Tonight, the UTA Sustainable Development class visited two development projects in Dallas, TX - one in the CBD and the other in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas that has a burgeoning cultural district. Both are very interesting and unique real estate projects that are predominantly residential with some commercial. Both projects ran into financing roadblocks because of the economic downturn, but both developers were able to overcome these challenges with creative approaches to debt financing.
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Outside at Zane Triangle
Oak Cliff, TX |
The project in Oak Cliff is a high density multi-family infill project called
Zang Triangle. The site is approximately 2.88 acres and was assembled by combining five different property owners. It has a major arterial, Zang Boulevard, along one side of the triangle. The developer,
Lang Partners, chose the site because there is very little, if any, remaining land in Oak Cliff which is suitable for multi-family. The site is also minutes from downtown Dallas and is very convenient to Lake Cliff Park and a major hospital. The project consists of a five story parking garage and 260 total units with a mix of studio, one and two bedroom units. The project utilized some very interesting financing arrangements to fund the project. For example, the development group utilized a Section 108 HUD insured loan and TIF 380 grant money which, according to the developer, brought with it some stipulations and challenges. Because of limited access to construction loans, however, the development team was glad there was access to this type of financing in spite of the challenges. They also brought in CF Jordan as the general contractor as well as an architect with experience designing and building multi-family complexes that are taller than normal for this area to ensure a smooth construction process. Their diligence and hard work are paying off and leasing will begin soon.
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Outside of 400 N. Ervay
Dallas, TX |
The other project,
400 North Ervay, is a redevelopment project by developer Shawn Todd. Mr. Todd purchased the building several years ago from the US Postal Service. A portion of the building still operates as a post office. The building, originally constructed at the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, is also a nationally registered historic building. This fact limited Mr. Todd's ability to introduce many green building features. For instance, he had to preserve the existing windows of the building instead of replacing them with higher efficiency windows. In spite of the constraints, Mr. Todd has taken an old building and infused it with new life. I believe the tenants will line up to live in this fantastic building with such a great history. 78 apartment dwellers will enjoy living in this building with fascinating architecture that is convenient to everything that downtown Dallas has to offer, including access to mass transit, a wonderful sustainable asset.
Although neither project is replete with green building features, both were developed with water and energy efficiency in mind. In addition, perhaps the most interesting sustainable feature was that 400 North Ervay is eligible for historic tax credits. The developer is monetizing these tax credits and will be able to sell them to companies in need of such credits. The projects, especially the adaptive reuse project in downtown Dallas, illustrate the everyday challenges associated with putting GREEN ideas into practice. Overall, the field tirp really showed how people are out there turning real estate ideas into reality, a pespective that is difficult to obtain in the classroom. For this reason, the field trip was definitely worth the time and energy. Many thanks to developers, Lang Parnters and Shawn Todd, for taking the time to tell us about your projects. I hope they are both huge hits - my guess is they will be.
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| Zang Triangle MF Infill Development Project |
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Former Courtroom; Future Common Space
Dallas Post Office Redevelopoment
Lobby/Entryway
400 North Ervay |
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