A pretty major neighborhood meeting this Thursday night will address the confusing road layout at LBJ-Skillman-Audelia, which is adjacent to DART’s LBJ-Skillman rail station. Another DART rail station at the future Lake Highlands Town Center site was crucial to that “transit-oriented development” project, in terms of justifying a large influx of retails stores and restaurants, as well as more than 1,600 residential units.
The city is invested in both of these DART rail-adjacent projects; LBJ-Skillman with bond funds, and Town Center with a TIF and HUD loan. And according to a recent DMN article (behind the paywall), the city is also invested in revamping the area around the nearby Park Lane DART rail station.
When I saw the print headline (“Rail station developments pitched: City aims to spur projects that fit character of 5 areas”), I assumed the Town Center, with all of its city funding, would be part of the story. But instead, it focuses on a $2.2 million HUD grant (different than the Town Center HUD loan) being used to “stimulate investment” around four rail stations in southern Dallas, plus the Park Lane station.
“Dallas residents learned long ago that light-rail stations don’t automatically attract chic retail stores, trendy restaurants, pricey apartments and art film houses. Indeed, DART’s Mockingbird Station and its Cityplace/Uptown Station, in the booming West Village area, have been anomalies rather than the norm,” writes Jeff Mosier.
So, the city has used part of the $2.2 million grant to commission plans for areas around these DART stations. All of the plans involve public-private agreements that, theoretically, would spur development more quickly.
“One promising idea involves Vickery Meadow/Five Points, the ethnically diverse area, dense with apartment complexes, east of the North Central Expressway along Park Lane,” the article continues. “The city has land that’s been set aside for a future branch library on Park Lane across Greenville Avenue from the DART station. It could convey that property to a developer, who would agree to build a mixed-use project, one that might include housing, retail space, neighborhood services and a new library.
“If successful, said Peer Chacko, assistant director of development services for the city of Dallas, the public-private venture could result in construction of the branch library much sooner than the city would build it on its own. It could attract additional businesses, and jobs, to the low-income neighborhood. And it could help set a new tone in one of the city’s high-crime areas.”
My immediate reaction to this was bewilderment, considering that the Park Lane development, right across the streets from where these plans are proposed, still has plenty of vacant storefronts. Not to mention that the Town Center, which was launched in 2007 and hailed as a mixed-use project that would bring retail salvation to our neighborhood, has yet to announce a tenant.
Last week Jeff Siegel wrote about the high vacancy rates of older storefronts right around Park Lane. As it turns out, Fregonese Associates, the Portland-based land-use planning firm that the city tapped to develop a public-private proposal for these five areas, says “the plans rely as much as possible on using existing buildings, rather than razing them and putting up new ones.” Founder and president John Fregonese said “he won’t be presenting pie-in-the-sky concepts. His plans don’t depend on high-end retail, white-tablecloth restaurants or half-million-dollar condominiums. … it’s better to attract local entrepreneurs to develop one- to three-story buildings with modest rents than huge multinationals to propose implausible office towers.”
According to the DMN story, the Dallas Plan Commission is expected to vote on the Fregonese plan this month, and if it passes, City Council should review it in February.
