandy, president of the Frisco Economic Development Corp. “We are certainly very familiar with General Growth and not only with what they have done in Frisco but all across the U.S.”

In 2000, General Growth opened the $150 million, 1.6 million-square-foot Stonebriar Centre mall in Frisco at State Highway 121 and Preston Road.

The U.S. 380 site that General Growth will develop is about eight miles north and won’t be used for another regional mall.

Instead, the city says the land will be used for “an open-air commercial and residential center around a waterfront town square park.”

“We envision much more than a place to shop,” Butch Papon, first vice president of development for General Growth, said in a statement. “This will be a self-contained community offering an enviable quality of life for those who live and work there, while also being a great place for visitors.”

E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

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Dallas Business Journal - April 17, 2006
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas...17/story3.html


Euro hotel planned in McKinney

Dallas Business Journal - April 14, 2006
by Sandra Zaragoza
Staff Writer

North Texas travelers acquainted with Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts in Europe will soon be able to stay at a luxury Golden Tulip hotel much closer to home -- in McKinney.

Memphis, Tenn.-based Crescent Development Group Inc. is planning a $100 million-plus, "five star" Golden Tulip hotel at Craig Ranch, a high-profile development in McKinney.

The eight-story hotel will likely be associated in some way with The Cooper Aerobics Center at Craig Ranch, a fitness center and day spa that recently opened, says Mark Skoda of Crescent Development Group.

The Dallas-based Cooper Aerobics Center confirmed that it's in talks with Crescent on "a reciprocal relationship for Cooper Spa at Craig Ranch," according to Sarah Grohmann, a spokeswoman for Cooper Aerobics.

Though it's relatively unknown in the United States, Netherlands-based Golden Tulip Hotels Inns & Resorts is one of the world's largest hotel companies, operating 221 hotels in 39 countries, according to the company's Web site. Through various agreements, Golden Tulip manages another 507 hotels.

Golden Tulip is known mainly for upscale hotels. The company has three core hotel brands: Golden Tulip, Golden Tulip Resort and Tulip Inn, a mid-level brand. Golden Tulip's hotels are located in the Netherlands, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Asia.

Bethesda, Md., is the only U.S. market with a Golden Tulip hotel. The Maryland hotel has 75 "European-style" guest rooms, in-room safes, a business center, a restaurant and valet services.

In McKinney, preliminary plans call for a 250- to 275-room Golden Tulip boutique hotel at Craig Ranch, but the size of the hotel may change, Skoda said.

The boutique hotel will boast European architecture and will have a "Euro-centric" approach to lodging. The hotel's restaurants will be "family-friendly," he said.

Asked whether the Golden Tulip project would include condominiums, Skoda declined to comment.

While the developers may ask for incentives from the city of McKinney, he added, the development is being financed through debt and equity and is not contingent on incentives.
'Global orientation'

Crescent and Craig Ranch developer David Craig, president and CEO of Craig International Inc., are in final negotiations for about 9 acres for the hotel project on the south side of Collin McKinney Parkway, across from the golf course and near the Cooper Aerobics Center.

Karen "K.K." Taylor, a senior vice president with Craig International's brokerage division, is handling the land sale to Crescent.

Craig plans to announce the land sale and other details about the hotel during an April 18 press conference at Craig Ranch that will be attended by Hans Kennedie, Golden Tulip's president and CEO.

Golden Tulip and Crescent are also planning a hotel in Memphis. Both the McKinney and Memphis hotels are scheduled for 2008 openings. Golden Tulip has said that North America will be a growth market for its brands going forward.

Golden Tulip's "strategy with their new product is global orientation and European flair," Skoda said. "That is their differentiator in the market."

Local hospitality experts were surprised that Golden Tulip would select McKinney -- and that Craig Ranch would choose a European luxury brand.

Craig said it wasn't that surprising. "When you have the brand of PGA and Cooper Aerobics, we needed a lodging component that was on par -- and Golden Tulip is that brand," he said.

Skoda said Crescent was attracted to McKinney because of "Craig's vision at Craig Ranch," swift progress on the 2,000-acre residential and commercial project and completion of the aerobics center and The Tournament Players Club at Craig Ranch, the only PGA-owned and operated golf club in Texas. The TPC may host PGA events in the near future, Craig said.

Eventually, he added, the golf course is expected to draw its share of visitors, and the highly-regarded aerobics center and the planned Cooper Clinic, a medical clinic, also will attract clients from across the country as well as internationally.

Hospitality analyst Greg Crown of PKF Consulting's Dallas office says currrent demand for hotel rooms in McKinney is limited, and is likely to stay that way.

"I don't doubt that the golf course and the Cooper Clinic has some draw. And it's a very nice community," Crown said. "But what's the demand out there? Where is the commercial business going to come from? It's a growth area and has great growth potential. It's just an unusual choice."

Golden Tulip will have its work cut out for it, as business travelers are more comfortable with brands like Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, Crown added.

Hospitality veteran Chuck Bedsole, of Alvarez & Marsal Real Estate Advisory Services L.L.C. in Dallas, said that European brands have historically not fared well in the United States.

However, he added, "If there is a time for a European brand and design-oriented hotel, given the growing familiarity, now might be as good a time as any."

szaragoza@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7113

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

[CTroyMathis]

Here's an alternate look at Fairfield's Cityplace West development, a 20 story mixed use dealio.

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Development going up on site that once held beloved Il Sorrento
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

A new North Dallas condominium building will take its name from a beloved neighborhood restaurant.

The five-story Sorrento condo complex is being constructed on the site of the Il Sorrento restaurant, which was demolished in 2003.

The Italian-style building is being developed by Glenbrook Residential Inc. The project will have 97 units priced from $245,000 to more than $500,000.

The condos at 8616 Turtle Creek Blvd. will average about 1,300 square feet, and the project will have a landscaped courtyard, swimming pool and rooftop terrace.

The Il Sorrento restaurant was "an Italian destination that we couldn't let fall to the wayside," said developer Guy Brignon.

"I always wanted to do something in an Italian motif."

Coldwell Banker Residential is marketing the project and already has potential buyers, said agent Ned Cammack.

"There is nothing like this in the neighborhood," he said.

Construction is under way on the building, which should open early next year.

After more than 53 years in business, the popular Il Sorrento closed when owner Mario Messina sold the property to developers and retired.

"We asked Mr. Messina for his permission to use the name," Mr. Brignon said.

"The problem is we are getting some calls wanting to make restaurant reservations."

In its heyday, the restaurant was a favorite hangout of locals and visiting celebrities.

At least one other Dallas real estate project is named for a defunct restaurant.

The Chateau Plaza office tower on McKinney Avenue takes its name from the Chateaubriand restaurant that stood on the corner until the early 1980s.

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Joule Urban Resort by Crescentboi

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Mercantile Block renovation by Crescentboi