The Link at Uptown

[Kelley USA]

New 22 story tower proposed for Uptown...

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... ject-works

Additional article posted in D Magazine

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

[Tnexster]

Nice find, I have always wondered when that little office building might get spotted for a new high rise project.

[DPatel304]

Nice find! I keep hoping that new development in this area will help link Uptown/Harwood/Victory Park together, but it just seems like the roads here are too wide and cars drive too fast for that to ever happen.

Either way, this is still good news regardless.

[lakewoodhobo]

[Jbarn]

Three years until completion seems like a long timeline for a building like this.

[Tnexster]

Nice little park across the street, couple more restaurants planned at the base. Guess we'll see.

[Tucy]

Usually one looks to Steve Brown for the ultra super excited descriptions, but this time D Magazine outdid him:

Nice building, but "pushed the envelope"??

This is a real head-scratcher: "It will boast unobstructed, protected views overlooking the Dallas North Tollway to the north and downtown Dallas to the south."

I hope it happens, it's a great-looking building (wish it could go on one of our many remaining vacant sites rather than replacing existing buildings); but no one should be holding their breath. It looks like this developer has never developed a high-rise of any kind and has quite limited experience with office buildings.

[maconahey]

Three years until completion seems like a long timeline for a building like this.

I wonder if they're going to put parking underground? If so, that could be the reason it'll take so long to build

[Tucy]

Three years until completion seems like a long timeline for a building like this.

I wonder if they're going to put parking underground? If so, that could be the reason it'll take so long to build

They also have two buildings to clear off the site, and perhaps office building tenants to relocate.

[DPatel304]

Kaizen plans to demolish an existing office building that sits on the site next summer, and deliver The Link in late 2021.

The article says they won't demolish the existing building until Summer 2019, so the 2021 completion date makes sense with that in mind.

[CTroyMathis]

I'm guessing where those outdoor terraces are might be the first level of offices, secondary quasi-lobby, pop-up lunch gig, amenities, etc. Hopefully the ground-floor restaurants have a patio, and, the patios face the quieter Akard side.

[cowboyeagle05]

The current office building is vacant but I do know a temporary gym is located inside on at least one of the floors. I can not remember the name but its some group of trainers with a startup who are probably on a month to month type of deal.

[flyswatter]

Body Mountain is the place.

http://bodymountain.com/

[willyk]

The whole world is converging on this end of Uptwon. All that’s left is the El Fenix site and the two Harwood sites. Given that neither owner seems to be in a rush, the next logical development site is the Jefferson.

[Matt777]

The whole world is converging on this end of Uptwon. All that’s left is the El Fenix site and the two Harwood sites. Given that neither owner seems to be in a rush, the next logical development site is the Jefferson.

Would the El Fenix building not be protected? Isn't it really old?

[willyk]

The whole world is converging on this end of Uptwon. All that’s left is the El Fenix site and the two Harwood sites. Given that neither owner seems to be in a rush, the next logical development site is the Jefferson.

Would the El Fenix building not be protected? Isn't it really old?

Not sure—I was really thinking of the El Fenix parking lots. What great sites they are.

[cowboyeagle05]

The El Fenix ownership has talked publicly about allowing a developer to propose something on the parking lots. I believe all plans were based on the concept the original buildings would stay and they would have to get dedicated parking access as part of the deal to develop. The parking lots are plenty big for a tower I imagine.

In Dallas, nothing is likely protected so to assume that would be a mistake. Everyone always assumes old buildings of every kind are protected in Dallas but very few times they are and developers would like things to remain that way so they can tear them down and handle the PR after.

[Pinhi]

Yawn. Oh look, another 22 story office building. In a prominent location no less. Oh wow, a towering 22 story building holy cow. Seems like that's all we can build anymore. 22 stories. That's it. Zzzzzzzzz.

[Warrior2015]

Well look on the bright side. We have the 39 story high rise in VP going up, amli fointian place, and the 40 story arts district high rise !

[Hwulivn]

I am glad it’s not just a typical square box, but I haven’t seen street level depictions of the building and fear the building won’t contribute significantly to the pedestrian realm. Would be nice if the ground level retail, restaurants and bars extended to the second and even third floors, bring the street “into the building” thru good design, and create small plazas at the corners with the building set from the ground up thru the 3rd floor.

[maconahey]

Work Schedule: 09/02/2019 to 07/01/2021

Site Elevation: 442
Structure Height: 380
Total Height (AMSL): 822

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/se ... 87&row=242

[joshua.dodd]

We should start calling Uptown Texas' Manhattan

[Thymant]

Seems rather tall!

[R1070]

This building will be great for that area. Add in the new hotel where Pizza Hut is and it's going to really take off.

[eburress]

Yawn. Oh look, another 22 story office building. In a prominent location no less. Oh wow, a towering 22 story building holy cow. Seems like that's all we can build anymore. 22 stories. That's it. Zzzzzzzzz.

There are height limits throughout Uptown, so this is about what folks should expect in this part of town.

[Tucy]

We should start calling Uptown Texas' Manhattan

LOL. Were you being sarcastic?

[dallaz]

I’ve found more renderings on the developer’s website

https://www.kaizendp.com/projects/The-Link-at-Uptown

[joshua.dodd]

We should start calling Uptown Texas' Manhattan

LOL. Were you being sarcastic?

No. I am not. But I'll tell you what, don't anticipate many more projects. The market is going to experience a major correction. We are over supplied and cheaply built. And the costs of rent is waaaaay over valued.

[joshua.dodd]

Yawn. Oh look, another 22 story office building. In a prominent location no less. Oh wow, a towering 22 story building holy cow. Seems like that's all we can build anymore. 22 stories. That's it. Zzzzzzzzz.

There are height limits throughout Uptown, so this is about what folks should expect in this part of town.

Correct. FAA height limits.

[Cord1936]

We should start calling Uptown Texas' Manhattan

These images are now almost 2 years old but still reflect what you said ... the Manhattanization of Uptown and Victory Park.

The same views today would be even denser with the projects completed and/or now underway since these were taken.

No, we're not talking about wall-to-wall 70 story buildings here like in NYC ... but wall-to-wall towers nonetheless creating canyons throughout Uptown and Victory Park like Manhattan in NYC.

Uptown District of Downtown Dallas, partial view, 06-19-17

Victory Park District of Downtown Dallas, 05-22-17

[dallaz]

We should start calling Uptown Texas' Manhattan

These images are now almost 2 years old but still reflect what you said ... the Manhattanization of Uptown and Victory Park.

The same views today would be even denser with the projects completed and/or now underway since these were taken.

No, we're not talking about wall-to-wall 70 story buildings here like in NYC ... but wall-to-wall towers nonetheless creating canyons throughout Uptown and Victory Park like Manhattan in NYC.

Uptown District of Downtown Dallas, partial view, 06-19-17

Victory Park District of Downtown Dallas, 05-22-17

Here’s a pretty great drone video worth checking out. It really shows how much Dallas has grown...

https://youtu.be/j21ANbeTIfE

[NdoorTX]

Cool aerial video if you have 20 mns. to watch. I wish the operator would have done other Dallas tower corridors like 75N to 635, Preston Center and DNT. Harwood does have some great looking canyons that are impressive from up high. I wish, after viewing this YouTube video, Dallas would concentrate on adding tens of thousands of trees to the central DTD area. Our fair city is not the most photogenic, but it's also not dog ugly. Trees and vegetation would certainty help out in so many ways.

[Kelley USA]

Just saw this posted...The Link is financed and construction is starting. Good news!!

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... rting-work

[lakewoodhobo]

Just saw this posted...The Link is financed and construction is starting. Good news!!

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... rting-work

It looks like it has a mohawk, but I'll take it. Absolutely good news.

[I45Tex]

Usually one looks to Steve Brown for the ultra super excited descriptions, but this time D Magazine outdid him:

Nice building, but "pushed the envelope"??

This is a real head-scratcher: "It will boast unobstructed, protected views overlooking the Dallas North Tollway to the north and downtown Dallas to the south."

I hope it happens, it's a great-looking building (wish it could go on one of our many remaining vacant sites rather than replacing existing buildings); but no one should be holding their breath. It looks like this developer has never developed a high-rise of any kind and has quite limited experience with office buildings.

Looking north over a twenty year old arena and its parking ... is not a reliable definition of view protection. Still glad it is proceeding, but that view corridor will get redeveloped well within our lifetimes.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Protected views of a tollway... Lol How lovely

[DPatel304]

Great news! Glad to see this cycle still has some steam left in it.

[Tnexster]

Yes, indeed. Looks like 1999 McKinney will now be completely surrounded. I remember not that long ago when they had the best view of the downtown skyline available.

[eburress]

^^ Which was inevitable, but didn't make it any easier for the 1999 McKinney residents to stomach. Despite how obvious this should have been to people buying there, they had to know their views were going to change.

[dd_dweller]

Do we have any new renderings? The one on the DMN seems a lot boxier than previous renderings. Maybe that's what the backsides suppose to look like. IDK.

[CTroyMathis]

This is probably still a good link for the building: https://www.kaizendp.com/projects/The-Link-at-Uptown

Regarding that back side, I still think the lower squared-off portion facing Akard might be largely parking. Like say where the darker horizontal bands are.

[Tnexster]

Roughly the same height as The Union residential tower, standard uptown height these days. Looks like it will have some lighting feature as well. Glad a new one is getting started, new need a couple more to keep the pipeline of new product going.

[Tucy]

This is probably still a good link for the building: https://www.kaizendp.com/projects/The-Link-at-Uptown

Regarding that back side, I still think the lower squared-off portion facing Akard might be largely parking. Like say where the darker horizontal bands are.

Yeah, I think there is little doubt about that.

[willyk]

The Link, Harwood 11, El Fenix plus Hillwood VP and the Victor—this neighborhood is emerging as the focus for the next wave of high rise development. Getting harder to distinguish Uptown from Victory.

Stampede 66 closed a little too early. They should have repositioned the place from a destination restaurant to a neighborhood restaurant, like the Henry, Happiest Hour and the new Mexican place Harwood has under construction.

And aren’t the two Harwood city blocks at Olive and Caroline zoned for 100 stories? With all of the development converging on this location, this is where Harwood should build the trophy properties for their development.

But it’s too much to expect things to turn south on Field toward Ross. That highway overhead is too big a barrier to create a continuous neighborhood.

Maybe Hillwood and Headington will see it in their interest to find a way to bridge the freeway and bring some Uptown energy down their way, like KWP did for the Arts District.

They should adopt the western nub of the KWP expansion, along Akard, and build it out into a substantial connection between Uptown and their properties. Or build an Occulus, Vessell or London Eye over the freeway there.

[DPatel304]

The Link, Harwood 11, El Fenix plus Hillwood VP and the Victor—this neighborhood is emerging as the focus for the next wave of high rise development. Getting harder to distinguish Uptown from Victory.

Agreed. I was hoping it would finally be Downtown's time for shine, and, while we are seeing more development in Downtown, this area will be the area that booms. Totally fine with me either way, it is all urban Dallas, and this particular area, as you said, will help blur the lines between Victory and Uptown.

Looking at google maps, it seems like Olive St might be the best street to connect the two neighborhoods (at least until the North End apartments are re-developed which could be a while).

[tamtagon]

Here's my hair-splitting point of view regarding downtown's time to shine....

Victory Park and LoMac are as much a part of Downtown Dallas as The West End, Farmers Market, and Arts District.

As Victory Park and Uptown appear to blend together more and more, the distinction as a part of town separate from the Central Business district will fade, and one day most people will forget that Uptown was commonly considered an outpost away from downtown.... just like most people have forgotten this whole area was popularly labeled Oak Lawn, inhabited by non-Caucasians.

Downtown is shining, it's getting much bigger with the addition of Victory Park, LoMac, Harwood-Dallas....

[eburress]

For what it's worth, every non-Dallasite (friends, visitors, work colleagues, etc) I've ever spoke to thought Uptown, LoMac, Victory, Deep Ellum, etc were all part of Downtown. There was no distinction to them.

For those who know though, I think the Klyde Warren extension and developments like the Christopher, Triton and Perot sites will further help to blur the lines between the areas.

[tamtagon]

^It's been like that in the three metro areas I've lived in - Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta. When I was in Orange County, people would say downtown LA to cover Silverlake or the Dodger's Stadium... In Georgia, people talk to me about the downtown Atlanta neighborhoods of West End and L5Points....

[I45Tex]

Yes, labels like Little Mexico had a much longer tenure than Uptown Dallas, which it's nice to be reminded no one used when The Crescent opened in 1985:

https://books.google.com/books?id=uk-MD ... ng&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=lCsEA ... ng&f=false

As a temporary tool for real estate administration efforts, our "Uptown" moniker will be even less of a distinct historic memory than Little Mexico a couple generations from now.

[Tnexster]

For what it's worth, every non-Dallasite (friends, visitors, work colleagues, etc) I've ever spoke to thought Uptown, LoMac, Victory, Deep Ellum, etc were all part of Downtown. There was no distinction to them.

For those who know though, I think the Klyde Warren extension and developments like the Christopher, Triton and Perot sites will further help to blur the lines between the areas.

That's my experience as well, it's all blending together. I could see the VP area up to the edge of "official" uptown being dotted with much taller towers and a very dense downtown feel.