Don’t know if you caught this, and I meant to draw this out last week, but Rudolph Bush at the Dallas Morning News is strongly supporting Transwestern’s proposal to change the zoning to build a six-story luxury apartment community at the northeast corner of Preston and Northwest Highway. You recall this project would replace the existing apartment complex of 24 units along with the 12 town homes behind it known as Townhouse Row. Word is Transwestern is paying $20 million for the three acres of land. The property is currently zoned MF-1, and allows for only three stories.To build these apartments requires “up-zoning.” In other words, go higher to get six floors at one corner. Transwestern needs a zoning change to create a planned development district. This would allow for increased height and density, as well as other details such as parks, landscaping, all designed to create something of much higher quality, according to the developer. The neighborhood is giving Transwestern resistance, wanting something new, but insisting they stay within the current zoning. But Rudolph Bush, who covers development (among a trillion other things) for the Dallas Morning News, says the City ought to let them build this apartment complex.
“Thank goodness. I can remember a stretch of years in the not too distant past when you could hear crickets chirping at City Hall because no one wanted to build anything.”
This mimics a lot of what I’m hearing: Dallas is finally moving away from an era lead by Laura Miller and Mitchell Rasansky where the only development they wanted to see in Dallas was NO DEVELOPMENT. Could that be why at every meeting with your City Councilman or woman we hear that the City of Dallas has zero money in the budget?
It’s hard not to be sympathetic with people who bought homes in an area and hoped that it would remain much as it was when they begin their lives there. But cities aren’t like that. Cities need to grow and expand.
Bush goes on to say “it would be nice for the development to have more activity with the street. Maybe ground level retail. That would probably exacerbate, rather than diminish, residents’ concerns about traffic flow in and out of the building. But it would connect the development more intimately with the area around it.” Well, I disagree about the retail. Retail would never work on the north side of Northwest Highway at this intersection. PERIOD. It would require too many cars, because people just won’t cross Northwest Highway by foot if they have a brain. Way too risky. The folks at Ebby Halliday recall many accidents and even a woman hit at that treacherous intersection. Plus I was at Hillcrest and Northwest Highway recently, and it is traffic crazy there with the new retail strip on the north-west corner. Everyone’s coming and going out of those stores, and five o’ clock is truly the traffic bewitching hour! Residential to the north, commercial to the south. While it does seem that it is natural for cities to grow and expand, such growth must be done carefully, thoughtfully. Full disclosure: I do own a condominium Behind the Pink Wall, and I would like to see development of luxury high end condominiums on these three acres. I know that more people are leasing these days, but I think private home ownership nets a pride in your home you can sometimes lose with apartments, especially as they age. Bush’s perspective is interesting, because I think it’s reflecting what the whole city is thinking: what’s wrong with you Preston Hollow peeps? You already have two tall apartments right next door!
To which I guess the reply is: It’s complicated!
