$200M MXD Project Targets Future Demand

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DALLAS-Granite Properties and Gables Residential plan to start construction in January on a $200-million mixed-use project of two towers combining office, apartments and retail space on a site at the northwest intersection of McKinney Avenue, North Akard Street and Cedar Springs. According to Greg Fuller, chief operating officer of Granite, the construction schedule will bring the development onto the market in time to meet demand that is expected when the two towers are ready for occupancy.

“We based our decision to move forward on the current supply and demand, and the forecasted supply and demand for the fourth quarter of 2009 through the fourth quarter of 2011, which is when we’ll be leasing,” Fuller says. Additionally he notes that more than $6 billion worth of infrastructure and development in under way in the area from the Woodall Rodgers Park, the Arts Center area, and other office and residential.

Designed by the architectural firm of Good Fulton & Farrell, with Austin Commercial as the general contractor, the Granite + Gables Uptown development will be situated on a site of more than 2.1 acres adjacent to the historic El Fenix restaurant. The site is within walking distance of Victory Park, American Airlines Center, the Ritz-Carlton, the Crescent and the new Woodall Rodgers Park.

The office portion of the project will be a 14-story tower on top of six levels of parking and retail, with approximately 330,307 sf of rentable space. Among the attractions for office tenants will be efficient floor plates, signage opportunities and a parking ratio of three spaces per 1,000 sf of office space, Fuller says.

The residential portion of the development will be a 17-story high rise over seven floors of parking, creating a tower of 24 stories with approximately 296 units. The office and residential buildings will sit atop a mixed-use podium with 17,000 sf of retail and restaurant space, a fitness center and pool area sitting on a common amenity deck above the garage.

Fuller and Doug Chesnut, senior vice president of Gables, unveiled the plans for the project this week. Granite acquired the property, which is occupied by a parking lot and a billboard, in 2006 as its first Uptown site.

Fuller says that Bill Brown, Granite’s senior director of investments, spearheaded efforts to locate a site in Uptown for two years before the company landed this one. Commenting on the Uptown location, Fuller says, “We believe that over the next several years, everyone will realize that this is the area to live and work in.”