Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

https://twitter.com/BuildANDRES/status/ ... 4413795329


Facade mockup:

That's interesting, wonder what that will look like when it starts going up. Certainly is different from what we are used to.

I've heard this described as having a "lace"covering. It should look pretty cool.

The cool thing is you can see it from all over the Design District now. Course with almost everything in the immediate area being 1 story warehouse structures that's are not hard to accomplish. From most of the bar/restaurants in the area, you can see it rise above everything. I can not wait till we have a few more high rises in this area.

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr
Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Virgin Hotel has a construction camera...https://app.oxblue.com/open/andres/virginhotel

Looks like the building has topped. I could see the tree on top as I passed by a couple of days ago.

jrd1964 wrote:Looks like the building has topped. I could see the tree on top as I passed by a couple of days ago.

Yes it topped out at 16 floors. There will be a restaurant and bar on the ground floor.It will have 268 rooms and parking on levels 2 and 3, a pool/bar on level 4, and a fitness center on level 5.

Curious though is there a lot to do in that immediate area within walking distance of the hotel ?

The intersection of Hi Line and Oak Lawn Ave is not too shabby (Meddlesome Moth, Ascension, Wheelhouse, Pakpao, Sassetta, etc..).

I don't know a thing about the shopping/arts side of the Design Distict, so I can't really comment on that. They are also right along Turtle Creek, so maybe they expect the creek and trail along it to be more of a destination sometime down the line?

Far less to walk to here than at the competing hotels—new Kimpton in DE, Zaza in Uptown, Joule or Statler in EMC. Even the W is getting a lot of new attractions in VP.

Maybe no one cares because it is the Virgin and it is a far greater attraction than any of those other hotels. And there is more to do a short Uber or Lime Bike ride away.

But fundamentally the Virgin in the DD suffers from a similar challenge as W in VP. Here Dunhill controls most of the surrounding properties and they have not brought the rest of the neighborhood destinations up to the caliber of the hotel. So it may be somewhat of a lonely outpost for a while.

^I would agree with that. Considering how few Virgin Hotels there are in the country, it was definitely a surprising choice for location. I'm guessing they see big things for the neighborhood in the future, which I would agree with, but I'm just surprised they built this so early considering the current state of the district.

Imagine how good it would have been in Deep Ellum or Downtown. Sigh. I'm hopeful for the Design District, though. It will be there some day, but will Virgin still be operating there?

Also note, some of the nearby restaurants/bars are planned to be torn down for another hotel.

If adjacent Turtle Creek in the DD gets turned into a riverwalk type development, then it makes total sense. Maybe the hotel developers know something we don't know yet. It would be very cool to see that happen and a huge draw.

I think it's only a matter of time before Turtle Creek in the DD turns into something better, and, I too, am hoping the developers know something we don't.

I'm very happy with the location they have chosen, as I see a lot of potential in this area (however, a lot of the potential depends on how the city decides to make use of Turtle Creek and the Trinity River).

Virgin Hotel does seem like a pioneer in this location, think about it... the Market Center is HUGE with retail buying, and Design District is huge-for-the-region with custom work, galleries. The city is growing, making the placement of this hotel common sense to the point of why has the Anatole had such a lock-down on this part of town.

Hotels are notorious for not needing to be in an immediate walkable area to succeed. Virgin is a destination hotel in a hip neighborhood. They will succeed just fine as long as the Dallas Tourism market remains as stable as it has been. Keep in mind Mark Cuban has bought a huge section for his long-term goals as the Dallas Maverick HQ.

The Design District has plenty of offerings with multiple brewery taprooms, Cidercade, Bowling, Pie Tap, Subway, Ascension, Rodeo Goat, Ferris Wheelers, Mama Daughters Diner, Town Hearth, Wheelhouse, Meddlesome Moth, Sassetta, Pakpao Thai Food, The Charles, Buda Juice, Los Lupes. I am not sure whats in Amli Design District tower ground floor anymore(formerly the Hi-Line). There are banks, dry cleaners, 7Eleven, and many antique, designer furniture stores, Dragon Street galleries, Haas Moto Museum and the Haas Sculpture Gallery, Dallas Contemporary etc.

The Design District honestly has almost as much maybe more than most other neighborhoods. You know the Virgin will have a completed list and map for guests most likely in every room. Also, I would not be surprised to see a bike share discount code for guests too.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:Hotels are notorious for not needing to be in an immediate walkable area to succeed. Virgin is a destination hotel in a hip neighborhood. They will succeed just fine as long as the Dallas Tourism market remains as stable as it has been. Keep in mind Mark Cuban has bought a huge section for his long-term goals as the Dallas Maverick HQ.

The Design District has plenty of offerings with multiple brewery taprooms, Cidercade, Bowling, Pie Tap, Subway, Ascension, Rodeo Goat, Ferris Wheelers, Mama Daughters Diner, Town Hearth, Wheelhouse, Meddlesome Moth, Sassetta, Pakpao Thai Food, The Charles, Buda Juice, Los Lupes. I am not sure whats in Amli Design District tower ground floor anymore(formerly the Hi-Line). There are banks, dry cleaners, 7Eleven, and many antique, designer furniture stores, Dragon Street galleries, Haas Moto Museum and the Haas Sculpture Gallery, Dallas Contemporary etc.

The Design District honestly has almost as much maybe more than most other neighborhoods. You know the Virgin will have a completed list and map for guests most likely in every room. Also, I would not be surprised to see a bike share discount code for guests too.

Dallas has a good tourism market ? Just curious

Here is some quick info from 2016 data but always keep in mind how much this info can be pumped up but so does every city to their own data. Dealey Plaza tends to be the biggest tourism generator with some leftover Dallas Tv series visitors, Dallas Cowboy fans, conventions, major concerts etc.

"In 2015, 25.7 million people visited Dallas, spending $4.4 billion on goods and services and creating a $7.6 billion in total economic impact."

"The travel and tourism industry helps the Dallas economy thrive. Picture a train that has more than 1,600 passenger cars and is more than 26 miles long, pulling into Dallas. 150,000 consumers disembark, open their wallets, and spend $12.2 million, which then ripples throughout the entire metro region. "

Most of the buildings in the DD are controlled by one entity, Dunhill. They may intend to develop every building themselves, so development could be very slow.

Compare this to what 42 did in DE. They rehabbed the properties, put them up for lease and zoom, it’s a land rush to get things open. No sign of that in the DD.

Well, 42 sold off most of its holdings before they finished the job...
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... erty-deals

Bill Hutchinson needs to get the rest of this area moving otherwise his new baby is going to be left on an island disconnected from where the energy is moving in the urban core.

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

I hope that's not the final cladding. It does not look very good...

It's supposed to be white, that doesn't look white to me so I am guessing that part comes later.

If you read the previous stories about the exterior design I believe the white you speak of is a perforated skin that will float in front of this metal facade you see so far. That probably won't go up until more of the under lying initial facade is up.

It's hideous.

We went from this






to this

I also like this one a whole lot better than what they decided to go with

kingpin wrote:It's hideous.

This is hideous to you? I can't speak to whatever your expectations were for this building, but I hardly find this rendering "hideous." As for what's actually being built, the building's not done yet.

^Whatever the final color and texture look like, I hope they've decided to keep the rooftop neon sign. I think that's a really cool feature that very few buildings in Dallas embrace.

eburress wrote:

kingpin wrote:It's hideous.


This is hideous to you? I can't speak to whatever your expectations were for this building, but I hardly find this rendering "hideous." As for what's actually being built, the building's not done yet.

yeah i think its hideous, especially compared to the first renderings. Clearly the building is not done yet, but im pretty certain the final product is going to look even worse.

I think it will look good once completed. The other designs were more interesting, but I still think this will stand out in it's own way.

I am glad this one isn't entirely made of glass. While they may outshine in the renderings, we've been "Blue Cield'd" before. I think this facade is more unique and I also agree about the Neon sign, that would be a great addition to the tower.

Initial designs and computer mock-ups don't always look like the finished product.

I am going to wait this one out. I am fine with the final rendered design. It appears to be something Dallas has not experimented with yet in recent history. Renderings are a marketing tool to get city hall and the public to sign off. They used to be mainly for insiders who were trying to market the building to potential tenants or financiers and focused on different elements. Nowadays with the spread of the internet and cities putting public documents online the renderings get so much lipstick and gloss put into them it's hard for most people to see past it.

The only thing that would make that neon-styled sign any better is if it rotated (like the Magnolia Oil logo used to do).

A spinning virgin, hmmm.

I am far enough away I can't be sure but I see a white patch on the building so am wondering if they are starting to apply the white lace exterior.

Tnexster wrote:I am far enough away I can't be sure but I see a white patch on the building so am wondering if they are starting to apply the white lace exterior.

After getting a closer look it's just a banner.

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr
Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Untitled by Around My City, on Flickr

Still no sign of the lace like exterior. Wonder when that will start going up?

Tnexster wrote:Still no sign of the lace like exterior. Wonder when that will start going up?

There is a layup at the site. It looks great.

Tnexster wrote:Still no sign of the lace like exterior. Wonder when that will start going up?

Virgin Hotel by Thymant, on Flickr


Virgin Hotel by Thymant, on Flickr

Cool, a most interesting exterior.

hahaha people are going to hate it in 50 years so i'll be scrapped off and modernized!

tamtagon wrote:hahaha people are going to hate it in 50 years so i'll be scrapped off and modernized!

????? Why exactly?

The lacework is very aesthetically pleasing.

Thymant wrote:

tamtagon wrote:hahaha people are going to hate it in 50 years so i'll be scrapped off and modernized!

????? Why exactly?

Just because it happened to interesting, pleasing buildings built in the past.... they get updated to whatever contemporary style is trendy because whatever style was trendy is no longer popular.

tamtagon wrote:

Thymant wrote:

tamtagon wrote:hahaha people are going to hate it in 50 years so i'll be scrapped off and modernized!

????? Why exactly?

Just because it happened to interesting, pleasing buildings built in the past.... they get updated to whatever contemporary style is trendy because whatever style was trendy is no longer popular.

The former Pretorian building, the old railroad company/insurance company office that's now a Homewood Suites, and the Butler Brothers building downtown are 3 prime examples of having one type facade at opening (and for a while), then later having a completely different facade material put on that's considered "more modern". Hopefully the Virgin doesn't have a change of heart in a few decades and wants to change to stucco