DALLAS FORT WORTH | Urban + Suburban P & C

[Reverberation]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Also in Austin - The Travis apartment tower is under construction. It's a 423-unit, 52-story, 594-foot tower. The building is quite thin.

Height will depend on the floor plate size. If the floor plates in the Travis were twice the size, the tower would be half the height with the same number of units.

Could there be a podium involved?

[shivtim]

A few pics from a work trip this week:

[Dale]

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted pics of his visit downtown that showed the sidewalks and public spaces virtually empty. It was a weekday. He said he’s never seen anything like it. Is it that bad ?

[R1070]

Originally Posted by Dale

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted pics of his visit downtown that showed the sidewalks and public spaces virtually empty. It was a weekday. He said he’s never seen anything like it. Is it that bad ?

It was Spring Break recently and everything does slow down a lot that week. Perhaps that was the situation for your friend.

[Dtx_arch]

Really depends on time and day of week. There are still a number of companies that allow work from home or mix there of. Your major fortune 500 hundred companies are located in areas like Legacy Town Center away from downtown where those companies now require 5 days a week back in the office. Mondays and Fridays in downtown are pretty light. I work downtown Dallas and tuesday thru Thrusday the streets are very busy especially lunch hour. Weekends, good luck on finding good parking (without having to walk). Main street area, commerce, Elm, ATT Plaza, Klyde Warren, Uptown and Farmers Market stay very busy throughout the weekend.

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by Dale

A Facebook friend of mine recently posted pics of his visit downtown that showed the sidewalks and public spaces virtually empty. It was a weekday. He said he’s never seen anything like it. Is it that bad ?

From my unbiased opinion as a traveler - kind of. Downtown is quiet, but not empty. At night on a weekday it was almost dead, but there were a fair number of office workers during the day. It certainly doesn't feel vibrant though, and in my opinion the downtown is hurt immeasurably because there is pretty much no residential. A few apartment buildings would help out a lot.
On the flip side, one evening I went to Deep Ellum neighborhood just a mile or two away, and it was decently busy for a weekday. Then the next day went to the Katy trail (maybe around the "Uptown" area?) and it was packed and very lively.

[R1070]

Originally Posted by shivtim

From my unbiased opinion as a traveler - kind of. Downtown is quiet, but not empty. At night on a weekday it was almost dead, but there were a fair number of office workers during the day. It certainly doesn't feel vibrant though, and in my opinion the downtown is hurt immeasurably because there is pretty much no residential. A few apartment buildings would help out a lot.
On the flip side, one evening I went to Deep Ellum neighborhood just a mile or two away, and it was decently busy for a weekday. Then the next day went to the Katy trail (maybe around the "Uptown" area?) and it was packed and very lively.

There's a lot more residential downtown than people actually realize due to repurposed buildings. DT is definitely not back to it's pre-COVID status, but yes, as residential continues to increase that should help a lot. In Dallas, it's definitely the peripheral neighborhoods where the vibrancy is: Uptown, Victory Park, Deep Ellum, Bishop Arts, Oak Lawn, Knox-Henderson and so on.

[Dale]

^ I thought I’d read that downtown Dallas is leading the nation in office-to-residential conversion. Also, apparently there are plans to convert the Comerica tower to mixed-use.

[DFW]

Many don’t realize that downtown Dallas has a busy pedestrian tunnel system that connects office buildings, hotels, residential buildings, garages and parks, also above-ground skybridges. The underground network serves 36 city blocks under downtown. It’s like a city of shops, restaurants and offices during weekday business hours.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by DFW

Many don’t realize that downtown Dallas has a busy pedestrian tunnel system that connects office buildings, hotels, residential buildings, garages and parks, also above-ground skybridges. The underground network serves 36 city blocks under downtown. It’s like a city of shops, restaurants and offices during weekday business hours.

My friend probably didn’t know about the tunnels. I also told him that Uptown is the happening area.*

In Atlanta, downtown is languishing and Midtown is exploding. But Atlanta Midtown does not connect to downtown seamlessly like Dallas Uptown does to downtown.

[Dtx_arch]

Originally Posted by Dale

My friend probably didn’t know about the tunnels. I also told him that Uptown is the happening area.*

In Atlanta, downtown is languishing and Midtown is exploding. But Atlanta Midtown does not connect to downtown seamlessly like Dallas Uptown does to downtown.

I would not but stock into a pic or statement on social media even if they are a 'facebook friend'.... I just picked up lunch and I work / live downtown. Streets are extremely busy with tourist and office workers going to lunch in downtown Dallas.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by Dtx_arch

I would not but stock into a pic or statement on social media even if they are a 'facebook friend'.... I just picked up lunch and I work / live downtown. Streets are extremely busy with tourist and office workers going to lunch in downtown Dallas.

Good to know. He did seem to have a little bit of an agenda, determined to show his audience how dead downtown was.

[drummer]

Every time I go through Dallas it's hopping downtown - but I don't go to all areas of downtown. It's definitely more alive than it was when I was in college.

[Dtx_arch]

^^I've noticed that quite a bit through the years on forums like this one and others...

[IcedCowboyCoffee]

Originally Posted by drummer

Every time I go through Dallas it's hopping downtown - but I don't go to all areas of downtown. It's definitely more alive than it was when I was in college.

Yeah, I spent a lot of time exploring downtown in the mid 2000s. That was a dead downtown. Zero urban parks outside of Thanksgiving square and the crumbling Ferris plaza fountain. Zero gathering spaces unless mall food courts only open from 11-2 count. Maybe 2,000 residents, max. The only place that had any activity not 9-5er related was the greyhound bus station.

You could actually get fruit and vegetables at the farmers market back then but that's about the only thing old downtown had going for it over today. I spent so much time roaming the place because of a morbid fascination with just how desolate it felt. The vibes were oppressive; if you weren't walking across a parking lot you were walking beside a blank concrete wall.

The CBD today still has a ton of improving to do and I wouldn't call it bustling per se, but it is leaps and bounds more vibrant and active than it used to be. It's a totally different place.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by IcedCowboyCoffee

Yeah, I spent a lot of time exploring downtown in the mid 2000s. That was a dead downtown. Zero urban parks outside of Thanksgiving square and the crumbling Ferris plaza fountain. Zero gathering spaces unless mall food courts only open from 11-2 count. Maybe 2,000 residents, max. The only place that had any activity not 9-5er related was the greyhound bus station.

You could actually get fruit and vegetables at the farmers market back then but that's about the only thing old downtown had going for it over today. I spent so much time roaming the place because of a morbid fascination with just how desolate it felt. The vibes were oppressive; if you weren't walking across a parking lot you were walking beside a blank concrete wall.

The CBD today still has a ton of improving to do and I wouldn't call it bustling per se, but it is leaps and bounds more vibrant and active than it used to be. It's a totally different place.

Agreed 100%.

[Yackemflaber69]

Maybe Dallas skyscrapers doesn't get the attention it deserves because they don't build the taller skyline altering towers that Austin and Houston to a lesser extent does. They're more interested in infill, which isn't a bad thing imo. Hopefully one day those larger skyline altering towers start getting built. Moving to Dallas in July, can't wait to see the skyline grow.

[futuresooner]

Dallas has multiple iconic and statement skyscrapers and I'd gladly trade in any supertall proposal for multiple blocks of redevelopment downtown.

[R1070]

Originally Posted by futuresooner

Dallas has multiple iconic and statement skyscrapers and I'd gladly trade in any supertall proposal for multiple blocks of redevelopment downtown.

Same here.

[drummer]

I actually prefer a lot of the infill they're doing to a statement tower if I had to choose. Not to say that a new supertall or something wouldn't be great - it would! But the densification in Uptown, Oak Lawn, Deep Ellum, and others is truly spectacular. There's also been a lot of TOD along DART lines that has been fun to see pop up in a lot of areas as well.

The fact that I can park at a DCTA stop closest to my in-laws' house and take my kids downtown with a quick transit to the DART green line, not have to worry about parking - play at Klyde Warren Park, get lunch, go to a museum, etc. - and then head back is awesome.