Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

lakewoodhobo wrote:Love these stories. I'm becoming oddly obsessed with The Cedars.

Long time Deep Ellum investor heads to Dallas' Cedars district for property buys
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... perty-buys

A company set up by investor Scott Rohrman has quietly purchased more than a dozen properties along Akard Street south of Interstate 30.

Rohrman said he doesn't have specific plans for the properties but believes in the future of the neighborhood on Dallas' near south side.

With widespread construction in Deep Ellum, near East Dallas and Uptown, builders and investors have shifted their attention to the Cedars area which still has blocks and blocks of property to be redeveloped.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:I can not wait to see what historical building CVS tears down to build a boring pharmacy that would look at home in Garland...

exelone31 wrote:For those who are rolling their eyes at the transition of the Uptown scene to Deep Ellum (ie - myself), it seems the Cedars is being groomed to become the next "hip" area.

I know there's a bunch of stuff there now, but it hasn't reached the tipping point IMO. There's a gap in general retail at the moment, but a lot of the big attractions (South Side Ballroom, Alamo Drafthouse, Four Corners Brewery) are already in place.

tamtagon wrote:The hip of Uptown that struggles to invade Deep Ellum will easily redefine CityPlace East and Mockingbird Lane. Oak Cliff will likely guide the tone of The Cedars.

DPatel304 wrote:Like you said, though, there a bunch of reasons to go to the Cedars, but the area has been relatively dormant during this development cycle.

lakewoodhobo wrote:I think the good amount of construction activity here has been on the smaller scale, with the exception of the Lorenzo Hotel, but it's easy to overlook because the Cedars is such a large area. There are even some larger projects under construction that aren't getting any attention, like the apartments going up across from the Lorenzo.

DPatel304 wrote:Sounds like everything is on hold right now, until they can come to some agreement regarding the roads here. Anyone with some insight/thoughts on these changes? I generally don't drive a lot in the urban core, and rarely make it out to the Cedars, so I'm almost always on board for reducing roads and getting rid of one-ways.

exelone31 wrote:This is so sad, was really hoping this would be a cool restoration. I agree with dallaz, this seems pretty strange, just a "random" fire in the middle of the night in an unoccupied building.

joshua.dodd wrote:Something just seems off about this...

exelone31 wrote:

joshua.dodd wrote:Something just seems off about this...

^This x 1,000

Tnexster wrote:This is turning into an epic conspiracy. Maybe it just burned down because it was old, had old wiring and 114 year old wood.

Tuesday afternoon, officers took a man into custody in handcuffs from an unoccupied building across the street from the Ambassador. Police said the arrest was not related to the fire.

According to media reports, witnesses said the man had broken into the hotel Monday and was told to leave. Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said the cause of the destructive blaze has not been determined and no arrests have been made in connection with the fire.

Hannibal Lecter wrote:From https://www.dallasnews.com/news/fire-1/ ... royed-fire

Tuesday afternoon, officers took a man into custody in handcuffs from an unoccupied building across the street from the Ambassador. Police said the arrest was not related to the fire.

According to media reports, witnesses said the man had broken into the hotel Monday and was told to leave. Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said the cause of the destructive blaze has not been determined and no arrests have been made in connection with the fire.

DBadger wrote:If this was such a problem, why not grant the land to Heritage Village, would have accomplished the same 'solution' but wouldn't grant the land to a developer. Setting the wrong precedence here.
http://www.dallasheritagevillage.org/about
Please look at the map, would have made more sense to add to DHV.

DBadger wrote:You have a 115 year old building, you don't try to secure it?
Pay a little to have a grounds keeper?
A 115 year old building, probably the most valuable in the Cedars, is gone.
It does not have to criminal, it does not have to be intentional, but is negligence acceptable?
Similar crap happened with the Hamiltons with the Lorenzo pre-renovation, want to to take your time? secure your damn property.

Lake now says he will rebuild, using as many of the leftover bricks as possible — remnants not just of the Ambassador but of the Park Hotel built in 1904, whose bones were obscured by the Ambassador's off-white facade. Lake said he cannot imagine the new thing looking just like the old; he frets about planting a "fake" atop the remnants of the original, like some sad replica.

"But I do think we'll take elements of what was there, particularly the brand and architectural style," he said — referring, in part, to that faded red "AMBASSADOR" sign that welcomed visitors to the Cedars. "Right now we're working with contractors and going through the process on who we will select and what we're going to do."

lakewoodhobo wrote:I hope the street abandonment goes through regardless, assuming that the same agenda item includes converting S. Ervay to two-way.

As for the new Ambassador, I wonder if Jim Lake will reconsider the hotel use now that he has a clean slate. A mixed-use Ambassador Hotel & Residences might get funding before another single-use apartment building at this point.

willyk wrote:How is the Lorenzo doing? If well, that would suggest a new hotel could be viable here. On the other hand the Trump hotel deal fell through. That could indicate the opposite.

willyk wrote:How is the Lorenzo doing? If well, that would suggest a new hotel could be viable here. On the other hand the Trump hotel deal fell through. That could indicate the opposite.