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Today's official announcement for the Spire development downtown (near the Arts District)... SITE PLAN Mixed-use project is planned for land near Dallas' Arts District 10:32 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News stevebrown@dallasnews.com The corner of Ross Avenue and Routh Street is the intersection of schlock and awe. On the north side of the busy downtown Dallas crossroads, you have the inspiring architecture of the Arts District. Across the street, there are blocks of scruffy parking lots and a few faded commercial buildings. The investors who own almost 12 acres in a triangle roughly bounded by Ross, North Central Expressway and Leonard Street see the mostly vacant area as downtown's next development district. ... Spire also believes in its game plan – to start slowly with a first 21-story building at San Jacinto and Leonard Street and add to the project as demand grows. ... The timing is right to start working on another downtown office project, Pustmueller said. "There are a bunch of leases that are going to start to roll over in the next few years," he said. "We want tenants to consider Spire's project when they are looking downtown." WDG Architecture designed the master plan for Spire, which includes landscaped streets and a central park. Spire Realty expects its improvements in the area to help create a more pedestrian-friendly link between the Pearl Street DART rail station and the Arts District. "We want to capture the traffic walking through our neighborhood," Smith said. "We decided to take the approach of building what would really enhance the Arts District." For Spire, that means a 360,000-square-foot building with some ground floor retail space and a row of residential units facing the planned park. __________________ These were pulled from WDG Dallas Architecture PLLC's website www.wdgdallas.com

The next downtown park is about to start... Site work to start on 1.6-acre Belo Garden in downtown Dallas 12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, July 17, 2010 By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-park_17met.ART.State.Edition1.2a36497.html The first visible step toward construction of another downtown park will begin Monday with removal of lead-contaminated soil from the 1.6-acre site. Willis Winters, Dallas' assistant parks director, said soil removal from what is now a parking lot at Main and Griffin streets should take 50 days, clearing the way for construction of the new Belo Garden to begin Nov. 1. ... The lead contamination is the result of fill dirt that was brought into the site decades ago, according to Winters. Contaminated soil reaches a depth of 15 feet on some sections of the site. The $14.5 million park is scheduled to open in early 2012. ...

Elm Place, which was closed at the beginning of 2010, may see new life... Plan for Elm Place includes luxury and affordable housing 11:17 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News stevebrown@dallasnews.com http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/063010dnbusElmPlace.ee9cc573.html A Dallas architectural firm is working on a recycling plan for one of Dallas’ biggest skyscrapers. The 52-story Elm Place office tower at 1401 Elm has been empty since the building’s owners shut the building down earlier this year due to low occupancy. The 1.5 million-square-foot building, which opened in 1964, is now up for sale. Dallas-based Rees Architecture is working with an investment group that wants to buy the building to develop a plan to convert the tower to housing. “There is a real demand for affordable housing downtown,” said Rees partner Gary Pitts. The design firm is drawing up plans to create a combination of more than 600 affordable and luxury residential units in the old office tower. ...

Citywalk@Akard officially opened last night. A vacant mid-century highrise was converted to a mixed-income residential development (50 of the units are reserved for the formerly homeless). The building also includes 2 floors of office space and will contain a ground level 7-11 convenience store. More here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38795277@N05/sets/72157623575399001/

Once the cafe opens in January there should be more activity, and those little green garden roofs and covered pavilion will have movable tables and chairs under them. There are a lot of little things that they are still working on, and the large green lawn in the center is roped off until the roots have a start. It's not a very large park, but it's the perfect size for this area of downtown. I'll try to get some ground level photos once things finally get more complete.

Here's a photo I took yesterday of Main Street Garden.

Not bad... Oncor's decision to stay gives downtown Dallas more energy 12:00 AM CST on Friday, December 11, 2009 Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/sbrown/stories/DN-recol_11bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cf8fed.html Oncor's 500 office workers would have been a nice package to put under some suburb's Christmas tree. Instead, Oncor chose to invest more than just people downtown. It's in final negotiations to buy the 265,000-square-foot office complex near the Dallas Arts District. That property – which is perhaps the biggest potential billboard on the Dallas skyline – has been empty for more than five years. Dozens of potential tenants have kicked the tires on the complex, but no one would do the deal. But with the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science going up across the freeway and construction on the Woodall Rodgers Park almost at the front door, even Mr. Magoo could see the potential of this property. ... Oncor is the second major downtown office tenant in recent months to recommit. In October, accounting firm Deloitte decided to consolidate its local operations in the Chase Tower on Ross Avenue after looking at options in other parts of the city. And businesses moving into downtown from other areas this year have filled close to 400,000 square feet of office space, officials with the economic development group Downtown Dallas estimate. "And there have been a ton of renewals and expansions," Downtown Dallas CEO John Crawford said. "Not only do we have a lot of companies relocating to the center city, but we are keeping what we have."

True, Main Street Garden is pretty small compared to other cities' urban parks. Pacific Plaza will be a 3 acre park 2 blocks away, and The Park on top of Woodall Rodgers will have more in common with Discovery Green. But Main Street Garden has been very active since day 1. Unlike Discovery Green, Main Street Garden is framed by structures in the Harwood Historic District that represent a wide range of architectural styles. There's only one surface lot catty corner to the park that has the potential for new development. The cafe in the park should open next month to attract even more people. It's a great improvement over the old parking lots, garages and liquor stores that were there before. As for the Statler (the Mid Century hotel you mention), there are talks of renovation and the overseas owner is finally interested in doing something with their building (LINK). City leaders know that this is one huge structure holding back progress in the district. Other surrounding buildings scheduled for renovation include the: Mercantile Continental building (apartments by Forest City), Atmos Complex (apartments by Hamilton) and Old Municipal Building (law school by UNT). Most of these, along with the Mercantile renovation, were in direct response to the City's commitment to build Main Street Garden. Here's another one. Nobody's putting too much hope into it, since a new proposal for this structure comes around every few months. But, this may be the one... 1600 Pacific to become The Grand Ricchi, open in 18 months, developer says 4:22 PM Fri, Dec 11, 2009 Rudolph Bush/Reporter http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/12/1600-pacific-to-become-the-gra.html A San Antonio developer plans to restore the old LTV Tower at 1600 Pacific into a commercial, hotel and residential project. Leobardo Trevino said his company, Ricchi Dallas Investments, will preserve the appearance of the building's exterior and its elaborate, wood-paneled second floor. The rest of the building will be completely renovated, he said. The first four floors of the project will be complete in 18 months and will include a bank, two restaurants, a bar and a gym, he said. The remainder of the building will be converted into a hotel and residential condominiums, he said. The condos will be built as they are sold, although some units will be built. ...

I agree that some of those projects I listed are just announcements and renovations, but I wanted to throw them out there for updates. Compared to a lot of areas in Dallas (and around the country), downtown is doing OK and the area hasn't been completely abandoned by developers. The City is trying to keep recent momentum going, despite the setbacks, to hopefully produce a more vibrant, livable downtown. The sum of all of these various renovations and "small" projects is greater than one or two new buildings that contribute nothing to the urban environment. The new Main Street Garden has changed the east end of downtown overnight, bringing families and downtown residents to an area that was previously desolate. Much like Discovery Green has done for downtown Houston, these new parks are going to change the perception of downtown Dallas. Downtown is headed in the right direction and we've come a long way in just the past few years. But there are still a lot of transit gaps and underutilized structures in the business district. The new Downtown Dallas 360 Plan is going to merge all previous area plans into one strategic map for development. It includes connecting the disjointed districts with streetcars and sustainable development; creating affordable urban housing options; and expanding and promoting the area's identity. The slowdown in the economy may be the perfect opportunity to reevaluate the area's potential and wisely plan for the future. And until private developers start back with their plans (Victory Park included), the City and cultural institutions will keep up the pace. Therefore, I'll keep posting about little things that may seem meaningless to readers 250 miles away but add up to big improvements for downtown Dallas. I think Houston and Dallas can learn a lot from each other's small and large scale urban development. Though we both have pride in our respective cities, we're not all that different.

I don't understand how those photos have anything to do with downtown Dallas. Back on topic... here are some things from the past month relating to development, with only a few new cranes: - Main Street Garden opened November 13th. - The plan for Belo Garden, another downtown park on Main Street, was approved this week. - There are 2 tower cranes up for the Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel. - The Perot Museum of Nature and Science (in Victory Park) broke ground November 18th. - On November 23rd Central Dallas Community Development Corporation announced their architect selection for the Re:Vision Dallas project, which will turn a parking lot into the world's first truly sustainable city block. - Reunion arena is no more. - First Baptist Church Dallas revealed their new campus development program, which includes demolition of historic structures, restoration of the original church and construction of a new 1.5 million square feet, LEED certified 3,000-seat worship center and six-floor education building. - The downtown YMCA (now the T. Boone Pickens YMCA) was rededicated after a $5 million renovation. - Downtown Dallas 360, the new comprehensive area plan for the central city, has started their research phase. - And of course, the AT&T Performing Arts Center opened, and construction is being made on The Park (covering Woodall Rodgers Freeway).

Here's a video showing CityLights and the new Main Street Garden:

Here's a great article discussing all the features of the park which opens in a few weeks (with all of the rain we have had construction has been slow). Willis Winters Gives Us a Slightly Soggy, Kind of Early Walking Tour of Main Street Garden By Robert Wilonsky in News You Can Actually Use, Actually Tue., Oct. 27 2009 @ 2:11PM http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/10/a_slightly_soggy_kind_of_early.php ​Willis Winters, assistant director of the city's Park and Recreation Department, was kind enough to give Unfair Park a tour of the $17-million Main Street Garden this morning -- and by "garden," I mean mud pit and swimmin' hole. Hence, Winters's acknowledgment that, yes, it's quite likely the garden -- the first of several planned downtown parks -- won't be quite ready for its November 13 official debut, especially with more rain in the forecast for week's end. "The rain is killin' us," says Winters. "We were originally shooting for November 5, and actually there will be quite a bit done by November 5. It will be presentable by November 13. We're trying to prioritize what will be finished right now. There's a slight chance that date will change. But that's due to scheduling, not construction." He's referring to the fact several council members are scheduled to attend the National League of Cities convention in San Antonio that week. ​Still, he says, the park's "in good shape" for the November 20 City Lights Christmas-tree lighting ceremony, when DowntownDallas will debut New York-based landscape architect Thomas Balsley's 60-foot-tall tree. (Addison-based Excitement Technologies, which has done work at Cowboys Stadium, is handling the lighting and production, says DowntownDallas's Kourtney Garrett.) "As you can see, we're trying to work around" the mud and water, Winters says. "All the activity today is on the perimeter, and we're trying to scrape the mud to the center. That's the easiest thing to finish at the last, so now they're just using it as a staging area." After the jump, Winters walks us through the park's amenities. But first question's first: Will the Lily Pad, the city's first foray into the eat-and-drink business, serve alcohol? "They want to," he says, mentioning beer and wine and the TABC. So, with that out of the way ... jump, but watch the mud. ... Which brings us to an area that, at present, looks like a cemetery -- but only because, well, it is. What you see here are rescued remnants of buildings that once stood on this part of downtown, which Winters, who's also a noted city historian, was delighted to keep in order to pay homage to downtown's past. "For example, if you look across the street and look at the limestone on the original Hilton, we took the stone and saved them to redisplay them here," he says, noting that they do, indeed, look like tombstones. "It's an artifact to commemorate the buildings. And there will be an interpretive graphic that will talk about the history of this part of downtown and its development from the 1870s to current day and show how it transformed from small houses to big buildings." ​And, finally, our last stop: the stage. Though Winters says there will actually be two -- including a smaller one just to the left of the main one, closer to Commerce Street. Also near there will be the old neon "PARK" sign once directing people to the gold-ringed parking garage that used to sit on the spot. It's being refurbished for installation next month. "I just love the fact this park is surrounded by so many eras of Dallas architecture," Winter says. "There's the 1913 City Hall, the 1926 Hilton, the Tiches building from the '20s, the Mercantile from the late '40s, the Statler and library form the late '50s and the Comerica building from the '80s. It's surrounded by all these significant buildings, and we felt by putting this park here it would open up all these great vistas and remind people of their prominence and importance." ...

Testing the LED "garden rooms" at Main Street Garden, which opens next month. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/

Main Street Garden park opens in November:

Despite glut of downtown apartments, more units planned Dallas Business Journal - by Katherine Cromer Brock Staff writer http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dalla..&.../27/story3.html As swanky apartments continue to open up for leasing in downtown Dallas, some have said it signals a bright future for the city. But experts say that in the sagging residential market, the glut of urban housing options may push the light at the end of the tunnel a little further down the road.

Here's the rendering for 1900 Pacific, which hasn't changed since 2006.

^ Here's the videos that goes with the WFAA story: http://www.wfaa.com/video/?nvid=309146&shu=1

Finally, we may see some progress on this one soon... New skyscraper is part of project planned for Dallas 09:51 PM CST on Monday, December 1, 2008 By JASON WHITELY / WFAA-TV http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa...r.206d107e.html ... The Pillar Group, a Dallas development company, is moving forward with a $160-million plan for the deteriorating corner of Pacific Avenue and St. Paul Street on the east end of downtown Dallas. The 77-year-old Tower Petroleum Building, which is located at 1907 Elm Street and is two doors down from the Majestic Theater, will become the five star boutique hotel, complete with 115 guest rooms. ... But next door, at 1900 Pacific Avenue, the drab '50s-era office building will be demolished. To be built in its small footprint will be the most ambitious part of the project, the skyscraper designed by world renowned architect Michael Graves. "The tower height is planned to be 700-feet tall, 57 stories,

Giving downtown Dallas a neighborhood feel Revitalization making progress, but it's not easy or cheap 12:44 AM CST on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...own.19292a.html By DAVE LEVINTHAL and ANGELA SHAH / The Dallas Morning News dlevinthal@dallasnews.com; ashah@dallasnews.com Within months, city officials expect to hit the halfway point on their quest to fill the downtown core with 10,000 residential units

August 21, 2007 It

Here's the Cathedral Guadalupe in Dallas which is an interesting building in the Arts District. They recently completed the bell tower after 100 years and it makes a big impact on the skyline now. http://www.cathedralguadalupe.org

Find Your D Spot http://www.yourdspot.com Dallas launches playful ad campaign 08:46 AM CST on Saturday, February 17, 2007 By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News dlevinthal@dallasnews.com http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...as.783aa4c.html Do you know where your D spot is? That

Downtown Dallas Redevelopment Moving Quickly http://cbs11tv.com/video/?id=16271@ktvt.dayport.com

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