Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

What should they have called it?

Tnexster wrote:What should they have called it?

I'm not the creative type, but 1401 Elm, Elm Station or Elm Place would have all been better alternatives, in my opinion.

dallasite24 wrote:It still bugs me that they're naming it "The Drever". The name has nothing to do with Dallas. I get that when I invest $240MM to redevelop a vacant skyscraper with an asbestos problem, I can name the building whatever I want... but when some 80 year old dude that looks like the Monopoly Man names a building after himself, it doesn't leave me too confident that the resulting development will be done so in the best interests of Dallas. Just seems like a very outdated mentality to me...

Somebody post a pic of the guy

I liken it to my dog peeing on a fire hydrant. The name seems to mean more in California, he makes a big play in Dallas, invests a bunch of money and names it after himself. He's marking his territory.

Elm Place or First National Bank Tower.
The Drever just sounds bad and it does not fit the building. Stick to its original name.

I don't mind the name. And probably shouldn't use "First National Bank" if there isn't a bank in the tower.

Elm Place would've been a nice throwback. "Drever Tower" would be fine, too.

Statler, Butler, H.L.Green, Kresge, Neiman Marcus, Titche's, Sangers....

The good thing about naming a building after himself... It better NOT fail! I'm sure he'll do whatever it takes to make it succeed in the end. And that alone is worth it!

He has stated in a few different interviews that he wants this project to be a big part of his family's legacy. His son is involved in the company and his grandson probably will be (he looks like he's maybe 8 years old but was involved in the announcement ceremony).

From that angle it might actually be a good thing the family's name is attached.

Tnexster wrote:I liken it to my dog peeing on a fire hydrant. The name seems to mean more in California, he makes a big play in Dallas, invests a bunch of money and names it after himself. He's marking his territory.

I see this as further extension of the latest building naming trend only with a personal touch (The McKenzie, The Taylor, The Brady, The Jordan, etc).

I'd prefer 'Elm Place' or something along that line, whatever. I hopefully anticipate returning to Dallas and spiking the family legacy with such a huge redevelopment means downtown has a new big fish with big plans to make the place big again.....

Since this deal almost fell apart I don't care what they name it. This would have put a damper on Downtown if it had fallen through I am fine with The Drever.

^Ditto

I agree with Cbdallas. Also, the average person will have no idea why it is called The Drever and that name doesn't sound too far off from many development names anyway.

I live over at the Renaissance and this building is fairly significant on the skyline. I've lived in my place for just over a year and when I've had people over many have asked when it is sunset or twilight what is that big, black, empty skyscraper. Even those that don't necessarily take an interest in things like that. I see it all the time as this big hole on the skyline that is an even bigger hole in the revitalization of downtown. Therefore, I am extremely happy that an out of towner picked up the project and that it is moving forward. It is an investment that will do wonders in many aspects.

Also, for the last 2 weeks and for the first time I have seen a few lights on in the upper 5 or so floors. Just having lights on inside is exciting and and as more light up over time I will be thrilled. That said, I really hope their signature yet perhaps "not so floodlight white" lights are relit with LEDs. They would be fine being white most of the time and then programmed with holidays and events. It will fill in the gap and look great, IMO. I would think that with the name on it, they would want to bring back something that makes it stand out more and and make an otherwise black and white rectangular building really pop at night. I know people will want to know what that building is when they see those lights.

Well what's interesting is is that the renderings still show a grocery in the larger space so they are obviously still hoping for a small time store in the building.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:Well what's interesting is is that the renderings still show a grocery in the larger space so they are obviously still hoping for a small time store in the building.

Where have you seen these renderings showing a grocery?

Anyone know what the proper pronunciation of "Drever" is? is that first e long or short?

Tucy wrote:

cowboyeagle05 wrote:Well what's interesting is is that the renderings still show a grocery in the larger space so they are obviously still hoping for a small time store in the building.

Where have you seen these renderings showing a grocery?

Here's one rendering, for whatever it's worth:



http://ucr.com/property/drever/
http://ucr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/ ... m-hero.jpg

The Drever website is live: https://thedreverdallas.com/

The Drever sounds like a building The Howells on Gilligans Island would have spoken about.

lakewoodhobo wrote:The Drever website is live: https://thedreverdallas.com/

The website says: "Juxtaposed near luxury iconic Dallas retailers, Neiman Marcus and Forty Five Ten..."

Juxtaposed. So, what, they're gonna have a Foot Locker and a Sears?

Please ignore haha...I didn't see the previous posts.

The old man can call it "The Drever". You and I can keep calling it The First National Bank Tower. Folks in the middle can call it Elm Place. As long as it's filled with activity, everybody is happy.

They could call it Black Tower with Stripes for all I care I am just happy it's being turned into a giant mixed use tower. Can't wait to see how it all works out.

I'm just happy the original architecture of the building is staying.

joshua.dodd wrote:I'm just happy the original architecture of the building is staying.

Agree. Between this building, the Statler and Republic, downtown has a nice collection of mid-century towers. We don't appreciate them when they go derelict, but once restored they will be an attraction that sets downtown apart from other neighborhoods.

Absolutely agree. In fact, I would say that what truly defines Dallas as unique is, not only its fantastic collection of Mid Century Towers, but our exceptionally defining Post Modern architecture. Bank of America tower's Art Deco inspired geometry, Fountain Place's domineering and futuristic charm that is timeless, and--of course--the Chase Manhattan tower with its very unique keyhole feature and arched crown, which too embraces an Art Deco throw back. I also love the Renaissance Tower with its X feature and spires. At night when it stands next to the green silhouette of the BoA Tower, it glows with the royal presence of a queen standing next to her king. Just imagine The Drever's stripes lit up once again! Dallas' Post Modern buildings have an artistically sound equilibrium between traditional and futuristic architecture that truly is timeless. That's what really defines the Dallas skyline as unique from all others. The fact that once you see these buildings, you will not forget them, as is the case for many other cities. That's the kind of charm that not many cities can boast.

Big day for The Drever today. Posted on Twitter a few minutes ago:

Demo is DONE! 5.6 mil. sq ft of material removed - the largest demo and abatement project in TX. Now starts the rebuilding! #TheDreverDallas

lakewoodhobo wrote:Big day for The Drever today. Posted on Twitter a few minutes ago:

Demo is DONE! 5.6 mil. sq ft of material removed - the largest demo and abatement project in TX. Now starts the rebuilding! #TheDreverDallas

That's good news. We need this block activated. Now we can finally see some tangible progress.

http://www.dmagazine.com/commercial-real-estate/2017/03/bdrc-partners-no-longer-associated-with-the-drever-redevelopment/

Not sure what this will mean for the timeline, but have to imagine it delays it somewhat.

This Building is in perpetual delay

It is a massive project without a lot of things to do and redo. After all, unlike most historic remediation downtown, this is a real skyscraper with tons of space to fill. No wonder financing is hard to find. Most banks look at this and laugh. Tearing it down would almost be just as costly as well. Then to tear it down you would want to build something to replace it. It's no surprise that some like AT&T would rather focus on the buildings they have or move into something built on a parking lot. The demand just isn't there yet to push this size of a project over the hill as smoothly as we would all like. I believe the "spin" as some would call it that this project will keep moving that this isn't a sign of impending doom for this iteration of the project.

Man, the rehabilitation of this building has been star-crossed from the get-go.

Tucy wrote:Man, the rehabilitation of this building has been star-crossed from the get-go.

word

Not to mention, it's also been the subject of spinning and developer-speak worthy of the Museum Tower:

Drever's 'everything is fine; nothing to see here' comments in the D magazine article remind one of the November 2015 comments by the then-developer of the building: "Everything is going fine on the project and we are continuing work as we speak," said Dorsey, adding the building is on schedule and slated for completion at the end of 2016, or first quarter of 2017."

We were recently treated to the announcement that major milestone of asbestos abatement had been completed. Everyone seems to have forgotten that we were told back in 2015 that the abatement was already 80% done, and earlier were told that the abatement and demolition would be done by the fall of 2014.

https://www.dmagazine.com/commercial-re ... -in-court/

The lawsuit doesn't seem like a big deal.

More worrisome is their refininancing. Who is going to give Drever a lower-interest loan within the next month or two when the Fed is about to hike rates again?

this project has looked SUPER DEAD over the past week/week and a half...

dpl-1202 wrote:this project has looked SUPER DEAD over the past week/week and a half...

A sign of hope

They don't seem to be doing much exterior work at the moment but I see them in there working everyday. There are also now lights on at night in the higher-up floors where it was completely dark a few weeks ago.

I was at the Ackard dart station waiting for the train Saturday and there was very loud constant interior work going on inside. They may just be at a point where the focus is interior at the moment.

Who knows whether the person running their social media actually knows all the plans, but this was posted by The Drever's Facebook page tonight.

>That's the plan

Oh, that makes me giddy!

great news. this puts some of the financial trouble speculations to rest. glad to hear they are still on schedule.

They have a basic site up now with some more renderings.

www.thedreverdallas.com

Some of those renders look really good, a fully functional observation deck downtown would be killer.

Stylish. We need a mega roof top bar somewhere.

Steve Brown is such a hack it drives me crazy, is he paid by the DMN or the developers that pitch him stories?

The deck renders are OK I guess, but they are just renders and hardly extraordinary.

So if Steve Brown didn't get information from the developers, where exactly would he get it from? City Hall building permit department? How long would that last before the developers nixed the release of information they didn't control? We all saw what happened during the last two days with the renderings posted of Fountain Place AMLI residential tower.

Give the guy a break, he's doing a job. The real information is located on blogs like this one most of the time well before it shows up in the DMN.