Downtown Dallas: AMLI Fountain Place (562 FT / 46 ST)

[Tnexster]

Working on level 17 this week, amazing how fast this is rising now that the garage base is largely done. Glass starting showing up on the south face of the garage as well as the west.

[Tnexster]

Also, they appear to be working on a retail space on the lower level of the garage. Work started this week and the windows have been covered up as of today.

[maconahey]

[texasstar]

Thanks, Maconahey. Coming along nicely!

[R1070]

I love the projects that are going up right now!

[Tnexster]

20th level, more glass and glass making an appearance on the north side.

[texasstar]

Update 11/10/2018

[ContriveDallasite]

Pretty awesome knowing this is not even a 1/3 of the way up yet!

[clubtokyo]

Will the whole base be all glass? If so that is an amazing way to cover the garage.

[Mgreen15]

Pretty awesome knowing this is not even a 1/3 of the way up yet!

If I’m not mistaken, I believe this is already around floor 20/21. So it’s almost halfway to the total 45 floors.

[Tnexster]

Just checked, it's at 20 with work starting on 21 on one side. 22/23 will be the halfway point but there is a rather significant point on the top to consider as well.

[Tnexster]

Will the whole base be all glass? If so that is an amazing way to cover the garage.

Actually no, they are covering the west and south facing portions, partial on the north side and even less on the east side facing the other garage.

Also, the crane appears to have been raised recently.

[willyk]

Will the whole base be all glass? If so that is an amazing way to cover the garage.

Actually no, they are covering the west and south facing portions, partial on the north side and even less on the east side facing the other garage.

Seems weird to scrimp on such an otherwise nice building. Anybody got a WAG on how much they save by doing this?

[Tnexster]

I can sort of understand the east face since it faces another garage but the north side will eventually face Hillwood's tower....and maybe they think that will just be a giant parking podium so why bother.

[maconahey]

[Roman_Patrick]

what a beautiful tower! Really considering moving to AMLI Fountain Place once completed.

[Tnexster]

Noticed all of the crane segments sitting next to the tower, as seen in the first pic above. Must be about to make a significant move up.

[ALLHAILFRANKOS]

I took this picture literally about 30 minutes ago from the American Beauty Mill Lofts, and I was curious to know whether you’ll be able to see this tower next to the original Fountain Place in the skyline at this angle of the city. It would be amazing if it filled that gap between The Drever and Fountain place!

[cowboyeagle05]

I imagine it will add a sliver of glass tower but not fill the space.

[joshua.dodd]

I believe it would be behind Fountain Place from that angle. So no.

[Hwulivn]

This project doesn’t seem to connect to the pedestrian realm well and doesn’t provide transitional space between private and public spaces engaged with good urban design. I know the surround drag race streets don’t make that an easy accomplishment, but the opportunity to begin changing that is with new development. Seems to be a missed opportunity. Developers need to also design with the future in mind or at least in a way that makes it possible. Maybe the walls I saw in the rendering can be removed in the future. Hopefully.

[tamtagon]

I don't remember, isn't the ground floor of this one mostly retail? with separate resident lobby entrances? As long as the sidewalks are nice and wide, I think it'll be fine. The fountains at Fountain Place have always been very nice, but I don't know about that if they're overcrowded....

[joshua.dodd]

I disagree. While this project is heavily car oriented with its pedestal parking garage and a massive parking garage next door--which is still in need of the cladding we were promised--the projects are essentially centered around the water gardens in front of Fountain Place. The plan is to have retail at the base of the parking garage and at the base of AMLI, particularly fronting the gardens. For such a heavily car oriented project--we seriously need to divorce ourselves from car centricmindsets--it does pretty well. Not to mention the cladding on both the parking garage and AMLI are going to match Fountain Place. A nice postmodern cohesion.

[Tnexster]

Actually considering what was planned to be there (two identical office towers with parking and nothing else) and with the redevelopment of the existing office tower lobby, addition of the retail and an little sister tower that will add 46 floors of residents I think it's making a rather dramatic turn. What would be better is if the property to the south across Ross were developed into some residential and mixed uses as that would add even more residents that will make use of the fountain area and plaza.

[Hwulivn]

Actually I was speaking to the design of the site and how it connects to and provides transitions bewteen the private and public realms. The components (cladding, including retail uses, etc.) do not compensate for actual design elements (wide enough sidewalks, separation between the sidewalks and the street; rounded, concaved or curved building fronts, 2-3 story lobbies and/or other uses that “open” the building facade to the street and allow the building to “breathe”) at intersections that tie the components together visually or in form. And, again, one of the renderings illustrating a plaza of sorts below street level I think. This is a disconnect from the public street fronts and reduces street level activity. Of course, it’s an improvement over what’s there now, but I just think it could be better. Dallas developers are still learning how to design and build a compelling urban environment. We’ll get there.....hopefully.

[Dallas12]

Actually I was speaking to the design of the site and how it connects to and provides transitions bewteen the private and public realms. The components (cladding, including retail uses, etc.) do not compensate for actual design elements (wide enough sidewalks, separation between the sidewalks and the street; rounded, concaved or curved building fronts, 2-3 story lobbies and/or other uses that “open” the building facade to the street and allow the building to “breathe”) at intersections that tie the components together visually or in form. And, again, one of the renderings illustrating a plaza of sorts below street level I think. This is a disconnect from the public street fronts and reduces street level activity. Of course, it’s an improvement over what’s there now, but I just think it could be better. Dallas developers are still learning how to design and build a compelling urban environment. We’ll get there.....hopefully.

I think saying “Dallas developers” is wrong bc your similar comments in this and the Hines thread are dealing with Chicago and Houston based firms that deal in urban environments internationally. There is a difference in what is ideal from armchair observers/enthusiasts, and the people at these companies that answer to shareholders, who research and decipher what is the highest and best use of a limited tract of land from a profit perspective. This particular project, between the parking garage retail and residential tower, is bringing both critical mass residents and more retail to DTD.

Massive 2-3 floor lobbies, not even sure why there would be more than one lobby in this instance, and huge setbacks totally change the project. Again, these companies are spending big money to make money. If they saw more value in this being calibrated to more retail, I’m sure they would do so.

[Tnexster]

The crane did go up quite a ways this weekend.

[Tnexster]

Glass is starting to appear on the tower now, south facing side.

[Roman_Patrick]

IMG_0735 by Roman Reyna, on Flickr

MFoMt6QtQZuF5%BS4JlHSQ by Roman Reyna, on Flickr

pics taken by me and a friend. Very exciting tower!

[Chris Sapphire]

Thank you Roman for the updates. Keep them coming.

[Tnexster]

That's a nice view, another nice view is down the same street from One Arts. Hall Residence, AMLI and Atelier all in view from over there. Should be even better in a few months as Atelier comes out of the ground and AMLI pushes towards the top.

[maconahey]

[R1070]

That looks to be halfway on the floor count.

[lakewoodhobo]

Great photo. It looks like we've traveled back in time to see Fountain Place under construction.

[Tnexster]

The glass looks just a bit different to me which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it seems less reflective and more transparent than the office tower.

[cowboyeagle05]

Great photo. It looks like we've traveled back in time to see Fountain Place under construction.

Yay, so all the smart design decisions we made in our Downtown are coming flashing back too! Onward to depressed public spaces, massive parking garages, underground retail and walled off office buildings wait...

[lakewoodhobo]

Yay, so all the smart design decisions we made in our Downtown are coming flashing back too! Onward to depressed public spaces, massive parking garages, underground retail and walled off office buildings wait...

I certainly hope not. In fact, I wonder if it's time to start looking at burying this awful exit ramp and eventually turn this wasted space into a public park (maybe KWP phase 3).

Screen Shot 2018-12-11 at 5.07.29 PM.jpg

[R1070]

That would be a great space for a park!

[cowboyeagle05]

It's already in the city of Dallas wish list but it will need a major supportive push not from a council member to get off the ground. They already almost got Live Oak exit removed and then TXDOT changed its mind at the last second and all support vanished. To get the ramp modified not eliminated would do wonders for connectivity in this area but you need something more than the city of Dallas pushing the project along. You will need TXDOT and some major developer/organization to be advocates. Hillwood?

[muncien]

^^^
Why is that? I can't even imagine that ramp (or Live Oak) even fit current TxDOT design standards. It seems more like the city should have more say in variances to design standards than TxDOT. These ramps need to go...

[Tnexster]

How would that ramp impact the proposed Hillwood tower? I am guessing here but besides the obvious DOT objections Hillwood may view that ramp as a necessary feeder to allow people to get to the tower from Woodall.

[cowboyeagle05]

The city and TXDOT previously weren't interested in removing this one altogether they just wanted to rebuild the ramp with a different design that would restore the street grid and make it safer overall. The Live Oak one TXDOT was totally on board to remove but overnight they changed their mind like someone somewhere got one of those red phone phone calls with a mysterious objector.

[trueicon]

Something interesting from DART's D2 plan I came across re: the ugly parking lot across the street. Check out slide 18. They're considering a "tree lined pedestrian connection" to cut across the current parking lot, alongside where the D2 line would enter the underground tunnel. Maybe that could lead to some development here that would support removing the ramp?

This is what it currently looks like

By the way, on that same page DART has a survey for D2 station preferences that everyone here should take. I think it's important they build portals on Main St. and Commerce St. for the subway stations.

Edit: Make that slide 18, not slide 13

[dfwcre8tive]

Something interesting from DART's D2 plan I came across re: the ugly parking lot across the street. Check out slide 13. They're considering a "tree lined pedestrian connection" to cut across the current parking lot, alongside where the D2 line would enter the underground tunnel. Maybe that could lead to some development here that would support removing the ramp?

This is what it currently looks like

By the way, on that same page DART has a survey for D2 station preferences that everyone here should take. I think it's important they build portals on Main St. and Commerce St. for the subway stations.

The portal studies are interesting. DART requested my pedestrian tunnel map a while ago and has integrated it into the studies to determine best connections. It's good that they are evaluating both existing connections and new connections.

[Tnexster]

As of today they are working on the 24th level which I assume will end up being the 23rd floor but glass work continues and the first balcony has appeared on 11.

[Dallas12]

I definitely do not want to hijack the thread and assume this has probably been discussed on here... and disclaimer, I did not follow the D2 discussions very closely. But it seems as if the City of Dallas and Dart would have learned their lesson with negative effects of running the light rail at grade. I’m just curious as to why it is not running below grade all the way through Victory? I would assume part of it is cost but did not know if there were other major factors. TIA for any insight.

[maconahey]

[Tnexster]

Those are awesome pics! Thanks for posting.

[Chris Sapphire]

Maconahey, you're awesome! Thanks for always posting update pics. Keep 'em coming!

[DPatel304]

Yes, agreed, thank you Maconahey! This is great for those of us who never actually venture outside, and only admire Dallas from our computer screens