Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

Warrior2015 wrote:Deep Ellum Boom
An entertainment district that once was a hotbed for jazz and blues, the Deep Ellum neighborhood east of downtown Dallas is undergoing a dramatic transformation, courtesy of Westdale Real Estate Investment and Management. The company is adding work to the live-play mix with a massive new mixed-use complex called The Epic. It features two hotels, a 310-unit luxury apartment tower, retail space, and two office towers, one of which will be fully occupied by Uber. Westdale also is partnering with global developer Hines to build a mixed-used project called The Stack. One thing’s for certain: Deep Ellum will never be the same.

In this article it mentions the epic will have two hotels. Is that accurate? I thought it was only one?

Which article is this? Is there a link?

Tnexster wrote:

Warrior2015 wrote:Deep Ellum Boom
An entertainment district that once was a hotbed for jazz and blues, the Deep Ellum neighborhood east of downtown Dallas is undergoing a dramatic transformation, courtesy of Westdale Real Estate Investment and Management. The company is adding work to the live-play mix with a massive new mixed-use complex called The Epic. It features two hotels, a 310-unit luxury apartment tower, retail space, and two office towers, one of which will be fully occupied by Uber. Westdale also is partnering with global developer Hines to build a mixed-used project called The Stack. One thing’s for certain: Deep Ellum will never be the same.

In this article it mentions the epic will have two hotels. Is that accurate? I thought it was only one?

Which article is this? Is there a link?

Here's the link to that article: https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/ ... r-in-2020/

I remember reading "two hotels" somewhere as well, and I wondered if they were counting the "hotel addition" to the Pittman as a separate hotel.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/loc ... ronavirus/

Sounds like Uber is pausing construction for the foreseeable future. Hopefully we didn't just get our first unfinished "Stonehenge" for this previous cycle.

dzh wrote:https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2020/03/31/uber-pausing-dallas-hiring-postponing-construction-until-2021-due-to-coronavirus/

Sounds like Uber is pausing construction for the foreseeable future. Hopefully we didn't just get our first unfinished "Stonehenge" for this previous cycle.

Well at least the construction will continue on the actual uber tower!

The negative Nancy in me says great if they bail out cause Uber doesn't do well in this shutdown and can't commit to Dallas hub anymore we will have an empty tower with an economy on life support. The positive is like yay a new shiny thing in Deep Ellum...

cowboyeagle05 wrote:The negative Nancy in me says great if they bail out cause Uber doesn't do well in this shutdown and can't commit to Dallas hub anymore we will have an empty tower with an economy on life support. The positive is like yay a new shiny thing in Deep Ellum...

Yeah, I'm a little concerned for Uber at the moment. Their financials were not looking well to begin with and Ubers and JUMP Scooters are not really being used at the moment.

On the plus side, I'm guessing they are getting a lot of new customers introduced to Uber Eats.

They have plenty of drivers right now cause everyone I know that actually drives for Uber as their main income is bored in most cases. They are seeing an increase in deliveries but last I heard it's not what it was when people were using them to ride to bars, restaurants, etc. Getting rid of the delivery fee is to entice more activity in the system. I assume they are still charging restaurants for access to their customers.

So construction will continue on the second office building from KDC?

clcrash19 wrote:So construction will continue on the second office building from KDC?

Yes, that is what the Dallas Morning News reported in its article. Construction on the new tower will continue and it will be completed in 2021.

Drove by this today, didn't see much activity, couple construction workers but looks like it has been shut down.

Yall just need to gather your tissue boxes and be patient. Just cause you drove by one day and think things have stopped doesn't mean it has. The three projects that surround my work have gone through whole weeks in the past without progress or a sign that people were working and then back to it randomly. Any number of reasons could have been why it appeared to stop. I could be wrong of course cause I don't know anyone personally on the project but I doubt the project has come to an immediate stop and to be honest, a drive-by isn't the best way to determine the truth nor is believing the what the Dallas Morning News reports either. Is there a rush anymore to get the new tower vertical sooner than later probably not but I doubt the project is stoped.

If the uber bonus highrise gets started and then is abandoned half way up, wouldn't that put a little edge back into Deep Ellum?

^ha yes.

Don't look now but the crane base has been set....since they are clearly there and still working. It's on the webcam.

Dont know if anyone posted this. But it looks like theyre slapping some LED's on it.

It's been lit up for months.

Hannibal Lecter wrote:It's been lit up for months.

I guess I've only driven by it during the day and never noticed.
Regardless, the lack of symmetry bugs me. I was hoping theyd light up the other concrete column to.

Crane going up right now

Has there been any other renderings for this project? Street views of the base or different angles? I’ve yet to see any.

dd_dweller wrote:Has there been any other renderings for this project? Street views of the base or different angles? I’ve yet to see any.

Yes, see photo above of the completed complex.

I guess they are moving forward with the office building. I thought they were going to push it back to 2021?

Uber is delaying their move in as was stated in the Dallas Morning News article. Uber says they are simply delaying how fast they are hiring in DFW. Like everything they are pausing new hiring during the pandemic and have also pushed back the construction on their new space in the existing building. They already have several floors in the new building "occupied" but I imagine they simply didn't start the next phase of build-out. There is no rush on all their new office space in the existing building if they aren't hiring at the same pace as before since so many people are working from home. They have also clearly stated to the developer that nothing has changed on their commitment to the larger project or the developer is betting on the future choose your guess.

So three cranes? Looks like everything moving ahead, good to see.

There's a new rendering on site at the Epic. It's for the buildings across the street and to the left of the hotel. The rendering seems to show a modern office cube on top of the old buildings. I thought it looked pretty cool. I'll try to snap a picture next time I drive by it.

Tnexster wrote:So three cranes? Looks like everything moving ahead, good to see.

Good to hear! It looks like that's the case for a number of projects, so I'm glad this pandemic didn't put a major halt on the growth we've been seeing in Dallas.

I saw a sign out on the fencing around this block. They're calling it "Good E" with a completion in 2021. Here's a link I found: https://theretailconnection.net/propert ... dallas-tx/

An inside source told me that the Good E project is now on hold...

Here's better rendering of the Uber tower in the Epic development that's currently coming out of the ground.

rono3849 wrote:uber.headquarters.dallas.jpg

Here's better rendering of the Uber tower in the Epic development that's currently coming out of the ground.

Do you think uber will survive through this pandemic?

Warrior2015 wrote:

rono3849 wrote:uber.headquarters.dallas.jpg

Here's better rendering of the Uber tower in the Epic development that's currently coming out of the ground.

Do you think uber will survive through this pandemic?

IDK, the drivers I've talked to lately have all said they haven't been to DFW in at last 2-3 weeks, and aren't making near what they used to pre-virus.

itsjrd1964 wrote:

Warrior2015 wrote:

rono3849 wrote:uber.headquarters.dallas.jpg

Here's better rendering of the Uber tower in the Epic development that's currently coming out of the ground.

Do you think uber will survive through this pandemic?

IDK, the drivers I've talked to lately have all said they haven't been to DFW in at last 2-3 weeks, and aren't making near what they used to pre-virus.

Yeah same with my L.A uber driver friends. One friend said he was out for 10 hrs and only made $35! I ask because I used to be a full time driver in the Bay Area and L.A area and things were a bit slow in jan/feb along with rate cuts so i can imagine how dead it is now. Hope uber survives so we can get this nice new tower haha

mdg109 wrote:I saw a sign out on the fencing around this block. They're calling it "Good E" with a completion in 2021. Here's a link I found: https://theretailconnection.net/propert ... dallas-tx/

Me, last year - "Wow, I have no idea how there could be a neighborhood name that is worse than 'SoGood'."

These guys - "Hold my beer."

Warrior2015 wrote:

itsjrd1964 wrote:

Warrior2015 wrote:
Do you think uber will survive through this pandemic?

IDK, the drivers I've talked to lately have all said they haven't been to DFW in at last 2-3 weeks, and aren't making near what they used to pre-virus.

Yeah same with my L.A uber driver friends. One friend said he was out for 10 hrs and only made $35! I ask because I used to be a full time driver in the Bay Area and L.A area and things were a bit slow in jan/feb along with rate cuts so i can imagine how dead it is now. Hope uber survives so we can get this nice new tower haha

Totally anecdotal, but my UberEats has increased significantly since than pandemic.

Tivo_Kenevil wrote:Totally anecdotal, but my UberEats has increased significantly since than pandemic.

I'm guessing they gained a lot of new UberEats customers during all of this. In the short term obviously this won't be enough to offset the fact that hardly anyone is using regular Ubers and Scooters, but, in the long term, they will have likely gained a decent amount of market share.

It's good to see the front of the Knights of Pythias building finally redone. Went running through here a couple days ago. The new sidewalks and trees would make it a pretty pleasant walk all the way to the East Quarter.

mdg109 wrote:It's good to see the front of the Knights of Pythias building finally redone. Went running through here a couple days ago. The new sidewalks and trees would make it a pretty pleasant walk all the way to the East Quarter.

Wow that hotel is looking really nice

Uh oh. Looks like they still plan on finishing the building though. So at least there's that.
Uber wants two-year extension from Dallas on its Deep Ellum incentives

Uber Technologies is asking Dallas for a two-year extension on economic incentives approved for the tech giant’s planned corporate hub in Deep Ellum.

In late March, the San Francisco-based company said the COVID-19 pandemic was forcing it to pause hiring in Dallas and to delay improvements to part of a 16-story tower it’s leasing in the Epic development until 2021.
“None of these commitments have changed,” according to a memo from Eric Anthony Johnson, the city’s chief of economic development and neighborhood services. “In the long term, Uber does not expect any changes to its strategy or expectations regarding growth in Dallas.”

City Council will consider the extension May 13.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/202 ... ncentives/

Too many pessimists on this string...

Will Uber ride off to Dallas with its headquarters?

As cost-cutting pressures mount, speculation intensifies that Uber could move its San Francisco headquarters to lower-cost Dallas.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisc ... rters.html

Frankly, this is what I'm expecting. In this climate, where it REALLY doesn't matter where a company's HQ is and/or where its workers work, there's not much reason to have uber expensive real estate in SF.

I'm thinking that was their plan all along, but previously they were planning to do it much more slowly and gradually.

Can they even walk away from a billion-dollar campus project in San Francisco? That's me actually asking. I assume their plan in San Fran wasn't tied to millions in incentives from that city or the State of California. Also if not are they trying to get incentives to keep the jobs there? Is this them playing a game to see what California/San Francisco may be willing to give up? I am just used to Dallas being the leverage to get incentives out of other local governments.

I can't read the article since its behind the pay wall, but is this anything more than musings of a business reporter and civic boosters?

Has the company itself made any move so that one can even try to wonder if it is just playing to get incentive from California/SF. Because the chances of them getting anything are nil. Actually both the state and city took Uber and Lyft to court this week, so I doubt the state/city cares and there is any kind of incentive play going on by Uber. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/technology/california-uber-lyft-lawsuit.html.

I wonder if there is even any real move consideration going on since the layoffs they just had does not seem to have affected their headquarter here too much. Would have been a great time to move people to Dallas and not to ask for the 2 year extension of the Dallas incentives if that was really their plan.

Our Mr. Wilonsky just tweeted that the Lizard Lounge is closing. He didn't reveal other specifics as of yet.

https://twitter.com/RobertWilonsky/stat ... 58752?s=19

(Putting it here, as it is likely Epic-related...)

One would think they if they really wanted to save some cash they would just figure out which positions they could send to work at home. That would seem to save a lot more than moving people to Dallas.

More from WFAA/8 about the Lizard Lounge:

http://a.msn.com/0B/en-us/BB13QgOV?ocid=se

willyk wrote:Too many pessimists on this string...

Will Uber ride off to Dallas with its headquarters?

As cost-cutting pressures mount, speculation intensifies that Uber could move its San Francisco headquarters to lower-cost Dallas.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisc ... rters.html

Two weeks after cutting 3,700 jobs, Uber slashes another 3,000, closes an SF office
https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspicks/article/Uber-job-cuts-layoffs-offices-closed-15278127.php

...

The 6,700 jobs are equal to 25% of the San Francisco-based company's global work force. Uber is also shutting or consolidating 40 offices around the world; its Pier 70 office in San Francisco is set to close.

...

I got to think the HQ is coming here within the next 3-5 years

Article says they are pausing construction but the cam shows activity so I'm not sure what that means except that someone might now know.