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| IF YOU BUILD IT: Harvest Partners co-founders (from left) Blaine Lee, Tod Ruble, and Eliot Barnett are responsible for the $750 million Park Lane development. photography by Shoshana Portnoy |
If real estate is about—say it with us—location ad nauseam, then one has to wonder why in the name of Ray Nasher the site across U.S. Highway 75 from Dallas’ NorthPark Center has languished in such mediocrity all these years, while Nasher’s NorthPark mall has been such a powerhouse lure.
| THE TAKEAWAY |
| 1. “Transit-oriented develoment” is the “New Urbanism” of this decade. 2. The City of Dallas is committed to this kind of development-demonstrated by its fast-tracking of projects like this one. 3. There’s no such thing as too much shopping for Dallasites. |
Well, part of it was that the folks sitting on the land didn’t feel the need to build anything of note there. And, despite what Hollywood and some dodgy court rulings have taught us, developers can’t quite just force folks off their land to throw up something better (unless they own a sports team, that is). The other part was that, in a four-dimensional universe, time has to intersect with location and opportunity, all the while meeting up with that universal variable called “money.”
Now, thankfully, it’s all come together at last. The ambitious development called Park Lane, a fitting complement to NorthPark Center that’s located on the east side of North Central Expressway, is well in the works, with a projected completion date just a year away.
No doubt you’ve seen all the cranes and vertical structures there and, like us, may have had some questions about the mammoth goings-on. Questions such as:
Just what is Park Lane, and why should I care?
Park Lane is a 33.5-acre project that might best be described as a master-planned community rather than just a mixed-use development. The whole thing is the size of five city blocks.
The project will include 600 residential units, more than 700,000 square feet of retail space, and more than 800,000 square feet of office space. But that’s not all; there will also be a 250-room Valencia Hotel. The whole project has been designed incorporating the site’s access to Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Park Lane station. It’s no exaggeration to say this project is among the largest of its kind under way anywhere in the United States.
And, thanks to increasingly optimistic projections, it keeps getting bigger. The Valencia Hotel segment has expanded from the initial proposal by more than 50 rooms, the number of residential units has climbed, and the developer—Harvest Partners—is now designing a 400,000-square-foot office building that will be built on a purely speculative basis.
Dallas-based Harvest, in a joint venture with PM Realty, will also build 62 residential units in a 20-story, 263-foot tower; 218 residential units in a 15-story mid-rise building; and 45 loft apartments in a four-story configuration over retail shops. There’s space for another 600 residential units in future phases, as well.
So it’s a big project and a pricey one, to boot. Investment to date has been $750 million. That’s almost $250 million more than was estimated back in 2003. Besides the price inflation, Park Lane’s momentum has had a domino effect on other development and redevelopment projects on the east side of North Central—from Trammell Crow’s Timbercreek retail/residential development along Northwest Highway, all the way down to Fairfield Residential’s proposed transit-oriented, mixed-use project at Lovers Lane near Greenville.
Is that the extent of the economic impact?
Of course not. You also have to take into account the added sales and property tax revenue for the city, as well as all the jobs and economic activity such projects generate. And there’s more. The developers of Park Lane have entered into a public-private partnership with the city of Dallas in the form of a Tax Increment Financing District (TIF). It’s estimated that the completed project will generate more than $440 million of new tax revenue over time for the city, county, and Dallas Independent School District. And Harvest Partners is working closely with the Vickery Meadow Improvement District, pledging to contribute $1 million toward affordable housing in the area.
Why is DART so important to this?
Transit-oriented development is the new buzzword in development—the “New Urbanism” of this decade. But it’s about much more than style. The concept is pretty straightforward: building high-density, work/play/live developments that are pedestrian-friendly along major mass-transit routes, aiming to encourage the use of light-rail lines among residents and visitors alike. The idea is to cut down on street traffic and to encourage a more connected, integrated lifestyle. The city of Dallas is all about this kind of thing. The forwardDallas! comprehensive plan, passed by the city in 2006, puts a premium on fast-tracking such developments. One of the first such projects, predating even the comprehensive plan, was Mockingbird Station, which has enjoyed mixed success.
NorthPark Center is projected to have sales of more than $1 billion this year. Can the area really support that much more retail?
Probably. NorthPark Center’s history and successful pedigree aren’t an accident. The area has a core of North Dallas and Parkie regulars who are fiercely loyal. But that’s matched by the sheer volume of destination shoppers. Such a demographic won’t shy away from more shopping opportunities, and this general area doesn’t suffer much from traditional retail-industry cycles.
Having the largest Whole Foods Market in the country as Park Lane’s retail anchor isn’t going to hurt, either. The 100,000-square-foot store alone is projected to generate something like 50,000 visits per week.
OK, so Park Lane has the DART access. But people drive in this town! What about parking?
The developers say there will be easy access from all four compass points, complemented by ample, dedicated parking for shoppers that won’t conflict with parking for office users, residential tenants, and fitness-club members. It looks like they’ll deliver what they promise on that front, but anyone who’s ever hit West Village or Mockingbird Station at prime time knows the challenges that can arise when it comes to parking.
So who’s behind Park Lane?
Three veteran local real estate guys named Eliot Barnett, Blaine Lee, and Tod Ruble. They formed Harvest Partners in 2002. This isn’t bad for their debut outing.
What’s the timeline on this thing?
It’s been in the works awhile. Harvest’s initial plan—smaller than what the finished product will be—called for a mere $100 million to complete and began with the acquisition of three older office towers adjacent to the Park Lane DART station. Then came a checker-boarding campaign of land acquisition, a lengthy process that wasn’t complete until March 2004, when the Harvest guys bought a 17.5-acre tract from Ray Nasher (who passed away in 2007), bringing their total holdings to 33.5 acres.
Actual work on the ground started on Jan. 29, 2006, with the implosion of one of the existing, older office towers to make way for site preparation and dirt work. By that spring, Harvest Partners had undertaken extensive landscape design and, by summer, it was time for the formal groundbreaking. It took a full year but, by summer 2007, the project went vertical.
Looking ahead, the timetable accelerates. The first residential units are slated to open by May or June and, by winter, some retailers are expected to hold soft openings in advance of Christmas. Park Lane will celebrate its grand opening in the spring of 2009.
