Texas: Bucking the Trend
Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Patricia Kirk
Dallas stars
In Fort Worth's Cultural District, four mixed-use projects: So7 by Dallas-based developer Hughes Development; Montgomery Plaza, a joint venture between Weber & Co. of Dallas and New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Kimco Realty Corp., and Cypress Equities's West 7th (also based in Dallas) will bring almost one million square feet of neighborhood retail services for several thousand downtown residents in the central business district. The city provided Target a generous share of its sales tax to build a SuperTarget with a grocery at Montgomery Plaza, transforming a former historic Montgomery Ward building into retail and residential units.
Alliance Town Centre, in Fort Worth, developed by local developers Hillwood and Trademark Property Company, has opened the first of three mixed-used developments, which is anchored by Belk's department store. Discounter Sam Moon's and a grocery store are also scheduled for the 17,000-acre master-planned community. When completed Alliance Town Centre is slated for 1.5 million square feet of lifestyle and retail space, a hotel, 90,0000 square feet of office space and up to 3,000 residential units.
In Allen, near Dallas, Watters Creek at Montgomery Farms is rising. The $200 million mixed-use development is a joint venture between Trademark Property, Beachwood, Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty and Coventry Real Estate Advisors of New York that will feature 550,000 square feet of retail, a hotel, office space and 300 residential units. It will double as a town center for the 500-acre master-planned community of Montgomery Farms.
Dallas too has benefited from tremendous public and private investment that has resulted in a renaissance of its central business district. More than $162 million has been invested through tax increment financing and $699 million in private investments plus $326 million in capital improvements. A proposed $2.5 billion expansion of the Metroplex's Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) rail system is expected to drive transit-oriented development throughout the region. Locally-based developer Trammel Crow is in pre-development on two developments along the expansion route, and Cleveland-based Forest City is planning a transit-oriented development at the former Cowboy's stadium in Irving.
In the Uptown neighborhood, Dallas-based Hillwood and Southwest Sports Realty has completed Phase II of Victory Park, a $3 billion joint venture. The development will comprise four mixed-use projects with upscale retail and a W Hotel and Residences plus a 450,000-square-foot office tower. Dallas-based Icon Partners LLC is developing ICON Midtown, a $1 billion, 120-acre urban village north of downtown. The project boasts 525,000 square feet of retail with office and residential atop.
Oil tycoons
The affluent neighborhoods of Piney Point Village and Bunker Hill Village with their median annual household incomes of $184,991 and $177,274, respectively, along Houston's I-10 Energy Corridor have led to two upscale projects — CityCentre, developed by Houston-based Midway Companies and Village Plaza at Bunker Hill by Fidelis Realty Partners Ltd., also of Houston. Scheduled to open last month, CityCentre boasts 400,000 square feet of high-end retail; a hotel, a 144,000-square-foot Life Time Athletic fitness facility; 450,000 square-feet of office space and 370 residences. Houston's Memorial area is one of the richest postal districts in Texas with average household income at $209,000, says Bradley Freels, a partner, chairman and CEO of Midway Cos. He noted many of the area's residents are associated with the energy industry.
“This is a discerning clientele, who has lived all over the world,” says Freels. “We're trying to match our restaurant product to that demographic, so we went after concepts new to Houston.” The project includes Straits by San Francisco chef Chris Yeo and Eddie V's of Austin. The Energy Corridor is also driving development of I-10 itself, which is being widened to 19 lanes to accommodate population growth west to Katy. Cinco Ranch, a 7,600-acre master-planned community near Katy by San Diego, Calif.-based Newland Communities, added 6,800 households with a median income of $115,000 per year. The $180 million LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch development, by local developer Vista Companies, is at the heart of this community and provides 344,000 square feet of retail.
Houston Pavilions, a mixed-use project by a joint venture of local developer Geoffrey Jones and Willam Denton, president/CEO of Los Angeles-based Entertainment Development Group Inc., is one example of the kinds of projects ongoing in Texas. The center offers 360,000 square feet of lifestyle retail. The city's plans to expand its METRORail system is also spawning transit-oriented development. “Houston's strong oil presence accounts for 40 percent of all positive job growth,” says Stringham.
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