Real Estate

Downtown Dallas experienced unprecedented progress in 2012 with the completion of several marquee  projects, as well as important under-the-radar residential developments that have the city poised for more growth, business and city leaders agreed on the Sunday, March 10, broadcast of the KRLD “Pulse of the City” roundtable.

In addition to 2012 completions of a signature Calatrava-designed bridge, the opening of the Perot Museum of Science & Nature, the City Performance Hall, and the Klyde Warren Park spanning the Woodall Rogers Freeway, millions of square feet of aging office buildings are being quietly transformed into hotel and residential space.

Read more at Marquee 2012 Developments Have Downtown Dallas Poised For Growth « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth.

Real estate brokers say that KPMG has picked developer Craig Hall’s planned Arts District office tower for its new location.

The race to build the next office tower in downtown Dallas has gotten a boost toward the starting line.

Read more at KPMG picks Dallas Arts District building for its new office | Dallasnews.com – News for Dallas, Texas – The Dallas Morning News.

Theresa O’Donnell, head of the city’s Sustainable Development department, calls the plan to rezone, redraw and completely redo 430 acres of North Dallas “the most exciting thing I’ve ever been involved in” during her decade at Dallas City Hall. The reason? “This is doable, it’s achievable, and all the stars are aligned.”

She’s referring specifically to the Valley View-Galleria Area Plan, a glimpse of which was presented this morning to the Dallas City Plan Commission and its Urban Design Committee, along with a small room jam-packed with North Dallas property owners and developers. But, as you’ll note below, it was just that — a glimpse, 12 PowerPoint pages consisting of time lines, conceptual renderings and such buzzwords and catchphrases as “pedestrian friendly, mixed use neighborhood,” “vibrant shopping and entertainment district” and “high density supported by a network of enhanced streets and open spaces.”

Read more at At City Hall this morning a peek at the vision for Midtown Dallas, which will make over 430 acres of North Dallas | City Hall Blog.

Growth momentum has shifted decidedly toward Texas. Austin’s population expanded a remarkable 3% last year, tops among the nation’s 52 largest metro areas. Three other Lone Star metropolitan areas — Houston, San Antonio and Dallas-Ft. Worth — ranked in the top six and all expanded at roughly twice the national average. 

Read more at America’s Fastest- and Slowest-Growing Cities – Forbes.

Downtown Dallas’ new Mercantile Continental apartment building has 203 tricked-out rental units and a posh ground floor lobby lounge and spa.

There’s also 5,000 square feet of store space fronting Commerce Street, just a block from one of downtown Dallas’ new signature parks.

You would think that rounding up a few retail and restaurant tenants for such a choice location would be a snap.

But there’s still twice that much empty retail space across the street in the recently renovated Mercantile National Bank building.

Downtown Dallas has the highest retail vacancy rate of any North Texas business district.

Read more at Downtown Dallas retail space still lagging as residential and office population grows | Dallasnews.com – News for Dallas, Texas – The Dallas Morning News.

The fate of a proposal to build a high-speed rail line connecting Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston may rest on whether North Texas leaders can agree on where to put a station.

The Regional Transportation Council about two years ago adopted a policy stating that if an entity wants to bring bullet trains to the region, there should be three stations — one in downtown Fort Worth, one in either Arlington or the CentrePort area near DFW Airport, and another in downtown Dallas.

But in recent weeks word has begun to spread that a group known as Texas Central High-Speed Railway Llc., which is collaborating with Central Japan Railway Co. to bring high-speed rail to the region, wants to open only one station on North Texas’ outskirts, in southeast Dallas County.

Read more at 1Station locations may determine high-speed rail’s future in North Texas | Your Commute |….

This much we do know: Whatever happens on that enormous patch of land at LBJ and the Dallas North Tollway is way down the road … as in, far beyond the completion of the LBJ Express in 2015(ish). And it will involve significant rezoning, as well as the likely creation of both a tax increment financing district and a public improvement district, both of which will be dependent upon significant investment by private developers beyond just the Beck family, which bought most of Valley View Center last year

Read more at “A big game-changer”? Next week, Dallas’ plan commission to get first glimpse at future of Valley View-Galleria area | City Hall Blog.

The light rail system in Dallas saw a 20.8 percent increase over 2011, just one of many factors in a year of rising transit ridership nationwide.

Read more at Transit Trips Rose Faster Than Driving in 2012, Despite Impact of Sandy | Streetsblog Capitol Hill.

By now you’re probably well aware that the Houston Street Viaduct connecting downtown to Oak Cliff is closed — and will remain shut down till at least the fall of ’14 as crews make room for those streetcars. But many readers have asked: What will those streetcars actually look like when they roll across Houston?

Read more at What will Dallas’ new streetcars look like, anyway? This. | Transportation Blog.