Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

Caven Enterprises has entered into an agreement with developer PegasusAblon to develop two residential-mixed use buildings on land now owned by the the company that operates several bars on Cedar Springs Road.

Caven, which owns TMC–The Mining Company, Sue Ellen’s, JR.’s Bar & Grill and Station 4, will sell its properties to PegasusAblon but continue to own and operate its bars. The sale involves property on the west side of Cedar Springs Road, from Reagan to Throckmorton Street, and at 4001 Cedar Springs Road.

Development will be done in two phases, with the building behind S4 going up first. The possibly 20-story building will feature a waterfall and add parking to the neighborhood. The building will be separated from the bars by a covered “pocket park” that Ablon said he hopes will become a meeting place for the community. Several new retail or restaurant spaces will add to the ambiance of the space.

https://dallasvoice.com/caven-to-partne ... hind-bars/

These renderings definitely look pretty great, and I'm glad this area is getting a bit of an outdoor/public 'gathering space'. I wonder if it would make sense to move the Legacy of Love Monument closer to this area (I really dislike the current location of it, but I don't know if there is some specific reason why it is in that particular spot).

These renderings definitely look pretty great, and I'm glad this area is getting a bit of an outdoor/public 'gathering space'. I wonder if it would make sense to move the Legacy of Love Monument closer to this area (I really dislike the current location of it, but I don't know if there is some specific reason why it is in that particular spot).

When that "momunent" first went up it was damaged almost monthly either by drunk drivers or people not familiar with the strange curve Oak Lawn Ave makes there. The city had to install those concrete pillars to keep it from further damage so I would be all in favor of a relocation wherever.

The Voice posted another writeup with more information from developer Mike Ablon and details about how the financial transaction will be structured.

https://dallasvoice.com/taking-the-gayb ... ext-level/

Yeah its gonna be a change cause those bars have been able to operate without neighborhood residential voices providing too much impedance to their operations for decades now. S4 is open until 4 in the morning and now you are going to have luxury residential units living above a true night club that has significant after hours scene up until they close. CAVEN is about to have to change in a lot of ways but it was always the writing on the wall they couldn't ignore the neighborhood is rapidly changing. Their only other option would be to shut down entirely and sell off and let the gay scene fend for itself.

The real news here is as previously reported in other threads is that CAVEN is a partially employee owned operation. Many of their employees own stock in the company. This arrangement means many people will need to sign off or can decide to sell their portion, take the check and retire. Most of their employees have some sort of % ownership depending on how many decades they have worked for the company so we will see how that affects the overall timeline. All those owners were informed of the proposal at the same time the press release went out so we will see.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:The real news here is as previously reported in other threads is that CAVEN is a partially employee owned operation. Many of their employees own stock in the company. This arrangement means many people will need to sign off or can decide to sell their portion, take the check and retire. Most of their employees have some sort of % ownership depending on how many decades they have worked for the company so we will see how that affects the overall timeline. All those owners were informed of the proposal at the same time the press release went out so we will see.

That news “previously reported in other threads” is in the Voice story I posted, too. The employees with ownership shares will get their cut in an IRA.

Because Caven Enterprises is an employee-owned company, each of the employee-owners will receive a portion of the proceeds of the sale that will be held in private IRA retirement accounts.

Jon Anderson at Candy’s Dirt likes the idea but thinks the renderings are not ready for prime time.

https://candysdirt.com/2020/11/11/caven ... ayborhood/

New blurb from the Voice about a Q&A tomorrow evening:

Caven to host neighborhood discussion on its land development
https://dallasvoice.com/caven-to-host-n ... velopment/

The direct link on facebook for the meeting Wednesday, November 18, at 6 p.m. at TMC :
https://www.facebook.com/events/3492856787457216/

Thanks for sharing! I live very close to this development, so this is something I would have liked to attend, but I won't be able to tomorrow.

It looks like there is no virtual option here?