Two Things Driving Downtown Dallas To The Top And One Thing Pulling It Down by Jeremiah Jensen, Dallas Bisnow, February 23, 2018
Downtown Dallas is coming into its own through residential development, infill remodels and city initiatives. Experts say they have seen Downtown morph over the last decade from a vacant place to a viable and (almost) vibrant place.
“Ten years ago, we wouldn’t have been having this conversation. We didn’t have the choice of lifestyle to live [in] this urban environment in Dallas. It just didn’t exist, and so it’s so cool, from a market maturity standpoint, watching little Dallas grow to a level that now you have a choice,” JLL President, South-Central Region Brad Selner said at Bisnow’s Future of Downtown event.
Here are two things that are pushing Downtown toward the global stage and one that is holding it back.
Population Growth = Vibrancy There are 11,000 people living within the loop of Downtown, Downtown Inc. CEO Kourtny Garrett said. Open the compass to encircle the 2 miles surrounding the Downtown core and there are 70,000 people living in the area. According to her, this was not the case until recently.
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The Infill Evolution = Less Dead Space “Twenty years ago, we had 40 vacant buildings in Downtown … now, our vacant buildings sit at zero thanks to Statler, Drever and Dallas High School,' which were our last three. The next evolution is infill,” Garrett said.
The push for infill remodels has breathed new life into Downtown Dallas. These projects are creating buzz and potential for formerly unused old product, and bit by bit, changing Downtown’s image for the better.
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Downside: Downtown Needs Schools Experts point to a lack of Downtown schools and a lack of faith in DISD as an integral reason Downtown Dallas is struggling to change its image at the national level.
Corgan associate principal Matt McDonald asked audience members at the event to raise their hands if they had children and lived in DISD. Many of them raised their hands but when McDonald asked how many of them enrolled their children in DISD, all but a handful of people lowered their hands.
“You can tell right there. That’s the issue I think is what we’re seeing. As a proud DISD parent myself, we’re seeing that parental participation and that kind of thing is the key factor,” McDonald said.
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Full article:
https://www.bisnow.com/dallas-ft-worth/news/state-of-market/future-of-downtown-dallas-85372?utm_source=MorningBrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180226_dallas-ft-worth_morningbrief&be=dallasdecodence%40aol.com