I know, a neighborhood can never have too many restaurants. We all love variety at our fingertips. But can some centers get too much of a good thing?
I wondered just that as I pulled into the northeast corner of Preston Royal Village. It has been hard enough to find a parking space in the past, but now that Eatzi’s and Shake Shack are under construction I wondered where people were going to park. Eatzi’s is tucked back in the corner by Royal China and Shake Shack is on the corner of the strip that faces Royal, next to Ken’s Man’s Shop. I could only imagine the line of cars backed down Royal, especially during lunch hours. It’s already a mess with people circling around so they can eat at Cantina Laredo, TJ’s Seafood Market and Grill, Snap Kitchen, Zoes Kitchen, and the aforementioned Royal China. Forget about an appointment to get your lashes done or pick up a gift at The Toy Maven. Was this another edition of urban madness? I had to find out.
I made a phone call and got some good news. You remember good news? I spoke with Copeland Kapp, the marketing director at Eden’s, a real estate company that owns and operates shopping centers along the east coast and Texas. They acquired Preston Royal Shopping Center about 3 years ago. They’ve been updating the facades and working with new tenants. Kapp told me they’d already changed the flow of the parking in the center, a change that has already relieved some stress, but she told me they’re freeing up new spaces. “There has never been a parking programs for employees,” Kapp says. “We have worked with all of the tenants and their employees will now park behind the center or a designated space.”
Eden’s has a Dallas office and they will provide a monitoring service that will make sure the program is adhered to. She assured me that all of the tenants have the correct number of spaces per Dallas code.
