Downtown Dallas: Statler Hotel & Residences + Future DMN Offices (Old Statler Hilton + Old Library)

[dukemeredith]

Old article, but I figured I'd use it to re-start the thread:

http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d ... n-rebirth/

I spoke with an older construction worker recently, and he confirmed the residences would be finished by February. I believe he said they would be floors 8 and up. May have been 11 and up. I can't remember.

He also indicated that the 24 hour diner was going in the corner facing Commerce and St. Paul. Also, the ballrooms are being restored (this all may be old information...).

When looking at the building, it seems they have a long way to go. But I suppose much of the exterior work is left for last.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/ ... ml?ana=fbk

The construction worker confirmed the Old Library would be ready for DMN around February, as well.

[joshua.dodd]

What's going to happen to the original Dallas Morning News location if they're moving operations to the Old Library?

[Tivo_Kenevil]

What's going to happen to the original Dallas Morning News location if they're moving operations to the Old Library?

Not sure. But I think something related with HSR

[willyk]

$$$$$$$$$ for some TOD. Any relation to the Dallas News advocating for HSR is purely coincidental.

[tamtagon]

If the DMN stays independent, I guess even if it's bought and gutted...., that's turning into the downtown that was destroyed by the suburban migration! The City lives!

[TreeFrog]

http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/deve ... es-8890113

Developer Behind Statler Remodel Accused of Involvement in a Ponzi-Like Scheme, Unpaid Taxes
Dallas developer Mehrdad Moayedi has spent the last two years juggling several projects across Denton, Dallas and Collin counties. As the president and CEO of Centurion American Development Group, he has mastered the use of special purpose districts to help fund development in rural areas, birthed a Riverwalk town center in Flower Mound that looks nothing like the original proposal voters approved, and tackled the difficult task of remodeling the historic Statler Hotel, a downtown Dallas building that was nearly demolished in 2003.

[dukemeredith]

Floorplans and pricing for apartments are now available.

http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/35607615 ... own-dallas

www.statlerresidences.com

[mdg109]

Does anyone know if they'll start construction on the Parking Garage next to the 7-Eleven once the Statler is completed?

[cowboyeagle05]

It's purely based on how long the city takes to sell the property to them. The city owns the parking lot the garage would sit on.

[dukemeredith]

That's a great piece of property for them. I certainly hope they build a garage with some retail space, though, to contribute to that corner of the park.

[willyk]

Are there other restored mid-century modern commercial buildings that are comparable to this? Will this be one of the best examples in the country?

[The_Overdog]

Are there other restored mid-century modern commercial buildings that are comparable to this? Will this be one of the best examples in the country?

I'm not 100% sure, but I would guess that NYC, LA, Chicago, and Las Vegas are filled with buildings of a similar design style and age.

[gshelton91]

That's a great piece of property for them. I certainly hope they build a garage with some retail space, though, to contribute to that corner of the park.

I know things can change but my understanding was that it would include retail. In fact i think they were targeting a grocery store... but if the building on Elm is as well i would think they would have the upper hand since they are closer to the center of the city.

[ArtVandelay]

I hate to break it to ya but the original modern looking parking structure with the Apple store rendering has been replaced by this (which fronts Jackson St and does include space for some street level retail):

[xen0blue]

I hate to break it to ya but the original modern looking parking structure with the Apple store rendering has been replaced by this (which fronts Jackson St and does include space for some street level retail):

Actually, that's even better! I like

[willyk]

I hate to break it to ya but the original modern looking parking structure with the Apple store rendering has been replaced by this (which fronts Jackson St and does include space for some street level retail):

They are selling themselves short, maybe even hurting themselves, with dumpy retail frontage like that. Money getting tight I guess.

[dukemeredith]

The architecture of that garage seems more fitting of the area — very mid-century.

For better or for worse.

[xen0blue]

I hate to break it to ya but the original modern looking parking structure with the Apple store rendering has been replaced by this (which fronts Jackson St and does include space for some street level retail):

They are selling themselves short, maybe even hurting themselves, with dumpy retail frontage like that. Money getting tight I guess.

After a closer look, I still like the building except you are right about the retail frontage. Doesn't exactly scream 'downtown'...actually looks kind of cheap, and i'm worried the homeless people will try to congregate there because of that overhang (don't know what the proper word for that is? mezzanine? portico?) above the retail.

[cowboyeagle05]

Well, it looks similar to 1001 Ross which retail success has been spotty but that one also faces the West End Transfer Station. This one is near a rather popular bus stop in front of the Old Libray and 7-Eleven. I will be curious to see once the high-end hotel opens what they will attempt to do to discourage crowds from hanging out that they don't want. We already saw AT&T get the old bus stop moved from fronting their plaza.

[muncien]

I have no issue with the building materials, but y'all are right about those big overhangs. They make sense on paper (shade, shelter, wide sidewalks), but never perform well in reality. That garage that houses the 24hr fitness off San Jacinto & Harwood, and the Las Colinas Urban Center retail that fronts Las Colinas blvd are good examples. They tend to turn the store fronts into dark caverns and fail to lure in traffic. I can't honestly think of a similar setup that performs well. But, hopefully they have a plan to brighten them up.

My bigger concern is for the existing buildings along Commerce (Doug's Gym, 7/11). I've always had a soft spot for those little buildings along that stretch. Would this garage wipe those out , or simply wrap around them? Isn't there some historic protections in this area?

[ArtVandelay]

The new garage isn't supposed to directly impact the properties fronting Commerce.

[dfwcre8tive]

My bigger concern is for the existing buildings along Commerce (Doug's Gym, 7/11). I've always had a soft spot for those little buildings along that stretch. Would this garage wipe those out , or simply wrap around them? Isn't there some historic protections in this area?

Those two building are "compatible" buildings but not "contributing" buildings in the historic district, meaning they aren't really protected.

As for the lot where this is being built, any new construction is going to resemble this style more than a glass box. It has similar restrictions to new construction in the West End. Some challenges any new building on these lots face are:

- Building must have an expressed base, shaft, and building top, compatible with surrounding buildings.
- Entrances must be emphasized.
- Along Harwood Street the base must extend to the property line.
- Building base must be differentiated from the shaft. Arcades and canopies are allowed.
- No more than two building materials for the cladding.
- Window openings on the base can't be more than 70%. Curtain glass walls permitted if they fall within this amount.

There are some other requirements, including the screening of parking garages: http://dallascityhall.com/departments/s ... treet.aspx

Taking all that into account, this proposal seems to meet most requirements but is probably an early rendering to seek review (glass % at street level could be an issue). It's certainly a box. Personally I think the top could use some setbacks and the facade could use more variation, especially if this long facade is going to front a new park.

I'm not a fan of many of his projects, but a retro-modern design by David M. Schwarz would work well in this location. The newer buildings in Sundance Square come to mind.







And someone please narrow Harwood to make it more pedestrian friendly. The sidewalks here are terribly narrow. Two narrow drive lanes with a center landscaped turn lane are more appropriate and would greatly improve the street. Harwood has the potential to be the best north-south street in downtown Dallas.

[dfwcre8tive]

After looking closer at that diagram, it appears that the only habitable portion of this long structure is the western end (beige in the diagram). The rest of the structure is a parking garage masked as a building. Why build Harwood Park at all if the highest use for this adjacent lot is only parking?

[muncien]

Glad to see it won't be fronting Commerce, and those existing buildings will remain. Thx for the info.

I still don't understand the proposed Harwood Park. It really doesn't make sense to me. What this area needs is more residential density. I honestly don't know who is supposed to use this park.

As I've mentioned before... When looking at DCAD, there is a group who bought up nearly all the properties surrounding that park and will make a pretty penny if it goes through. I continue to be suspicious of the motivations for this park.

[tamtagon]

Here's hoping that so much real estate as dedicated neighborhood park in this part of downtown will see to converting the vast underdeveloped real estate. On the other side of downtown, we're starting to see some very large residential towers, that's a trend seemingly underwritten by abundant neighborhood parks. Main Street Park, Pacific Park, Harwood Park..... and they're all on Harwood Street that runs from Katy Trail to the Farmer's Market - which for some unfathomable reason still has not been officially proposed to be converted into promarily a pedestrian oriented corridor. With so many medium sized parks just around the corner, that's gonna be a fantastic location.

[dukemeredith]

DMN officially signed their lease last week.

A.H. Belo, publisher of The Dallas Morning News, has signed a 16-year lease that will move the newspaper from its longtime home at 508 Young Street to a modernized work space in the Old Dallas Central Library at the opposite end of downtown Dallas.

The lease, which has the option of two renewal terms of five years each, starts rent free the first year, with the rent gradually increasing to $28 per square foot in year 16.

Murray said she expects the move to take place over several months in the late spring and early summer. Some workers will move "in a June-July time frame," while activity related to the relocation could begin as early as April.

The company's news operations will occupy the first floor and mezzanine, in a configuration designed to improve collaboration between departments, Murray said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/real ... ve-statler

[joshua.dodd]

What's going to happen to the old DMN headquarters now that they are moving?

[dukemeredith]

^ article says Belo is still evaluating their options.

The company is still "considering our alternatives regarding 508 Young and the acreage we sit on," she said. In an upcoming earnings conference call with analysts, the company plans to release information on the approximate appraised value of the eight acres of land at Young and Houston and the next steps for the property.

She said there are no offers to date.

Changing addresses could save $1 million annually, after the Young property is sold, she said.

[xen0blue]

Damn, DMN is only going to occupy two floors of the (tiny) old library? They must be going through some really hard times

[tamtagon]

Damn, DMN is only going to occupy two floors of the (tiny) old library? They must be going through some really hard times

ya less than a third the space. maybe one of the TV station teams will move close to the law school, too. sumpin' happin over there

[cowboyeagle05]

It's less that they are going through hard times it's more that the reality is that media companies are vastly different than they were 5 years ago. DMN has been bloated for over 2 centuries and they are finally getting to the size they need to be. The reality is it's much better to send reporters and sales staff work out of the office and only come back occasionally and/or weekly. Provide for an office stipend if they are a big enough player and they can work out of any number of coworking centers and local shared office spaces. Many staff needs to be embedded in communities and an HQ should be about gathering for big company-wide meetings. Newspapers, CNN and Johnny Youtube are competing for the same eyeballs and having a large impressive staff won't necessarily bring eyeballs back from Youtube and Snapchat and the billions of blogs that occupy many people's reading habits these days. This sounds like a great option they are abandoning holding on to the old fashioned newspaper facility because the world of news production is worlds away from when those buildings were built.

[lakewoodhobo]

They are replacing the marble facade on the library now.

[joshua.dodd]

The DMN has been in a decline for a few years now thanks to independent journalism via the internet. It's not just DMN. It's all the major corporate news broadcasting networks on television. They are all taking huge hits loosing viewership and subscribers.

[Tucy]

It looks like apartments are available for rent starting March 1. Very cool. (And they are offering up to 6 weeks of free rent.)

Does anyone know of the status of the hotel in the Statler redo? It was supposed to have been part of Hilton's Curio Collection and was to have opened last fall. It is not even listed as a "coming soon" hotel on Curio's website.

[dukemeredith]

My conversations with construction workers has indicated that they're working from the top and proceeding downward.

So the hotel will follow after the residences. DMN space is projected to be done by April or May. I've been told the whole project will be done by summer; restaurants and all.

[cowboyeagle05]

Yet still not a peep on the garage needed for the office, hotel, residences and retail.

[dd_dweller]

Has there been any mention of any new restaurants or retail thats going to open here? Looking forward to the new restaurants and retail opening downtown.

[willyk]

So over a period of a few months this corner will see the openings of four hotels, a residential development, a corporate HQ and sundry restaurants, all with a one-of-kind view of a classic building from Main Street Garden.

EMC doesn't have a strong center of gravity now, a place where everyone gathers or a must see destination for out-of-towners. I think this will be the spot. It might even deliver critical mass to the neighborhood.

[lakewoodhobo]

IRS opens probe into financing for Statler redevelopment
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-c ... evelopment

The IRS is examining a complex financing that raised $26.5 million for the $221 million project.

Lawyers involved in the tax-exempt bond sale published a notice Monday telling investors that the IRS is examining the deal because of concerns "that the debt issuance may fail one or more provisions" of the tax code.

[lakewoodhobo]

CPC will consider tomorrow a plan to reduce Harwood St from Commerce to Jackson "from 85 feet of right-of-way to 64 feet of right-of-way" in order to accommodate the garage for the Statler while also widening the sidewalks.

The City has received applications from Viewtech and the Office of Economic Development to amend to the Central Business District Streets and Vehicular Circulation Plan. The amendments will modify the sidewalk width on Harwood Street. The requests for reductions in the right-of-way will maintain a 10-foot sidewalk on both sides of the roadway for the pedestrian zone, while not impact vehicle capacity.

The amendment to Harwood Street between Commerce Street and Jackson Street was requested by Viewtech to reduce the right-of-way to facilitate development of an underground parking garage for the Statler Hotel on land that currently exists as a surface level parking lot. The surface parking lot that encroaches in the City’s designated right-of-way; however, the existing sidewalk width is 5.5 feet. The applicant has agreed to dedicate the additional 4.5 feet of parkway to ensure a 10-foot sidewalk adjacent to their development.

It's on page 137 of the docket: http://dallascityhall.com/government/meetings/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc=/government/meetings/DCH%20Documents/plan-commission/2-16-2017_CPC%20Docket.pdf&action=default

[muncien]

^^^^ Why not close Harwood to vehicular traffic altogether while we're at it? Seriously. Not trying to be funny.

[dfwcre8tive]

^^^ Or an even better idea... start to implement the guidelines established for Harwood Street in the Downtown Dallas 360 plan.

Untitled Extract Pages.jpg

At an 80' right-of-way, Harwood was designated as a Streetcar Boulevard to connect districts (15' sidewalk and streetcar lane on each side + 2 travel lanes and a median.

2.jpg

At the new 64' right-of-way, it now becomes a neighborhood street (14' sidewalk and 8' parking on each side + 2 travel lanes).

1.jpg

It sounds like they are suggesting that the new 10' sidewalks are a temporary improvement while retaining the current 4 travel lanes and reducing overall right-of-way to accommodate development. Why not take the opportunity to redesign/rebuild the street to 360 standards instead of waiting to do it once area construction is complete? Build the 14' sidewalks and new curbs now; landscaping and travel lanes can change later.

The proposed right-of-way reductions do not preclude the proposed changes being analyzed in the 360 update. Harwood from Pacific Avenue to IH-30 is one of the priority corridors that will be studied for multimodal amenities in more detail in the 360 Plan for conceptual design changes.

Untitled Extract Pages3.jpg

[willyk]

The website for the Statler Residences is showing units available for move in on March 1.

But I am not finding any concrete information about the Hilton on the main Statler Dallas site.

[tamtagon]

It sounds like they are suggesting that the new 10' sidewalks are a temporary improvement while retaining the current 4 travel lanes and reducing overall right-of-way to accommodate development. Why not take the opportunity to redesign/rebuild the street to 360 standards instead of waiting to do it once area construction is complete? Build the 14' sidewalks and new curbs now; landscaping and travel lanes can change later.

Probably, funding would be an issue, and maybe as much about how long it would take to get the money approved as it is about the amount; but for some reason, decision makers just don't seem to believe that returning balance between pedestrian and commuter mobility is good for the neighborhood. The skepticism is likely learned since so many studies, initiatives and marketplace competitive reviews over the years delivered a failing CBD. Trying to stack the CBD with layers the once novel corporate campus - very popular and successful to turn exurbs into high value suburban employment centers - turned ridiculous, clearly the wrong approach.

It's been more than a decade since a different approach to improving the CBD built environment got underway without truncation, and at least the most recent 5 years have seen rapid population growth, rapid retail expansion and actual improvement to the office space submarket despite a global recession. It's working as predicted, as designed... but it's still just way to hard for many to believe it. I can understand it, but it's sure frustrating.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

^^^ Or an even better idea... start to implement the guidelines established for Harwood Street in the Downtown Dallas 360 plan.

Untitled Extract Pages.jpg

At an 80' right-of-way, Harwood was designated as a Streetcar Boulevard to connect districts (15' sidewalk and streetcar lane on each side + 2 travel lanes and a median.

2.jpg

At the new 64' right-of-way, it now becomes a neighborhood street (14' sidewalk and 8' parking on each side + 2 travel lanes).

1.jpg

It sounds like they are suggesting that the new 10' sidewalks are a temporary improvement while retaining the current 4 travel lanes and reducing overall right-of-way to accommodate development. Why not take the opportunity to redesign/rebuild the street to 360 standards instead of waiting to do it once area construction is complete? Build the 14' sidewalks and new curbs now; landscaping and travel lanes can change later.

The proposed right-of-way reductions do not preclude the proposed changes being analyzed in the 360 update. Harwood from Pacific Avenue to IH-30 is one of the priority corridors that will be studied for multimodal amenities in more detail in the 360 Plan for conceptual design changes.

Untitled Extract Pages3.jpg

What exactly is the plan with Downtown 360.. I don't hear anything about it anymore. Is the just a fantasy ,pie in the sky sort of deal.. ?

[cowboyeagle05]

What exactly is the plan with Downtown 360.. I don't hear anything about it anymore. Is the just a fantasy, pie in the sky sort of deal.. ?

Plans like 360 are done as guidelines for future projects the city staff pursues or for developers to implement. They are partial pie in the sky and partial real potential projects depending on how much the city pushes its suggestions forward. Like the Downtown Parks plan which at least has a body that can move it forward the street department can move the things they see in 360 forward depending on budget and general enthusiasm for the results.

[dfwcre8tive]

^^^ Or an even better idea... start to implement the guidelines established for Harwood Street in the Downtown Dallas 360 plan.

Untitled Extract Pages.jpg

At an 80' right-of-way, Harwood was designated as a Streetcar Boulevard to connect districts (15' sidewalk and streetcar lane on each side + 2 travel lanes and a median.

2.jpg

At the new 64' right-of-way, it now becomes a neighborhood street (14' sidewalk and 8' parking on each side + 2 travel lanes).

1.jpg

It sounds like they are suggesting that the new 10' sidewalks are a temporary improvement while retaining the current 4 travel lanes and reducing overall right-of-way to accommodate development. Why not take the opportunity to redesign/rebuild the street to 360 standards instead of waiting to do it once area construction is complete? Build the 14' sidewalks and new curbs now; landscaping and travel lanes can change later.

The proposed right-of-way reductions do not preclude the proposed changes being analyzed in the 360 update. Harwood from Pacific Avenue to IH-30 is one of the priority corridors that will be studied for multimodal amenities in more detail in the 360 Plan for conceptual design changes.

Untitled Extract Pages3.jpg

What exactly is the plan with Downtown 360.. I don't hear anything about it anymore. Is the just a fantasy ,pie in the sky sort of deal.. ?

The 360 plan is a big-picture planning guide that was approved by city council. It didn't set any projects into motion on its own, but it is supposed to influence and set a benchmark for any future project (urban design, streets, parks, etc) taking place in the core.

[lakewoodhobo]

The model unit looks great. Remember when they said this would never work because of the low ceilings.

IMG_1267.JPG

IMG_1282.JPG

IMG_1293.JPG

IMG_1333.JPG

IMG_1371.JPG

The first units are now available in May. We'll see if they can get that lobby ready in 2 months.

[LongonBigD]

To steal a line from ZZTop: "Groovy little hippie pad."

[ArtVandelay]

What's going on with the hotel? It's not listed as an upcoming Curio Collection Hotel on their website.