Does the announcement that construction begins this week at the former Timber Creek apartment site mean that the real estate recession is over in Dallas? Does it mean that initial vertical construction of the Town Center is just around the corner?
It’s probably wise not to be that optimistic. More likely, the Timber Creek site is such a great location (Northwest Highway and Skillman Street) that Walmart and Penney’s have enough credit sources to make something happen even during a horrible market for commercial real estate. And also likely: the Town Center is still quite a ways off in terms of getting actual building construction off the ground, because that project is more like the rest of the vacant real estate in Dallas — not a bad site, but not ready for prime-time lending yet, either.
The DMN reports construction will begin this week on a 320,000-square-foot, two-story Walmart (second floor) and Sam’s (first floor). Early next year, Penney’s will begin building a 104,000-square-foot store. And sometime in the next couple of years, another 60,000 square feet of outparcels (bank, fast-food restaurant, etc.) will be developed, making that retail corner one of the most-developed in Dallas. Let’s just hope the traffic at the intersection doesn’t become unbearable, given the relatively small ingress/egress driveways that have been built so far.
