Las Colinas - Lake Carolyn - Ghostly or Up and Coming (Dallas: transplants, apartment complexes)

[CollegePalooza]

Hi All,

I was over in the area the other day and decided to leisurely walk around the walking path around the water in "Downtown" Las Colinas. I was shocked by how long the path was......I walked around 3 miles! I was also shocked that I never passed one other person on the entire path!! lol

Here is the area I am referring to: Bing Maps - Driving Directions, Traffic and Road Conditions [A Bing Map]

Anyhoo, it definitely seems like the little town the never could. There are some really beautiful apartments right on the water way, along with some awful dreadfully old ones as well.

Why do y'all think this area never took off? I know recently construction has ramped up, but still something seems off. This development [http://www.waterstreetlascolinas.com/] seems to have been pending for ever.

I wanted to see the going rates for apartments right off the water....$950-1250 for 1 bedrooms! Those are almost like Uptown Dallas prices! Why do people pay that to live in that ghostly area of Las Colinas?

[RonnieinDallas]

I wouldn't pay that much in Las colinas. Most people who move there don't know the area very well. Like you said you can pay the same amount and live in uptown, which is a much better neighborhood.

[TurtleCreek80]

Las Colinas is a bedroom community, not a neighborhood. Lots of corporate temp housing around Lake Carolyn and then the transplants put down roots elsewhere. It's busy at lunchtime and a ghost town at night. Don't see that changing anytime soon.

[Squirl]

They pay that because its very safe. Las Colinas has a private police force. Also most of the apartments have a lake view and are new. Also if you are a runner or walker you can get exercise w/o herds of folks. The Campion Trail is right there, an absolutely wonderful bike and hike trail. Not everyone is interested in nightlife. And lastly, because Irving is a huge employment center and many people hate to commute.

[Natori]

There are so many couples where one commutes to Dallas and the other to Tarrant County, so Las Colinas is ideal for them. And Uptown can be a drag with everyone depending on crash magnet I-75, whereas Las Colinas has proximity to 5 major highways. I also agree that Campion Trails is a hidden gem. No finding that kind of peace at the Arboretum.

[L4ur4]

Hi everyone,
Does anyone know for sure if Water Street is still a go? It seems such a shame to waste all that lake access and not at least get more restaurants and activities going on down there. I haven't been down there in years but I lived in Las Colinas in the 80's and early 90's when it seemed like it was going to keep growing. It is a beautiful area, I may drive through and see what's new...

[frenzyrider]

It is not growing as much. The boat and kayak rental place closed shop. The only "bar" in the area - cellar - is supposed to be closing as well. Not sure about its future as much but it is not going anywhere so far. That area needs a huge corporate relo but i think it was built out too soon too fast with high debt so rental prices remain high. They are not able to compete with other areas that are giving a cut to corporates for relocating their offices. The only thing going for them is lake and access to the airport. Not sure why should i pay such a premium for it. Years ago when i used to work in that area, my colleagues used to stay in uptown. It is reverse commute and took them 20 minutes to get there on 114.

[careerbound]

Lots of construction going on in Las Colinas. More apartments going up. I have live in LC for 2 years. 2 apartment complexes where completed as well as townhomes and a few more apartments being worked on now. It is definitely not as much of a ghost town as it use to be, but definitely not uptown. It is up and coming and will be a hit area when all construction is done. Rent is sky rocketing in that area though. They are building a movie theater, bowling alley, Live nation music venue and restaurants. All of that is under construction right now. Excited to see it get finished. As far as water street I thought I saw movement on that, but I think I mistook it for the road construction they did over there. Also it is a great area has access to both airport within a 15 min drive. Dart access to DFW. Easy access to tons of highways.

[jason87x]

I think I'll input, as I lived right on this lake for a year.

I was a new transplant to the metroplex, and my job was in Las Colinas. I wanted to avoid a long commute, and I couldn't afford Uptown rents. I spent three months in a craphole apartment in Valley Ranch that I took because I needed a place NOW, and it was the only place in the area that had anything available, and at a lower rent, too. Left that nightmare to move to a brand new complex on the lake, where the rent was 1000 a month, lower than the 1200-1300 the other places were renting for. Nice complex, good management.

However, like the OP has said, Las Colinas is a brutally overpriced ghost town. It has jobs and that's it. The restaurants are pretty meh. The lake is nice to run around, and yes the Campion trail is right there too, but I found myself driving to other suburbs in order to run, they have much better parks. The other side of the lake, Las Colinas Blvd, is nothing but empty storefronts. The Urban Center as a whole is yet another New Urbanist failure, it has been over 30 years and still feels vacant.

They are starting to build more, when I left there, more apartments were going up. They will also build the music center next to the convention center. They also built some rowhouses, like 350k-400k for a tiny unit that is in the IRVING ISD. Read that right, close to 400k for an ISD that isn't called Coppell for a tiny house seems like a massive ripoff. And yet people will still buy every unit. My guess is that the Water Street, and/or FRAM North Shore will either not get very built, or will be mostly vacant once built. People just don't care about this area that much, when there are much more affordable, much more pleasant suburbs around that don't feel anywhere near as dystopian and plasticky. Many of the urbanites are already living in Dallas itself.