Massive apartment project set to take place in Richardson? (Dallas: section 8, mortgages)

[Debsi]

I personally am tired of hearing.. let's build a new [call it something else but it's really a strip mall] in the name of progress! New buildings = progress!!Yeah, more strip malls that look like faux city streets will make us urban! New and improved shopping!

I live here because 1) I like the generally 50's - 60's architecture 2) I like the added space and bigger yard you get in the suburbs for less money 3) I work in Richardson and hate commuting. So first of all I don't want Richardson to be more urban, I like the way it is now other than the fact that we have way too many empty retail slots in the "old and inferior" strip malls that we already have -- lets find businesses for those before we build more buildings that will be "too old" in 10 years so we need more new ones in the name of progress. Secondly, I'm tired of people ranting that a few malls in the suburbs that pretend to be urban villages and have restaurants on the bottom floor and apartments on the top floor are somehow a better way to live than the way I choose to, in a neighborhood, with a yard to provide privacy and a place to garden.

[lh_newbie]

While the "new urbanism" movement is a bit misdirected sometimes, I feel there is certainly a place for such developments. I personally think places like Firewheel Mall and Southlake Town Center are poor excuses for urbanism. They try to make the store fronts look like new urbanism design without the density that is included in new urbanism design criteria. At least the area around Legacy and DNT has hotels, office space and lots of residential (yes, in the form of apartments) - so its much more of a walkable work/live/play area than either of the other two examples mentioned earlier.

With that said, I live in a single family home in Lake Highlands. I like having non-shared walls and a yard. So do I want everything to change? Nope, but there is a place for everything - and proximity to light rail is the right location for true new urbanism design. The location for this project in Richardson is right - though I haven't looked at the proposal. I'm merely talking about theory, not the current proposal.

Heck, I purposefully bought my current house due to it's proximity to the (at the time) future Lake Highlands DART station and hopefully in the future, Lake Highlands Town Center - that guess what? Will have integrated apartments, retail and office space. It's a true new urbanism design if Prescott sticks to the original plans. And I do think that this will enhance the community, even though there is a lot of low density, single family detached housing around.

Brian

[Debsi]

We already have the Brick Row center next to DART Spring Valley. I remember hearing the same arguments in favor of it, and as far as I know it's sitting fairly empty. I don't think they even got any restaurants, bars, etc to move in last time I looked at it.

[lh_newbie]

Kindof hard to fault a development during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression... but it's easy to say that it isn't working...

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

While the "new urbanism" movement is a bit misdirected sometimes, I feel there is certainly a place for such developments. I personally think places like Firewheel Mall and Southlake Town Center are poor excuses for urbanism. They try to make the store fronts look like new urbanism design without the density that is included in new urbanism design criteria. At least the area around Legacy and DNT has hotels, office space and lots of residential (yes, in the form of apartments) - so its much more of a walkable work/live/play area than either of the other two examples mentioned earlier.

With that said, I live in a single family home in Lake Highlands. I like having non-shared walls and a yard. So do I want everything to change? Nope, but there is a place for everything - and proximity to light rail is the right location for true new urbanism design. The location for this project in Richardson is right - though I haven't looked at the proposal. I'm merely talking about theory, not the current proposal.

Heck, I purposefully bought my current house due to it's proximity to the (at the time) future Lake Highlands DART station and hopefully in the future, Lake Highlands Town Center - that guess what? Will have integrated apartments, retail and office space. It's a true new urbanism design if Prescott sticks to the original plans. And I do think that this will enhance the community, even though there is a lot of low density, single family detached housing around.

Brian

Yeah, but was their intent for either of these places to be "urban"? STC is one of the more successful developments in this entire area in the past few decades. I don't think it's fair comparing a small, affluent community's need for a town center to a place like Legacy Park which was built for an entirely different purpose involving the headquarters of large companies.

Perhaps the citizens of Richardson just want to make sure whatever developments are made fit in with the culture and community that is already established. Maybe they should wait to see if Brick Row can find some life before building similar developments elsewhere.

[Debsi]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

Kindof hard to fault a development during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression... but it's easy to say that it isn't working...

Why build another one right now with lots and lots of storefronts already empty? That defies logic.

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by Debsi

Why build another one right now with lots and lots of storefronts already empty? That defies logic.

Single family home sales numbers are way down, too. Do you propose that we stop issuing building permits until sales numbers tick up, too?

Maybe we should tear down some of the old, defunt retail space? Is it possible that the existing space that's sitting empty is simply not desirable to retailers? Would traffic numbers and location of this new space be more desirable? If so, then there's an incremental chance to get incremental retail into Richardson.

I'm not saying I have all the answers, but the "sit and wait to see what happens" mentality is (in my opinion) what will kill a city. You're either moving forward or moving backwards. I am personally very happy that the Lake Highlands area is trying to build for the future and not sitting idly by to watch what happens. There is even one project in which a developer has determined that a retail corner has TOO MUST existing, old defunt retail that is undesirable to retailers. They're changing zoning in a large portion of that corner back to single-family housing. I also think this is a good thing - remove what isn't needed so forward progress can be had.

Brian

[Ryan Kirkpatrick]

We are not currently building a high quantity of new homes in Richardson lh_newbie and never will be. Richardson is a small city that is almost completely built out and has been for decades. The dreams of the TOD are in reality failing as of now in Richardson. On a bigger scale, there is a reason that building permits on single family residences are way down over the last few years. Builders aren't over-building and hoping that the tide turns - that would be a financially irresponsible risk.

Equally-the solution is not to build more of the same and hope for the situation to dramatically change in this tougher economic climate. The commercial market is unconcerned about where fault lies....and I will be surprised if Brick Row doesn't go into foreclosure and change ownership very soon, which makes me sad. I do hope that it finds legs eventually (sooner than later) and becomes what the City Council and Mayor hoped that it would be.

Richardson will keep appreciating in value because of its location in the metroplex and the larger lot sizes that are desirable for future tear downs. I'm not saying it will be the next Highland Park by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not going to be the next Addison area either. The facts point toward these developments being a huge bust as of now. So back to my question in my last post....why build another one right now??

Richardson is moving backward by pushing this ~ not forward. Sometimes it's the things you don't do, not the ones that you do that determine your long term success. In this case, I don't think this is a wise business or economic move for the city.

[cmacemm]

Originally Posted by Ryan Kirkpatrick

We are not currently building a high quantity of new homes in Richardson lh_newbie and never will be. Richardson is a small city that is almost completely built out and has been for decades. The dreams of the TOD are in reality failing as of now in Richardson. On a bigger scale, there is a reason that building permits on single family residences are way down over the last few years. Builders aren't over-building and hoping that the tide turns - that would be a financially irresponsible risk.

Equally-the solution is not to build more of the same and hope for the situation to dramatically change in this tougher economic climate. The commercial market is unconcerned about where fault lies....and I will be surprised if Brick Row doesn't go into foreclosure and change ownership very soon, which makes me sad. I do hope that it finds legs eventually (sooner than later) and becomes what the City Council and Mayor hoped that it would be.

Richardson will keep appreciating in value because of its location in the metroplex and the larger lot sizes that are desirable for future tear downs. I'm not saying it will be the next Highland Park by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not going to be the next Addison area either. The facts point toward these developments being a huge bust as of now. So back to my question in my last post....why build another one right now??

Richardson is moving backward by pushing this ~ not forward. Sometimes it's the things you don't do, not the ones that you do that determine your long term success. In this case, I don't think this is a wise business or economic move for the city.

How is Richardson moving backwards by pushing this in anyway?

[Ryan Kirkpatrick]

I was expanding on lh_newbie's comment about either going forward or backward...in my opinion this would be going backward. ~ building more retail space that has a very high chance of not being filled...the possibility of foreclosure and another black mark on the city is a direction. I'm of the opinion this would be backward. Lh_newbie and some others who posted are that the construction of the development in the right way would be moving forward as the hope would be that the development here would be successful, fit its intended purpose and the city would flourish from it.

Forward or backward-two sides, I'm not on the forward side so this puts me on the other side.