Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

Tnexster wrote:Anybody know what the third tower is supposed to be?

Haven't a clue. Has anyone seen any description of this phantom third tower? I've only read a reference that there is one, but that's it.

I'm not sweating it. I'll be surprised if we see *two* towers.

The third tower is the garage guys

Cranes a'comin'

So happy this is actually happening. Don't hate it like some, but don't completely love the design, just like many others. However, this will be huge for the Design District, and I can't wait to see more cranes going up following this. Really hope this is a catalyst.

A good sized crane is up on the site.

R1070 wrote:A good sized crane is up on the site.

Got a chance to see that today, it does stand up pretty high, much taller than Virgin but helps give some perspective on the placement.

Actually the crane will be raised even higher later on during construction at some point. It’s a two step crane. This will be a site to see during construction from Stemmons Freeway and definitely when both towers are finished.

Tnexster wrote:

R1070 wrote:A good sized crane is up on the site.

Got a chance to see that today, it does stand up pretty high, much taller than Virgin but helps give some perspective on the placement.

Picture

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

kingpin wrote:Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

Thanks for the photo! Can't wait to see this thing rise...

Man, it seems like that's going up in a hurry! There must not be much/any underground parking.

I think they are building a garage across the entire property so it will be fewer floors and low compared to the big podiums we normally see where you stack 5 floors of parking then a tower on top. Big booty high-rises I call them. This one will more easily blend I think because its spread out across the property rather than trying to compact the parkin underneath the tower.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:I think they are building a garage across the entire property so it will be fewer floors and low compared to the big podiums we normally see where you stack 5 floors of parking then a tower on top. Big booty high-rises I call them. This one will more easily blend I think because its spread out across the property rather than trying to compact the parkin underneath the tower.

I find the obsession over garages to be odd. They are necessary in an automobile centric city like Dallas. I'd rather have them over the fields of surface lots that plague the Eastern side of Downtown Dallas & along the Field Street corridor. Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, & Charlotte are just some of the other cities that incorporate garages into individual buildings.

rono3849 wrote:

cowboyeagle05 wrote:I think they are building a garage across the entire property so it will be fewer floors and low compared to the big podiums we normally see where you stack 5 floors of parking then a tower on top. Big booty high-rises I call them. This one will more easily blend I think because its spread out across the property rather than trying to compact the parkin underneath the tower.

I find the obsession over garages to be odd. They are necessary in an automobile centric city like Dallas. I'd rather have them over the fields of surface lots that plague the Eastern side of Downtown Dallas & along the Field Street corridor. Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, & Charlotte are just some of the other cities that incorporate garages into individual buildings.

We have got to stop building so many parking garages in order to prepare for the arrival of the self-driving car. These parking structures will be mostly empty.

Where will the self driving cars go then?

R1070 wrote:Where will the self driving cars go then?

Not everyone will have their own personal car. The cars will just be driving around on stand by to pick up passengers.

Pac-Man Mode...
Pac-Manual?

myelbow4 wrote:Not everyone will have their own personal car. The cars will just be driving around on stand by to pick up passengers.

So your alternative to cars sitting in parking spaces is that they're driving around in circles on the streets?

Hannibal Lecter wrote:So your alternative to cars sitting in parking spaces is that they're driving around in circles on the streets?

Yep. Cars will likely come in a lot of different varieties, and you may have one seater cars, two seaters, or mini-buses that can shuttle 15-20 people around. Not only that, they'll all be able to communicate with each other on an efficiently run network, so that we would be able to better predict how many cars will be needed to serve the demand for a particular area. It will be VASTLY more efficient than what we are dealing with today.

I definitely agree that demand for garage parking spaces will start to trend downwards in 10 years time and the garages today should really be built to be converted into residential spaces or something else.

Well what I would point out is people have been expecting self driving flying cars since the 50's. I am all about reducing car dependence and the structures that support its addictive and macabre culture but we still are miles from it taking over and changing the culture enough to make parking garages a historical artifact. Yeah the technology is impressive and can do more than the public is willing to feel comfortable with but a lot of kinks have yet to be worked out to make widescale depletion of personal vehicles a fashionable trend. We would better to promote sidewalks, trails, and transit along with Uber/Lyft. Parking garages will be here for another two decades at min. Just put them underground more so we don't have to look at these ugly podium towers developers keep applauding themselves for.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:Well what I would point out is people have been expecting self driving flying cars since the 50's. I am all about reducing car dependence and the structures that support its addictive and macabre culture but we still are miles from it taking over and changing the culture enough to make parking garages a historical artifact. Yeah the technology is impressive and can do more than the public is willing to feel comfortable with but a lot of kinks have yet to be worked out to make widescale depletion of personal vehicles a fashionable trend. We would better to promote sidewalks, trails, and transit along with Uber/Lyft. Parking garages will be here for another two decades at min. Just put them underground more so we don't have to look at these ugly podium towers developers keep applauding themselves for.

What this guy said.

Parking garages can easily be converted to storage units. Even with the concrete ramps, imagine a set of tracks that a robot can use to deliver your storage unit to a lobby on the first floor. Pick up whatever crap you want from the unit and there goes the robot returning your Christmas decorations to level P16.

Once that service completely annihilates the need for standalone self-storage, maybe you'll see buildings like this one replaced by towers with no parking.

Get rid of the need for new personal storage buildings, and a solid 25% of the new development in DFW (and most of the rest of the US) will disappear.

The_Overdog wrote:Get rid of the need for new personal storage buildings, and a solid 25% of the new development in DFW (and most of the rest of the US) will disappear.

So you're saying 1 in 4 developments is storage. I doubt that.

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

Wow that one is moving fast!

These towers are going to look incredible in the Dallas skyline! I cannot believe how fast these are growing. Is anyone aware of a webcam for these?

True, R_P. Emporis says the Anatole is 316' tall at the roof (probably used to be 320' to the tips of the W and the A on the headline signage, but Hilton now uses shorter letters than Wyndham did) and at 308' the Urby towers will be equally visible.

https://www.emporis.com/buildings/11840 ... las-tx-usa

Wow, that thing is going up quickly (hopefully not too quickly if you know what I mean). Definitely excited to see more growth in the Design District, even if this project is bland. Still super excited for it.

These towers will continue to enhance the evolution of the Dallas Design District's own identity & become a unique area in the city. With the Virgin Hotel next door & all of the district's retail & dining options, this is terrific for the city to see future growth in the community.

Out of curiosity, is the tower currently under construction the one on the left or right in the rendering?

Great question and I am honestly not 100% sure, but I believe the tower you see under construction (above ground) is the left tower in the rendering, and the second tower is slowly making its way above ground now which is the right tower in the rendering. Feel free to correct me!

The Design District is going to be the "next hot district" along with the EQ

Urbancowboy wrote:The Design District is going to be the "next hot district" along with the EQ

We been saying that since 2010. There a bunch of land speculators/ investors just waiting for the Trinity project... It seems like nothing really reaches the tipping point where we really start seeing the DD take off ...

EQ seems to have more moment. I remember how 10 years ago everyone thought the cedars would boom. But yet again, nothing there..for now

...the real opportunity with the levee impacted real estate development is further west, Regal Row to Westmorland.

That's the thing about tipping points they happen suddenly but they are the product of lots of small steps over time. Plus Mr Virgin hotel owns a large portion of the epicenter of the actual district that the city has defined as the DD which isn't that big compared to the larger warehouse district that travels along 35 for miles. One owner like that can sit on things until he gets the prices he wants for projects built in the area.

Roman_Patrick wrote:Great question and I am honestly not 100% sure, but I believe the tower you see under construction (above ground) is the left tower in the rendering, and the second tower is slowly making its way above ground now which is the right tower in the rendering. Feel free to correct me!

are both towers going up at the same time?

I want these towers to be successful. But is it just me, or is this an incredibly aggressive move to develop two residential towers at once in a neighborhood with none?

willyk wrote:I want these towers to be successful. But is it just me, or is this an incredibly aggressive move to develop two residential towers at once in a neighborhood with none?

Technically, you have AMLI Design District already, but aside from that, I get what you're saying. However, I feel that considering the towers are "only" 27 stories, it'll work. Common amenities/courtyard/etc., so I get it since they're on the same site.

I thought it was just one tower now and one later.

willyk wrote:I want these towers to be successful. But is it just me, or is this an incredibly aggressive move to develop two residential towers at once in a neighborhood with none?

I agree its aggressive, but I have little doubt these towers will fill up quickly. Especially with the housing market pricing many people out of ownership. The time seems ripe for large residential projects and I think Dallas can easily support this development.

Isn’t it just one tower and a parking garage going up right now?

R1070 wrote:Isn’t it just one tower and a parking garage going up right now?

Yes I believe that is correct.

Tnexster wrote:I thought it was just one tower now and one later.

so did I.

This may fill up quickly because the Design District is really hot right now. Demand is there for these residential towers.

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr
Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr
Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr