Sorry, Tim Rogers. The new downtown district is not called Story. The newly anointed East Quarter, just west of Deep Ellum and north of the Farmers Market, promises an old-meets-new downtown district. In an area of town formerly known for automotive facilities, private and public interests will create a walkable, urban neighborhood with wide sidewalks, restaurants, creative office space, and narrower traffic lanes.
Todd Interests, headed by Shawn Todd, has been quietly (or not so quietly, depending on what circles you run in) buying up historic buildings in the area with investor J.P. Morgan Asset Management for a couple years. Todd Interests is the firm behind the renovation of the old post office at 400 Ervay and One Dallas Center. Today, Todd shared more details about the reinvention of the 1920s-era neighborhood that’s now being called East Quarter. More details to come, but here’s what we learned.
- On May 21, Todd Interests, along with architects Omniplan and SWA Group and general contractor Andres Construction, will tear down the windowless 1980s-era one-story building fronting Main Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard. The five-story building behind it, which housed the former Purgatory nightclub, will be transformed into a Class A office building, pictured in the rendering above.
- By the end of 2018, the site, 2200 Main St., will look like the rendering above. Construction will be limited to the demolition and renovations within several of Todd Interests’ 18 buildings in the East Quarter, with no vertical construction.
- Todd Interests is spending $2 million to improve the surrounding streets. In conjunction with the city and Downtown Dallas Inc., improvements will include widening sidewalks, adding landscaping, and narrowing Cesar Chavez from five lanes to three.
- Bike lanes on Jackson Street will eventually connect the Santa Fe Trail to the West End.
- Restaurateur Nick Badovinus (Neighborhood Services, Town Hearth, Offsite Kitchen) is launching two new concepts in the Magnolia Oil/KLIF Building: National Anthem, which will have a rooftop patio, and a breakfast and coffee concept called PMA All Day. Badovinus teased the concept to our dining critic, Eve Hill-Angus, in January.
- Peloton, headed by T.D. Briggs, will handle office leasing and property management for the East Quarter. Tenants already in the district include software company Order My Gear and branding firm Tractorbeam. In total, East Quarter has 200,000 square feet of creative office space.
- The forthcoming Harwood Park, which is set to be completed by 2022, is also within the district.
East Quarter
