Uptown Dallas: McKinney & Olive Tower (335 FT | 21 ST)

[CTroyMathis]

Placeholder post for testing.

[CTroyMathis]

image.jpeg

Checking ability to post from speak & spell phone w/o extra app. And usability of forum, too.

[DPatel304]

So is this one complete? Haven't been to Uptown in a while, but I recall this one was very close to being done last time I was there.

[Tucy]

Sidley & Austin apparently moved in to their space in August. http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2016/08/30/new-mckinney-olive-tower-gives-this-law-firm-a.html

Gardere has also moved in and Del Frisco's is open. So it looks like this building is completed. I'm a little surprised the rest of the retail space hasn't been snatched up.

[willyk]

I'm a little surprised the rest of the retail space hasn't been snatched up.

An interesting observation. I do not know if they are having a problem or not, but if Del Frisco's indicates the caliber of the tenant they want, then they are aiming very high. So the resistance of luxe tenants might be that a Rodeo Drive leasing strategy has already failed at both the Crescent and Victory.

Maybe Uptown is a different place now, but I say it still needs neighborhood retail not destination retail. West Village has struck the right chord. That should be the model here.

[dukemeredith]

From personal experience, quite a lot of people are still somewhat avoiding that area because of all the construction and development nearby. It seems many folks are waiting until it's complete to start enjoying it; as if the current construction is an inconvenience...

[DPatel304]

Considering Dallas’ proclivity for massive burgers and slabs of barbecued ribs, it’s no surprise that health-focused chains are looking to the Big D to provide sustenance on those days when we actually eat vegetables. Now, a Chicago-based eatery is getting in on the veggie parade.

Announced via release, Doc B’s Fresh Kitchen will make its DFW debut next year. The rapidly-growing chain got its start in Chicago back in 2013, and has since expanded to include outposts in Florida. Doc B’s will open one location in Dallas (at McKinney and Olive) and is planning another for The Shops at Clearfork in Fort Worth.

http://dallas.eater.com/2016/10/27/1343 ... fort-worth

This doesn't sound like the type of place that would go into McKinney & Olive, but I'm pleasantly surprised. I honestly had never heard of the chain before, but it sounds like a healthy/casual type of restaurants. I wonder if it will be 'casual' enough to attract people exercising on the Katy Trail.

[Kelley USA]

^^ Well you beat me to the punch on Doc B's... I just read the info on Dallas Biz Journal. Actually looks like a cool place. Here's somewhat of a rendering on their website:

http://www.docbsfreshkitchen.com/locati ... -and-olive

[CTroyMathis]

Looks like Starbucks is going in the "Retail Space B"spot. A sign was put up today, after weeks of rumors at M&O.

The sign is on window closer to the elevator banks and Del Friscos, so I have no idea if they are splitting up "B" into multiple options or not. As it is right now, "A" and "B" is all one continuous open shell with little to no activity happening inside for over a month. Until today. However, some people at the building seem to think the whole thing will be a Starbucks. . . which would be insanely huge, but, not without precedent considering they have proposed to open some mammoth-sized one in Chelsea apparently.

But, anyway, so a Starbuck's is going in. What next? Asian fusion? Sushi? Banana stand?



https://twitter.com/CTroyMathis/status/ ... 9653578760

[Tnexster]

Ok another Starbucks? Is there nothing else?

[ArtVandelay]

I hope it's a corporate store and not a licensed location.

[willyk]

Looking at how quickly the office leased up versus all of the empty retail space, I am wondering if we have some tension developing in Uptown between the desire for developers to land too many high end, destination restaraunts when the what the neighborhood needs is moderately priced restaraunts and retail that will service the people who live there. E.g., we have plenty of steak joints now, which will cater to business dinners and expense accounts, but I don't expect that neighborhood people will go there. Should M&O consider something more moderately priced?

[cowboyeagle05]

Well, it's also about programming. The Crescent folks I'm sure to care more about retail that caters to their tenants more than anything else so they tend to be choosey compared to what the market needs. It doesn't really matter if a reasonably priced salon wants to move in to cater to residents and office workers what matters to Crescent is that they only lease to things that will an amenity for keeping office leases. Guess who signs office leases highly paid executives so leases are going to go to things that keep their interests not the community neighborhood needs etc.

[Tnexster]

Kansas City bank sets up shop in Uptown’s McKinney & Olive tower

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/real ... live-tower

[CTroyMathis]

Building employee scuttlebutt mentions a mexican restaurant going in next to Starbucks.

[CTroyMathis]

Building employee scuttlebutt mentions a mexican restaurant going in next to Starbucks.

http://www.redorestaurant.com/

[Kelley USA]

If it actually is Red O this place is phenomenal!! I've eaten at the one in Santa Monica and I can tell you it's very very good. It'll be a big hit! Just a little info from the website:

THE CHEF – RICK BAYLESS
While many people know Rick Bayless from winning the title of Bravo’s Top Chef Master in 2009, others may recognize him from either one of his eight award winning cook books or his highly Public Television Series, Mexico – One Plate at a Time. Rick has also received other glowing distinctions including winning James Beard awards for: Midwest Chef of the Year, National Chef of the Year, and best American Chef of the Year.

[CTroyMathis]

And also: http://www.guidelive.com/food-and-drink ... allas-2017

[Tnexster]

Towering success: Uptown Dallas' McKinney & Olive high-rise opens doors, fills its floors

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/real ... lly-leased

ptown Dallas' newest high-rise - the $225 million McKinney & Olive - had its grand opening this week.

The 21-story office and retail project on McKinney Avenue is already a towering success. The 536,000-square-foot building is almost 95 percent leased to tenants including CrossFirst Bank, Gardere Wynne Sewell, Sidley Austin, McKinsey & Co., MHT MidSpan and Saatchi & Saatchi.

"The building is in a phenomenal location and the architecture is second to none," said John Goff, CEO of project developer Crescent Real Estate. "Economically I think it's going to set new bars on rental rates in Dallas."

With space going for more than $55 per square foot, McKinney & Olive is fetching more than twice the average office rents in Dallas.

[Tnexster]

This 'very sexy' $225M Uptown tower is luring firms with high-end design

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/ ... firms.html

With the help of Pelli Clarke Pelli architects, Goff and other development executives went through 83 renditions of the design of McKinney & Olive before landing on an option that has inspired Goff and others to call the tower's design "very sexy."

"We wanted to get it just right and do something that was respectful to the surrounding properties, but, at the same time, raised the bar," Goff said. "I think we achieved it."

[willyk]

Roti

http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/12-01-16-roti-modern-mediterranean-mckinney-olive-uptown/

[Tnexster]

Cushman & Wakefield makes its move in Uptown to Crescent's 'very sexy' tower

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/ ... wn-to.html

[DPatel304]

I somehow missed this announcement when willyk posted it, but here's another update on Roti:
https://dallas.eater.com/2017/5/23/1568 ... ing-summer

We need more variety in this area, so I'm really happy to see this coming.

[Kelley USA]

It was also mentioned that the Starbucks will actually be a Starbucks Reserve...

https://dallas.eater.com/2017/5/22/1567 ... ening-soon

[CTroyMathis]

The Starbucks Reserve bar looks to be pretty close to being done. But, Roti Mod Med blew right past it, finished-out, and, soft-opened today and will do another practice-run/soft-open on Thursday. Official opening on Friday. They had an enormous number of staff.

They must've served up a thousand free meals (ballpark) today between lunch and early dinner. It's free on Thursday as well, although, I think donations to Cafe Momentum are on tap for the meal to be free on Thursday. Might've missed if there is anything on tap for tomorrow, but, it didn't appear so.

Anyway, at one point the line was out the door all the way to about Del Frisco's.

[DPatel304]

I've never heard of Roti, but I'm glad to see some variety in Uptown. It feels like every place is either a high end steakhouse, or some sort of burger joint. DFW has some great ethnic food options, but none of them are in the urban core, so I'm hoping that will change in the near future.

[CTroyMathis]

I've been meaning to add for a couple of weeks now that at the corner of Harwood & Cedar Springs, this place is going in: https://uptowndallas.cyclebar.com

[CTroyMathis]

Just for the heck of it, thought it was a cool vantage point:


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHWjrVxVoAAbakR.jpg)
https://twitter.com/CTroyMathis/status/ ... 2482193408

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Dope

[CTroyMathis]

Building employee scuttlebutt mentions a mexican restaurant going in next to Starbucks.

http://www.redorestaurant.com/

Red O has dropped-out. Crescent back to continuing to be selective with that two-floor corner space at CS & Olive.

Word is a "Wolfgang Puck CUT" restaurant is a strong contender to be going in over at the Park District development, so perhaps that will even further solidify that this prime M & O space wont be a Steaky McSteakFace.

[texasstar]

Just for the heck of it, thought it was a cool vantage point:


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHWjrVxVoAAbakR.jpg)
https://twitter.com/CTroyMathis/status/ ... 2482193408

Nice, Troy.
Iconic, even.

[texasstar]

[ContriveDallasite]

Looks fantastic!

[R1070]

I imagined the retail space being more popular there. I hope they don't try to fill it up with a bunch of expensive restaurants. That KWP / Arts District area needs more regular tourist friendly spots.

[mdg109]

This is a nice development, but the pics look deserted.

[Jasimm]

This is a nice development, but the pics look deserted.

The pictures were uploaded Thanksgiving Day, and I am hoping that is the reason they look so deserted haha. But otherwise the space looks nice, hopefully some good retail to accompany it.

[Jbarn]

I was there yesterday afternoon, picture perfect weather. The Starbucks was busy, but the area out front and around the building was dead, depressing. It has so much potential, but when you have the ritz Carlton “Wall” on one side, an overpriced steakhouse that is closed during the afternoon on one side, and an empty space on the other side, can’t help but look and feel totally devoid of any activity. There are lots of “dead” areas like this in uptown, really zaps the energy.

[R1070]

This model of luxury and high-end everything just makes this end of Uptown dead. Look what happened to the first round at Victory Park. Compare that to Uptown North of Maple Ave. a totally different atmosphere.

[Jbarn]

This model of luxury and high-end everything just makes this end of Uptown dead. Look what happened to the first round at Victory Park. Compare that to Uptown North of Maple Ave. a totally different atmosphere.

I rode my bike through Victory today. Another picture perfect day when you would think the area would at least have some people walking around, but it was scarily devoid of people, a virtual ghost town. I think I saw two other people. I just don’t get Dallas. So many areas like this with thousands of apartments, hotels, some restaurants, but absolutely no people, and the weather could not have been any better. Even if we were a more walkable city, would there be anyone actually out walking? We are becoming more dense, but the city still feels empty at times. This emptiness becomes much more apparent every time I visit cities in Europe, Canada, Mexico, etc...where there is so much energy in the streets.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Well victory isn't really dense right now a bunch of the apartments just opened or are about to open. Give it time.

[tanzoak]

Well victory isn't really dense right now a bunch of the apartments just opened or are about to open. Give it time.

This, but it's also not really as dense as the buildings make it appear to be because so much of it is parking. And that parking also encourages people to drive to/from there, which further reduces the street activity compared to what it "should" be.

[LPG]

It’s a plaza that consists of a chain lunch place, a chain coffee shop and chain steakhouse that is distant from the street and separated by a large driveway/garage entrance. On top of that, it is regularly completely in the shade.

Something to entice the hordes at KWP to move down Olive would probably do wonders.

[Jbarn]

Well victory isn't really dense right now a bunch of the apartments just opened or are about to open. Give it time.

That would all be well and good if the people that lived in those buildings actually acted liked they live in an urban area and left their apartments on foot as opposed to jumping in their cars just to drive a block. It will be interesting to see how the Tom Thumb at Union does. I fear that those that live a block away will actually drive to it.

[cowboyeagle05]

That all depends on a couple of factors. How will the street lights be timed on this busy stretch of road. I walk home almost every day from Downtown to Oak Lawn. My biggest problem is a lack of sidewalks and poorly timed crosswalks. Things most people would simply why should I bother. Even then I was hit by a car on Tuesday crossing in a crosswalk with the crossing light on. I went over the hood on to the ground and the driver left after he saw me get up on my own power. That was Oak Lawn a thoroughfare connected to the freeways with very limited lights to slow traffic down. An unsafe crossing like this acts as a wall between what I would call the Gaybourhood and Turtle Creek. Same is somewhat true on Field that creates an unsafe moat between Uptown and Victory. Will any of the lights near the Union be timed with the intention of encouraging pedestrian connection or will they do what the city does everywhere just throw up the crosswalk lights and call it safe for pedestrians?

[tanzoak]

Yes, 100% cowboyeagle05. If streets are hostile and/or inconvenient to pedestrians and parking is plentiful, it doesn't matter how close/dense the activity site is.. people will mostly drive. It's not some "ugh Dallasites are dumb suburban people" thing, you see it everywhere in the country.

Also, I mostly bike everywhere (because bike facilities in Oakland are plentiful, safe, and convenient!), but so long as I own a car I will almost always use it when going grocery shopping. Lugging a bunch of groceries around sucks.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Even then I was hit by a car on Tuesday crossing in a crosswalk with the crossing light on. I went over the hood on to the ground and the driver left after he saw me get up on my own power. That was Oak Lawn a thoroughfare connected to the freeways with very limited lights to slow traffic down.

WOW! Hope you're okay.

[Matt777]

Also, I mostly bike everywhere (because bike facilities in Oakland are plentiful, safe, and convenient!), but so long as I own a car I will almost always use it when going grocery shopping. Lugging a bunch of groceries around sucks.

Get a collapsible grocery cart. Plenty of people downtown use them.
https://www.amazon.com/MOD-Complete-MDC ... ocery+cart

[cowboyeagle05]

Even then I was hit by a car on Tuesday crossing in a crosswalk with the crossing light on. I went over the hood on to the ground and the driver left after he saw me get up on my own power. That was Oak Lawn a thoroughfare connected to the freeways with very limited lights to slow traffic down.

WOW! Hope you're okay.

Yeah, I am fine had some light pain in my lower back but it was gone within a day. I have reported the incident to the 311 app and I am in contact with my city council member about the safety issue since there is a crosswalk light but no painted crosswalk on the asphalt. I will continue to walk home every day despite the incident cause it's cheaper than paying for a gym and you learn a lot more about a city when you walk amongst it rather than drive past it.

As for this thread topic, I walk past this building every day and the ground floor retail so far remains active even after normal work hours. I have been to that Starbucks Reserve at 10 o'clock on more than a few weekdays and there is always people on their laptops and at Del Frisco's having dinner. The patio has been full on many occasions and the retail parking is never full so some people must be walking or Ubering.

[tanzoak]

Also, I mostly bike everywhere (because bike facilities in Oakland are plentiful, safe, and convenient!), but so long as I own a car I will almost always use it when going grocery shopping. Lugging a bunch of groceries around sucks.

Get a collapsible grocery cart. Plenty of people downtown use them.
https://www.amazon.com/MOD-Complete-MDC ... ocery+cart

Unfortunately, the nearest grocery store is 1.5 mi away from home. And even if you're just walking 10 min, it's still annoying to drag that thing around full of groceries (not to mention the poor pint of B&J's in the summer!).

I've lived car-free before, and grocery shopping wasn't the end of the world. You adapt. But if I have a car, that's going to be one of the most consistent things I use it for.

[lakewoodhobo]

Dallas' Malibu Poke restaurant charts big expansion with 2 new locations
http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/resta ... n/#slide=0

Malibu Poke will open a second Dallas location at 2355 Olive St., in the new McKinney & Olive high-rise between Klyde Warren Park and the American Airlines Center.