Buckingham, a road at the northernmost border of Dallas’ District 10, once was part of a quarter-square-mile town; it almost became a high-density destination for Dallas’ thirsty yuppies. Budding Lake Highlands High graduate and businessman C.W. Kendall, in the 1980s, almost turned the area into a hotbed of high-rise apartments, offices and retail. “The Boy Who Put Buckingham on the Block,” as Dallas Life Magazine dubbed him in a 1984 article, brokered the deal to buy land from 64 owners in the affected area, some who had lived there since the ’40s. All except two lots sold at more than $500,000 per 2-acre parcel. After a vote by Buckingham officials to allow the sale of liquor brought tons of traffic to the area, Kendall and developer Michael Block were ready to realize their vision. Then the 1987 stock market crash crushed it to smithereens, bankrupting Buckingham and turning the sector into an abandoned, half-flattened ghost town. On the bright side, Kendall, a bit of a prodigy, was only 19 during his involvement, and today he owns a commercial real estate investment company. And the Buckingham area is still home to a good share of the area’s liquor stores.
Return to ‘Historic happenings’
