The demolition of Valley View Mall continued Friday as Beck Ventures broke ground on the $4 billion mixed-use Midtown development project. At a press event, developer Scott Beck, CEO of Dallas-based Beck Ventures, detailed plans for the transformative project, which he got involved with in 2012.
“The project all started with a single vision—the desire to reinforce our northern city boundary all while creating an urban mixed-used village in the center of the population density of Dallas,” said Beck.
The development lies at the corner of Preston Road between the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Highway 75, adjacent to Interstate 635. According to Beck, approximately one-third of the city of Dallas’ population lives within three and a half miles of the site. The location allows Dallas to compete with surrounding suburbs for companies looking to relocate, Beck said. The district will give a multibillion-dollar boost to the city’s tax-base and generate more than $70 million for TIF funds that will go toward redeveloping southern Dallas, Beck said.
The project will be anchored by a 183,000-square-foot Life Time Fitness and a Cinépolis cinema. The $500 million initial phase will also include about 500,000 square feet of office space and more than 400,000 square feet of retail, along with more than 1,000 apartments, including affordable housing, and an 18-story luxury hotel. The hotel flag remains confidential but will be announced in the coming months, Beck said.
The health and wellness facility will feature an indoor and outdoor aquatic center including a rooftop beach pool, and two large functional resistance cardio training areas with “world-class” equipment, Beck said. The Life Time-operated facility will also encompass the fitness company’s newest innovation—Life Time Living, a residential area interconnected to the facility, and 50,000 square feet of collaborative work space. It will also include a café and bistro, a spa, a Life Time Kids Academy, and Ultimate Hoops.
The 10-screen Cinépolis theater will have more than 600 seats. Viewers will be able to enjoy leather recliners, at-your-seat waiter services, a full bar, and gourmet menu.
Beck Venues is working with A.G. Spanos Corporation on the project’s 1,000 apartment units. The unidentified upscale hotel, in partnership with Hesperus Group and SB&G, will include 440 rooms and more than 50,000 square feet of meeting space. It will include multiple food and beverage outlets and a rooftop bar with a swimming pool.
Plans for Dallas Midtown also include a 20-acre park, which will be owned by the city of Dallas. The park’s vision plan was curated by MIG consultants and will be monitored by the Dallas Midtown Park Foundation.
“From Klyde Warren to Vitruvian to Arbor Hills, we all recognize the power of parks as game changes,” Dallas Midtown Park Foundation Advisory Member and District 11 CPC Commissioner Jaynie Schultz said. “The 400-plus acre development to be built here will change Dallas in ways we cannot imagine now, just as no one foresaw the full impact of the parks I mentioned a moment ago.”
Beck plans to open the initial phase of Dallas Midtown by the end of 2019.
