The mixed-use redevelopment of George Dahl’s 1401 Elm has been a highly anticipated project, and now it’s getting even more buzz as Olympic Property Partners sets its sights on a high-end grocer for the ground-floor retail component.
Robert Wilonsky at The Dallas Morning News took a gander at the agenda for tomorrow’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, and what did he find but a little ditty about Olympic making a slight change to their TIF agreement:
Ever since Urban Market shuttered its downtown location in the Interurban building, the neighborhood has been without a grocery store. But what if an “upscale grocer” such as Central Market, Whole Foods, or the newly profligate Fresh Market moved downtown? I know that folks who are attracted to living in downtown Dallas are very much attuned to a car-free (or at least car-lite) lifestyle, and wouldn’t it be terribly convenient to have a luxury grocer right here, right off of the Akard DART Rail station? Right in the heart of downtown?
Perhaps this change, which would basically allow a larger use in the commercial component of this mixed-use development, signals that downtown Dallas is at a critical mass. Goodness knows I believe it, considering the large crowd that the downtown Dallas neighborhood meeting drew, the growing number of affordable rentals in the downtown area, as well as the reported increases in occupancy as well as optimism from commercial tenants. Downtown Dallas is definitely experiencing a resurgence, and an upscale grocer would solidify its status as an attractive city for urban dwellers.
There are several other pieces of the puzzle that need to come together to really make downtown Dallas sing, and one of those is dedicated protected bike lanes and fewer one-way streets (including Elm Street, which runs the width of downtown and is a four-lane parking lot most days thanks to confusing signage). But for now, I’m heartened to hear that Olympic is in talks with several grocers for the development, for which the city of Dallas is kicking in $50 million in economic incentives toward the $175 million project.
What do you think of this proposed change to Olympic’s TIF agreement?
