Closing in on four years since fire destroyed the Preston Place condos in March of 2017, news reaches us that a deal has been struck between the owners of Preston Place and developer Hanover Company. In case you forgot, Preston Place is within Planned Development District 15 (PD-15), where controversy lives out its days.
Hanover: One-Stop Shop
But Hanover is not a typical developer, they have in-house design, construction and management for their properties. The company currently has no owned properties in Dallas but designed and built what are currently the Cirque in Victory Park, Ashton Dallas, and 1900 McKinney.
The project is being led by David Ott, a partner in the firm’s development division, leading Hanover’s efforts in Texas. Prior to Hanover, Ott was an architect in Gensler’s Houston practice, and more impressive to a former Chicagoan, he was at Helmut Jahn’s offices in Chicago. I have hope that Ott’s architectural background is pressed into service delivering a remarkable building on Northwest Highway.
In a conversation with Ott and Daltxrealestate.com, Hanover’s goal is to stay within existing zoning – they don’t want to go through the pain of re-zoning the property. Not only is it a smart move from a neighborhood perspective, I doubt the city has much appetite after the last blood-letting.
Beginnings of a Plan
The plan is for a luxury (of course) apartment building with 214 units targeting downsizers with large two-to-three bedroom units – sounding a bit McKenzie-like in demographic (or pre-Ventana). I have a call in to Ott to understand the building envelope but it’s early days.
Pinching out the math, it could be either a concrete high-rise or a timber five-story mid-rise. There are a lot of variables. How large are the apartments? How large is the buildable lot (there’s a huge Northwest Highway setback that’s part of their parcel)? Will any parking be underground?
Hanover builds both high-rise and mid-rise apartment buildings – so no clue there. Looking at their portfolio, I hope for a high-rise. The mid-rises are blah (as I think pretty much all mid-rises are). Like most developers, their designs prefer cheaper aboveground parking.
Reviewing the PD-15 Ordinance
The base zoning is 90 units per acre and Preston Place has 1.8613 acres (167.5 units). Adding in five percent green space nets an additional five units per acre (177 units). Adding in 10 percent affordable housing nets 10 additional units per acre (181 units) while adding 15 percent affordable nets 30 additional units per acre (217.5 units). Assuming green space and 15 percent affordable housing nets 125 units per acre (227 units).
At 214 units it points to a project with 15 percent affordable housing and no green space bonus (120 units per acre). Since I think green space is easier with taller buildings, if this is true, it seems to be a mid-rise outcome. This is further bolstered by parking.
PD-15 allows either above or belowground parking. All the ordinance says is that any aboveground parking has to be either screened or wrapped (in housing units).
We all remember the war on height, right? It’s 240 feet on the “front” facing Northwest Highway in line with the Athena and Preston Tower and 96 feet on the northern “back” side.
The rumor mill is reporting 22-stories, which would give the best result in my book. But like I said, we don’t know yet.
Remember the 100 Feet
While the updated PD-15 ordinance doesn’t specify the 100-foot setback from Northwest Highway, that doesn’t mean it’s not real. For whatever municipal responsibility-shuffling reason, the updated PD-15 only refers to a 70-foot setback. Hanover needs to realize that if they try to build within the 100-foot setback that was set forth in a contract between the four Northwest Highway-facing properties, they will be in court.
Spitballing a Building
Preston Place has one underground level that parked their 60 units. At the same parking ratio, this project will need 3.5 levels of parking (unless they don’t do assigned parking – a hint that it will never turn condo). With one or possibly two levels below ground (frees ground floor space for lobby), that leaves at minimum two levels above ground (that would have to be screened). Again, depending on the size of the units and the buildable envelope, you could just squeeze in 214 units on five stories of timber construction on top of the concrete garage. This would mean no height differential between the Northwest Highway-facing portion of the lot (zoned for 240 feet and the back zoned at 96 feet height). The result would be a big, dense, shorter box.
However, if the units are larger and the buildable footprint smaller (or the developer gutsy enough), then it’s more likely to be a high-rise along Northwest Highway and a mid- or low-rise along the back. Given their portfolio of high-rises, they do love a parking podium, so I’d expect to see the same large concrete garage but with a huge amenity deck in the back of a tower of some variety. In this scenario, I could see walk-up townhouse-y units wrapping the garage instead of a dubiously trendy metal screen.
And as I’ve said before, I suspect it’s one or the other versus some 10-12 story middle ground. Given the construction cost differential between timber and concrete, once you pull out the concrete, you go high – especially here where height sucks in the downtown views tenants will pay more for.
Let’s hope the rumors are right.
Construction due to start at the end of 2022, giving Preston Tower and Athena residents plenty of time for their guaranteed wheel-spinning hissy fit.
Tulane or Not Tulane?
Just before the city council vote on updating PD-15, former Preston Hollow South Neighborhood Association (PHSNA) representative Claire Stanard met with the city and TXDoT. The goal was to get agreement to open Tulane Blvd. onto Northwest Highway in order to flush traffic from new buildings directly out to Northwest Highway. It was a plan I wrote about frequently believing it to be the best option to mitigate traffic.
That was before the PHSNA coup that installed anti-development representatives across its leadership, tossing Stanard to the curb. Who’s going to finish the job now that Preston Place is in play? I don’t see anyone on the PHSNA board with the experience to pull it off. Will they cajole Stanard back?
It’s worth remembering the Tulane solution was left out of TXDoT’s December 2020 Northwest Highway Feasibility Study. Did they forget?
Fingers Crossed
I hope after four years that Preston Place is finally rebuilt. The site has been a rundown eyesore with reports of homeless squatting. But what this portends for any redevelopment of the low-rise Royal Orleans, Diplomat, and (who knows) Diamond Head condos in PD-15 is anyone’s guess.
When we have more to report, we’ll report it. But with a start date two years out, I suspect renderings won’t be available next week.
