Some stress patience amid hopes that AT&T Performing Arts Center will revitalize downtown Dallas

From: Dallas Morning News
By: David Flick // October 11, 2009

The new AT&T Performing Arts Center, sprawling across 10 acres of lawn, is big by any standard. The Arts District to which it will be officially joined Monday is the largest in the country.

Yet the entire 68-acre district represents only about 8 percent of Dallas' downtown.

Therein lies the city's biggest challenge in the long march toward revitalizing the center city.

Local urban planners note that the AT&T center is just one of several significant developments happening – or about to happen downtown.

Blocks away from the Arts District, another urban park is nearing completion, several new restaurants are preparing to open and a new hotel just came online. And many more projects are in the works.

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Apartments the only private-sector project under construction in Dallas Arts District

From: Dallas Morning News / Dallas Urban Core
By: Steve Brown // October 5, 2009

The Arts Apartments by Jefferson is the only private-sector project being erected in the Arts District.

The one private-sector development being built in Dallas' Arts District won't open until next year. The Arts Apartments by Jefferson is under construction at Ross Avenue and Routh Street.

The six-story apartment building is next door to the One Arts Plaza tower and across the street from the new AT&T Performing Arts Center. The Arts Apartments by Jefferson is the only private-sector project being erected in the Arts District.

Developer JPI Inc. has been working on the project since mid-2008.

"There are 228 units, and it will be completed by summer 2010," said JPI's Brad Taylor. "The Arts has a superior location, being located within the Arts District, and has generated a lot of interest from the community."

JPI officials say it's too early to say how much the apartments will rent for.

Designed by Atlanta-based Preston Partnership, the rental project will be clad in a combination of white, gray, blue and rust-colored stucco.

DFW APARTMENT DEMAND UP; OCCUPANCY, RENTS DOWN

From: Dallas Urban Core
October 9, 2009

North Texas apartment occupancy fell in the third quarter, as did its average rent when compared with October 2008 figures, according to Carrollton-based MPF Research Inc.

The apartment analyst firm reported a 4.1 percent decrease in Dallas’ average apartment rent to $772 between third quarter 2008 and 2009. Fort Worth experienced a 2.1 percent fall to $686 during the same period.

North Texas apartment occupancy came to 89.9 percent at the end of September, down from over 93 percent a year ago.

However, Dallas–Fort Worth net leasing during the third quarter increased for the first time in a year by 2,770 units.

With an estimated 17,576 apartments under construction at the end of September, about 8,500 apartments are set to open by the close of 2009.

Elsewhere, Austin’s average rent fell 6.8 percent to $829, Houston rents fell 2 percent to $783 and San Antonio rents fell 0.7 percent to $725.

New mixed-use project planned for downtown Austin

From: AustinAmericanStatesman.com
By: Shonda Novak // October 8, 2009

A South Texas developer is proposing to build a 12-story building with apartments, offices, shops and a white-tablecloth restaurant near the Capitol.

Palmco, Inc., a developer and builder with offices in McAllen and Austin, wants to build Capitol Terrace at the southwest corner of Lavaca and 14th streets.

It would have 30 upscale apartments, aimed at lobbyists and others with business at the Capitol or state agencies, as well as five floors (61,000 square feet) of office space, said John Donisi, an attorney and partner with Drenner & Golden Stuart Wolff LP.

The firm is representing Palmco in its request for a zoning change to build a larger, taller building than city rules allow.

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Lake Dallas EDC plans for train stop

From: LakeCitiesSun.com
By: Anthony Scott // October 8, 2009

While formally no official word has been announced about a train stop in Lake Dallas, the city's Economic Development Corporation has been talking about making some big moves financially; Big enough to suggest that the Denton County Transportation Authority and the city could be working on a train station in the near future.

At a Thursday City Council meeting, City Manager Earl Berner said Unified Airways may leave Lake Dallas and the city is working with a realtor to acquire the lot with its Economic Development Corporation.

"There is a property for sale that will be a better place for the railroad station," he said.

The property is about 14 acres and is larger than the previously planned rail station plot which was about 11 acres. While DCTA has yet to formally respond to the city about including it as a member city, the city is talking about moving ahead anyway.

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Revitalization in Dallas requires input from all sectors

From: Pegasus News
By; Michael Davis of Dallas Progress // September 30, 2009

Anything written by Rev. Gerald Britt will command my attention. He has been in the trenches, working on behalf of the community for decades. With that in mind, make sure you read his post on his Change the Wind blog.

Rev. Britt is right; a lot of people are working countless hours to improve the community in Dallas. In some areas, assistance is given by the city but we always need residents and interested citizens to fill the gap. We also need media to report the good and bad that is going on.

With respect to District Four, the philosophy is to "make it safe," and then businesses will return. I still remember three years ago when people were telling Dwaine Caraway that his campaign would go nowhere if he made public safety his number one issue. Well, as we continue to find innovative ways to reduce crime the investment is coming back slowly but surely.

Even within the City, we are not waiting for the Task Force to do the work for us. Crest Shopping Center in Oak Cliff is being revitalized, the 8th & Corinth/Fiji mixed-use transit-oriented development project will break ground shortly, and zoning is being reviewed on the eastern side of our district to ensure better uses for that area.

The convenience store initiative is now law, and the goal is for it to be expanded to car washes. The store ordinance requires videotaping of all areas of the premises, as well as all being part of DPD's criminal trespass program which allows police to effectively address loitering issues which foster drug dealing and other crimes.

The city has a role, the newspaper has a role, and the community has a role. Everyone has a part in the success.

Trinity Park

From: Dallas Urban Core
September 22, 2009













About the Trinity River Corridor Project:
The projected $2 billion Trinity River Corridor Project is the largest and most complex public works and urban development project undertaken by the City of Dallas, and is first and foremost a flood protection solution and one of the largest of its type in the nation. The project consists of five major components: flood protection, transportation, recreation, environment management, and business development. The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, designed by internationally known architect Santiago Calatrava, is under construction and will be completed in 2011. A second Calatrava designed bridge, the Margaret McDermott Bridge (I-30), is planned for a later date. The Trinity River Audubon Center (TRAC), a flagship location for the Texas Audubon Society, is a beautiful teaching and recreational site in the Great Trinity Forest. TRAC celebrates its first anniversary October 10-11, 2009. Gateway Parks, such as Moore Park Gateway, are under renovation, and Loop 12 Gateway is being designed. In addition, over ten miles of new trail has been completed, as is the 70-acre Lower Chain of Wetlands. For project updates and to watch the bridge progress, visit: www.trinityrivercorridor.org.

Downtown Fort Worth Condo Market

From: Fort Worth Star Telegram
By: Sandra Baker // September 28, 2009

FORT WORTH — Developers of the six-story luxury condo building Villa de Leon, perched on the Trinity River bluff along Samuels Avenue at the north end of downtown Fort Worth, plan to close their first sale soon.

At the opposite end of downtown, workers are feverishly completing the high-rise condo floors of the Omni Hotel, where owners want to start closing sales in November.

Both projects were started when the market for downtown condos and town houses was ripe for the taking. Neither developer, however, imagined just how much things would change — and not for the better — in the housing market in the past year. Nor did other new residential developers.

Today, sales are flat. At least one developer is leasing units to bring in income, rather than risk losing his project to the bank.

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Does Dallas have great streets? Not yet, says City Hall

From: Dallas Morning News
By: Rudolph Bush / September 28, 2009

Tomorrow, the City Council's transportation committee takes up streets, andparticularly how they work for you if you happen to be anywhere but inside a car.

The answer, as everybody knows, is not so great.So what does it take to build a "great street?

"Well, for starters, good sidewalks and landscaping buffers like trees between people and cars.

But there's something else missing here in Dallas, it says. You go some places and it's just blah. Nothing to it. No identity.

What do you think?