Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

^ Yes, exactly. According to the plans the entire west side of Travis will be replaced, down to Cafe Madrid on Armstrong. It doesn't show up in the plans but I'm pretty sure something is going to replace the building Grange Hall currently occupies as well.

Yes, Grange Hall is getting moved into the new complex on Fitzhugh where Beverley's is.

Big if true, but also, I'm not surprised by the Travis Street densification. Everything in that area feels shabby and temporary, as though developers were just waiting for some Ts and Is to get crossed/dotted before they smash it all up and build anew. With literally everything in the surrounding area seeing massive investment (the Katy Trail upgrades look fantastic, zillion dollar condos at the Terminal, etc.), it was only a matter of time.

Kind of surprised by the proposal to build over a bunch of parking lots, though. Those lots are simply awful to get in and out of, but they're also often totally full.

eburress wrote:^ Yes, exactly. According to the plans the entire west side of Travis will be replaced, down to Cafe Madrid on Armstrong. It doesn't show up in the plans but I'm pretty sure something is going to replace the building Grange Hall currently occupies as well.

Don’t forget MSDell has since purchased the old Weirs warehouse building at 4510 Buena Vista which would be the other half of the block directly behind the proposed tower on lot “C.”

I am starting to wonder if Grange Hall would be better off staying put. Development is coming to them and Beverley’s is still taking ALL the parking ALL day at that center Grange Hall is moving to.

LongonBigD wrote:

eburress wrote:^ Yes, exactly. According to the plans the entire west side of Travis will be replaced, down to Cafe Madrid on Armstrong. It doesn't show up in the plans but I'm pretty sure something is going to replace the building Grange Hall currently occupies as well.

Don’t forget MSDell has since purchased the old Weirs warehouse building at 4510 Buena Vista which would be the other half of the block directly behind the proposed tower on lot “C.”

I am starting to wonder if Grange Hall would be better off staying put. Development is coming to them and Beverley’s is still taking ALL the parking ALL day at that center Grange Hall is moving to.

My understanding was Grange Hall's lease wasn't going to be renewed and they had to move. According to the people at Grange Hall though COVID put all this in flux so who knows.

Also that Knox District rendering is old. They have proposed that as off 5 years ago somewhere there was a rendering video as well. It never came to fruition.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:Also that Knox District rendering is old. They have proposed that as off 5 years ago somewhere there was a rendering video as well. It never came to fruition.

Perhaps, but that brochure was updated just a week ago with that rendering. Maybe they're dusting off the old plan?

I'll see if I can dig up the old proposal for comparisons sake of what they might have changed.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:I'll see if I can dig up the old proposal for comparisons sake of what they might have changed.

There was a video leaked out maybe summer of 2017 with renderings from before Sarofim sold to MSD. Perhaps Sarofim created it to show future potential. I seem to remember there were 4-5 story buildings, retail on ground and apts above. I seem to recall a tower somewhere. Unfortunately that video is no longer available in this platform. Can we see the prior platform? I think it was right around that time.

I don’t remember seeing this two-story version, but memory foggy. Hope someone can find the original renderings.

Yeah it was a Sarofim proposal and they sold to Michael Dell and then everything went quiet. I assume he bought it to sit on as a investment and wasn't looking to redevelop anytime soon. I looked in my personals stash of renderings ,a rendering graveyard, I keep stored and have yet to find it. I also downloaded the video cause it was on YouTube and knew it would most likely disappear after it showed up on the forum.

From what I remember it was very much like what is pictured in the current proposal. It had a lot of retail with at least one tower and I think the second story had connecting catwalks.

Anecdotally, I heard from one of the guys at Sid Mashburn that their lease is due to expire and they will be moving to where Grange Hall currently is (or maybe Grange Hall was being used as a reference and Mashburn is moving to a vacant space near Grange Hall?). Either way, the story told is that the plot of land where Mashburn currently sits (and the former 7-Eleven) is being redeveloped, which they have anticipated for years.

When I lived on McKinney, I used to walk to Knox to buy groceries. It would be nice if that could happen again.

tamtagon wrote:When I lived on McKinney, I used to walk to Knox to buy groceries. It would be nice if that could happen again.

Because there's no groceries to buy on Knox besides Trader Joe's or you don't live on McKinney anymore?

Doh! Forgot about trader joe...

tamtagon wrote:Doh! Forgot about trader joe...

Love Trader Joe's. So glad they finally opened stores in Dallas.

Update on Vidorra (McKinney Ave at Hester - one block north of Knox).

A view of the new RH from the front and one from the corner. Coming along quickly now. The exterior ironwork and shutters in, windows coming now. Parking garage behind it is as big as the new store. Ready for shopping later this year.

Bricks up to 4th floor now. Sign on Travis side says Weirs Furniture Store to open Fall 2021. This neighborhood is growing “up” fast these last 5 years or so. The green awning on Knox will be Verizon store and a bean bag chair (?) store. The two-story building is empty but 12-15 people went in while I was walking by. Perhaps a future tenant?

LongonBigD wrote:Bricks up to 4th floor now. Sign on Travis side says Weirs Furniture Store to open Fall 2021. This neighborhood is growing “up” fast these last 5 years or so. The green awning on Knox will be Verizon store and a bean bag chair (?) store. The two-story building is empty but 12-15 people went in while I was walking by. Perhaps a future tenant?
9B7444ED-EE9C-4572-B281-94435D4E9CA8.jpeg

Hari Mari appears to be opening in the old salon space you’re referring to. They are expanding into clothing as well as their footwear.

Construction progress

Checked out Fairgrounds today - the Chicago transplant coffee/tea/bodega shop. Definitely a needed addition to the neighborhood. Knox is quickly become one of my favorite neighborhoods.

Has anybody else noticed that a lane has been removed from Knox Ave in front of the new Restoration Hardware? I wonder if this is the eventual plan for the rest of Knox.

Hopefully so.

eburress wrote:Has anybody else noticed that a lane has been removed from Knox Ave in front of the new Restoration Hardware? I wonder if this is the eventual plan for the rest of Knox.

I thought Knox St from McKinney Ave to Travis was going to reduce to 3 lanes (one each direction and a middle turn lane). This would allow diagonal parking on the south side and wider sidewalks.

Speaking of RH: Trees are now planted on Cole Ave side. I think this walled in area is for outdoor furniture.

I imagine RH and Weirs developments will implement the new wider sidewalks and diagonal parking. That just leaves the parking section with Indochino to be fixed.

LongonBigD wrote:

eburress wrote:Has anybody else noticed that a lane has been removed from Knox Ave in front of the new Restoration Hardware? I wonder if this is the eventual plan for the rest of Knox.

I thought Knox St from McKinney Ave to Travis was going to reduce to 3 lanes (one each direction and a middle turn lane). This would allow diagonal parking on the south side and wider sidewalks.

Speaking of RH: Trees are now planted on Cole Ave side. I think this walled in area is for outdoor furniture.

1EEBD2FD-8848-4049-AFEF-3611D6C5C7FD.jpeg

Oh huh, I hadn't heard that. Interesting!

Knox Street is part of Dallas Complete Streets project by the City of Dallas. However; nothing has been updated since 2016. Who knows for sure, but that WAS the plan. You can see the original discussion/presentation at Dallas City Hall website for complete streets. Knox St is near the very end.

There were a couple of proposals, one included a bike lane. I don’t think that one got much support. The one that stands out in my mind was 3-lanes, one each way and a middle turn lane like they did to lowest Greenville. What you described and this rendering of Weirs Plaza lead me to believe that’s where this is headed.

The RealReal is set to open ASAP in the old Kate Spade space...

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... ent-store/

Crane coming down this weekend.

Area looking really dense

jegchachi wrote:Crane coming down this weekend.

I’ll say it again, you have the best view of all the excitement! RH almost ready to reopen. The second floor outdoor space at Weirs will be great people watching restaurant space. Lovesac (blue awning) coming along. Verizon store (former Foggies) gutted. The old 2-story salon remodeling into Hari Mari. This block is totally ready for post-COVID.

Broadstone and Nove visible in background. Prior commenter Warrior2020 is spot on, in one word, dense.

LongonBigD wrote:This block is totally ready for post-COVID.

Agreed. Exciting to see a lot of this nearing completion just in time for a post-COVID summer.

Friday, May 7th is the opening day for RH | Dallas

So, there was a story a while back that the majority commercial property ownership around Knox Street was hiring the current management/leasing company for Highland Park Village. The story said that companies looking at HPV may be better fits for Knox area.

DMN reports in the last couple of days that Royal Blue is leaving HPV. “The owners said they are looking for a replacement location near the original Highland Park Village store and expect to make an announcement soon.” I believe someone actually said on Knox.

For a few weeks now, the lights have been on inside the old Z Gallerie space with covered windows. I thought it might be a temp staging area for RH merch for the new store. But Maybe something else is afoot.

That space has a little parking lot in back and could remove the 2-3 parking spaces on McKinney Ave for a great patio on a fun corner to people watch (C&B, Apple, and Chuy’s corner). Just random thoughts.

RH used the space as a temporary staging area, but I’m not sure what its current purpose is. Perhaps your Royal Blue (Berkley’s) theory is correct.

Final thoughts on RH. Went to see it today. It’s very nice, almost overwhelming. Happy to see the trees, grass, wide sidewalks in the hood. This will be a draw for the entire region. Here’s hoping it is widely successful. My one little gripe would be the non-public parking garage. Didn’t realize the ginormous garage is exclusive to RH customers (via valet) and RH employees only. Not very neighborly.

Here’s a couple of photos from D mag
https://www.dmagazine.com/home-garden/2021/05/rh-dallas-a-70000-square-foot-store-with-a-rooftop-restaurant-is-now-open-on-knox/?fbclid=IwAR22KfC0tAMXD5P2vi2pZ8vxltY8lyEsnTw8YF9I6FZ4n2_Pi2grG48acog#image-1

RH Gallery locks in Knox Street as the furniture shopping district of North Texas. RH, C&B, cb2, Pottery Barn, Weirs, Bassett, MGBW, Serena & Lily, Room & Board—don’t get me started on the mattress retailers.

But in case you’re not convinced, this is the recently remodeled center on McKinney Ave one block south of Knox:

Blu Dot will be coming to that strip soon enough.

I’m very excited to see the asbestos abatement crew at the old Knox 7-11store between Boulangerie/Village Baking Company and Mashburn. This has been an eyesore for as long as I can remember.

Here’s my question: Would they do this prior to demo or is this a sign of a pending tenant, perhaps temporarily as a space holder?

Anybody have experience? Or thoughts?

There were Coach signs on the front of the old 7-11 on Monday so maybe that's the short term use, but this is eventually going to be knocked down as part of that larger mixed-use project on the site.

Hey, “eventually going to be knocked down” just happened. Goodbye sad 7-11 shell. I can’t imagine MSD Capital is ready to start anything here. Although, a developer with long-term vision could build the northernmost buildings along Knox of some master-planned development in order to provide new space for his existing tenants to make way for say, a tower.

They still have the old Sur la Table (now Harry’s) and bar building on Travis to demolish. Not to mention Village Bakery just opened (the white bldg in second photo). I don’t even really care if this is just going to be expanded valet parking for Toulouse and Taverna for a while. I’m just glad to see this gone.

eburress wrote:There were Coach signs on the front of the old 7-11 on Monday so maybe that's the short term use, but this is eventually going to be knocked down as part of that larger mixed-use project on the site.

As in the leather goods store Coach?

Yes. Clearly it was just an advertisement since the building doesn't exist anymore. lol

If you look on the previous page you can see the plans and renderings for what's going to be built on this spot (LongonBigD's post on Feb 9th). It's a mixed use development which appears to maintain some of the older structures like the building Sid Mashburn is in.



(the former 7/11 was on the left and you can see the Sid Mashburn building on the right)

Also looks like YETI is on the move, just around the corner to McKinney Ave... Wonder if maybe the old On The Border building is scheduled for demo soon too? Or perhaps Yeti just wanted more space?

https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Search/ ... 2021017826

Nice find Re: YETI. They appear to be taking the Jonathan Adler space and not one of the temp RH spaces. This new location has a different property owner, so not sure if any implications to the future of On the Border building. Time will tell.

A couple of stories late last year added the hint of a hotel for Knox District. Would like to see that since the RH Guesthouse didn’t pan out. Here’s from Paper City story.
https://www.papercitymag.com/dallas-rea ... en-summers

“Summers can’t yet share any details on potential new names in the neighborhood (they’ve already an outpouring of interest), he was able to touch on the team’s shared vision for Knox District. He anticipates a focus on health and wellness tenants playing off of the Katy Trail, with some unique restaurant experiences. A hotel could also finally find its way to the neighborhood.

“We have a really great opportunity to develop the parcel along the Katy Trail [from Sid Mashburn to Grange Hall] and create some hotel and green space along the trail,” Summers adds. “Obviously it’s a weird time to be looking at a hotel because of Covid-19, but long-term I think it’s a fabulous hotel location. It’s a great, walkable district with incredible F&B that’s only going to get better.”

Awww We are losing the Adler store?

Not entirely. Sign in the window says Jonathan Adler store is moving to West Village. Last day in Knox District is June 20. Opening in WV Summer 2021.

Ah ok. Nice.