Downtown CBD / Areas Outside Of Uptown

[dfwcre8tive]

This is really cool! Dallas has been a real forward thinking city lately. Here is a video I found of the construction now:

The video you posted is for Woodall Rodgers Park (which is well under construction), not Belo Garden.

[KinkaidAlum]

Belo Gardens looks like a nice addition to downtown but I simply do NOT understand where anyone would get the funding to develop another office building in/near downtown Dallas. Vacancy rates are TERRIBLE there.

[dfwcre8tive]

First Baptist Dallas implodes buildings to make way for renovation

by CASSIE CLARK

Dallas Morning News

Posted on October 30, 2010 at 10:06 AM

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/First-Baptist-Dallas-implodes-buildings-to-make-way-for-renovation-106370693.html

With a series of ear-piercing pops, nearly 200 pounds of dynamite brought down a portion of First Baptist Dallas in downtown this morning.

Cheers and whistles could be heard from a viewing area on the 14th floor of the Hartford Building where a small crowd including Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, First Baptist Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress and a bevy of photographers watched as four buildings were imploded.

A cloud of dust and debris filled the air, but thanks to the chilly and dense air, it was nearly clear within 15 minutes of the demolition, which is making way for a $115 million facility that will include a new sanctuary, an education building, a fountain plaza and 1 acre of public green space.

"There's no sadness," Jeffress said. "Just great memories."

...

Edited October 30, 2010 by dfwcre8tive

[dfwcre8tive]

The old Statler has a new owner who plans to renovate and redevelop the structure. Hopefully this time it will actually happen (the owners are redeveloping another tower downtown).

http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/statler-hilton-sold-to-develop.html

[dfwcre8tive]

Here's a tour and some photos of the Dallas Statler Hilton. It's currently being restored; there are a lot of great Mid-Century features hidden under countless renovations.

Harwood Historic District » Blog Archive » Swinging the Statler-Hilton Back to Life - Celebrating the Past and Promoting the Future of a Dallas Landmark District

And photos of the old Dallas Public Library next door. Together they form the best block of 1950s architecture in Dallas. The hotel has been vacant for 10 years; the library, nearly 30.

Here's a tour of the library... a time capsule of 1950s design:

http://www.harwoodhistoricdistrict.com/2011/03/dallascentrallibrary/

Edited April 8, 2011 by dfwcre8tive

[KinkaidAlum]

Kudos for Dallas for saving them and sprucing them up.

Meanwhile, we're tearing down our downtown Sheraton and the old Prudential Bldg near the TMC.

[dfwcre8tive]

Museum Tower is going up:

[Houston19514]

Here's a tour and some photos of the Dallas Statler Hilton. It's currently being restored; there are a lot of great Mid-Century features hidden under countless renovations.

Is it really "currently being restored"? I thought it was still at the talking/hoping stage.

[dfwcre8tive]

Belo Garden opens in a few weeks. It's another park downtown replacing a parking lot.

[lockmat]

Looks pretty, but what is it's purpose? Looks like a good place to walk through but not stay.

[dfwcre8tive]

Is it really "currently being restored"? I thought it was still at the talking/hoping stage.

Yes, the team is now one year into the clean up and has about a year left to go. Right now 300+ apartments are being considered, but the project may ultimately contain hotel rooms. Here are some photos from my visit one year later.

The team has acquired original plans for the building and are bringing it back to the 1950s appearance. The facade has been cleaned and blue LEDs will highlight the design. The recent discovery of the Jack Lubin mural has also made headlines.

[dfwcre8tive]

Looks pretty, but what is it's purpose? Looks like a good place to walk through but not stay.

Main Street Garden (on the other end of Main Street) was designed to be an active park with children's playground, dog park, cafe, performance lawn, etc. Belo Garden was designed to be a quieter park surrounded by large office buildings. Lots of lunch/picnic furniture, shade, color gardens and a fountain.

http://www.belogarden.com/

Edited May 1, 2012 by dfwcre8tive

[LTAWACS]

not too bad.

[infinite_jim]

[dfwcre8tive]

Belo Garden opened over the weekend.

http://www.dallasnew...ic-thursday.ece

Edited May 15, 2012 by dfwcre8tive

[Mister X]

LOL!

[LTAWACS]

What is so funny?

[dfwcre8tive]

Some cool retailers are coming to the Joule Hotel expansion. Tim Headington is sinking a lot of money into restoring a block of buildings around the flagship Neiman Marcus and bringing several unique boutiques to Main Street. The hotel expansion and shops open in January.

Headington Cos. to expand luxury retail in Dallas with shops at Joule hotel

By MARIA HALKIAS Staff Writer mhalkias@dallasnews.com

Published: 06 July 2012 08:40 PM

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/20120706-headington-cos.-to-expand-luxury-retail-in-dallas-with-shops-at-joule-hotel.ece?action=reregister

...

International luxury book publisher Taschen is opening a library bookstore in the Joule’s lobby. It will be only the fifth U.S. store for Taschen, known for its richly illustrated books about architecture, design, photography, lifestyle and classics.

Among the shops coming by January are a Tenoversix boutique, a first Texas leap from Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The boutique specializes in high-end clothing for men and women as well as other items.

Joule will also house an 8,000-square-foot Espa Spa with a 1,200-square-foot shop selling the U.K. spa’s products.

Traffic Los Angeles will have both a 2,000-square-foot men’s and a 950-square-foot women’s store connected by Main Street Alley. Some stores will have entrances from both the hotel and Main or Commerce, and Joule’s lobby is being expanded to be accessible from both streets.

The new stores join the Next Vintage Wine shop. A sundries shop and an epicurean shop with food to go are also coming.

...

Here's an earlier rendering:

[LTAWACS]

Sorta reminds me of Austin's 6th street.

[infinite_jim]

Dallas First Baptist

The Eyeball (under construction)

Warren Park

Wilson bldg

Edited October 19, 2013 by infinite_jim

[nate4l1f3]

How do we feel about the remodel of the convention center years later? I have mixed feelings myself. On one hand I absolutely love what they did at street level and the added glass facade, but part of me feels like they could have went bigger and better on the rest of the building— part of it still feels dated to me when you look at it. 
 

I'm asking because Dallas released plans to redevelop their convention center and it’s really  impressive. Do y’all agree or am I just being a tad bit jealous?

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by nate4l1f3

[Urbannizer]

I moved your post here @nate4l1f3 as there’s no update on our convention center and anything pertaining to Dallas in a Houston topic doesn’t end well. Feel free create a separate thread for the convention center. 
 

 

[004n063]

19 minutes ago, nate4l1f3 said:

How do we feel about the remodel of the convention center years later? I have mixed feelings myself. On one hand I absolutely love what they did at street level and the added glass facade, but part of me feels like they could have went bigger and better on the rest of the building— part of it still feels dated to me when you look at it. 
 

I'm asking because Dallas released plans to redevelop their convention center and it’s really  impressive. Do y’all agree or am I just being a tad bit jealous?

 

There's always more that can be done. Maybe a rooftop park? Better pedestrian access into EaDo as part of NHHIP? 

To me, though, the biggest thing I would love to see happen with GRB/DG is more/better street food via food stalls and the like. There are several expensive sit-down restaurants around the park (at least one of which is legitimately excellent), and there are some vendors in the park selling popsicles and chips and such, but it would be nice if you could get legit (and reasonably priced) shawarma, gorditas, jollof, panipuri, boudin balls, sambusas, baos, etc., in the park or convention center.

I appreciate POST and Bravery for what they're doing, but I still think it is too easy for an out-of-towner to spend a weekend here and leave confused about why Houston is such a celebrated food city. I'd like to see Downtown in general do more to put "real" Houston food front and center.

[hbg.50]

7 hours ago, nate4l1f3 said:

How do we feel about the remodel of the convention center years later? I have mixed feelings myself. On one hand I absolutely love what they did at street level and the added glass facade, but part of me feels like they could have went bigger and better on the rest of the building— part of it still feels dated to me when you look at it. 
 

I'm asking because Dallas released plans to redevelop their convention center and it’s really  impressive. Do y’all agree or am I just being a tad bit jealous?

 

You’re being jealous.  Don’t be.  Dallas is always a “follower.”  I can list five or 6 things that they’ve done after Houston (and usually better) but the area around GRB is doing just fine.  That part of downtown is thriving!

[nate4l1f3]

6 hours ago, steve1363 said:

You’re being jealous.  Don’t be.  Dallas is always a “follower.”  I can list five or 6 things that they’ve done after Houston (and usually better) but the area around GRB is doing just fine.  That part of downtown is thriving!

No doubt the area around GRB is the best part about the whole thing. I’m a sucker for cool renderings I’ll give you that .. 

[nate4l1f3]

13 hours ago, 004n063 said:

There's always more that can be done. Maybe a rooftop park? Better pedestrian access into EaDo as part of NHHIP? 

To me, though, the biggest thing I would love to see happen with GRB/DG is more/better street food via food stalls and the like. There are several expensive sit-down restaurants around the park (at least one of which is legitimately excellent), and there are some vendors in the park selling popsicles and chips and such, but it would be nice if you could get legit (and reasonably priced) shawarma, gorditas, jollof, panipuri, boudin balls, sambusas, baos, etc., in the park or convention center.

I appreciate POST and Bravery for what they're doing, but I still think it is too easy for an out-of-towner to spend a weekend here and leave confused about why Houston is such a celebrated food city. I'd like to see Downtown in general do more to put "real" Houston food front and center.

All great ideas- I wonder how feasible a rooftop park actually is?

I think if they would finish off the rest of the building with the clear glass facade (replacing the dark glass) the way they did the middle part that would make a huge difference. Replace the white columns with the red as they did in the middle as well, and voilà!

[tigereye]

On 2/11/2023 at 10:51 AM, nate4l1f3 said:

I'm asking because Dallas released plans to redevelop their convention center and it’s really  impressive. Do y’all agree or am I just being a tad bit jealous?

 

I like fancy renderings so I’ll bite. Their plan is ambitious but when I realistically look at the area currently, that area around city hall is not nice and needs a lot of work. I recently stayed at the Butler Brothers building and while that was a nice reuse of an old building, I won’t stay in that area of town again. So these renderings are a bit unrealistic for the entire area. It feels like that’s maybe after 20 years of development in the future before it comes anywhere remotely close to what’s rendered. 

In the near term when the new convention center is built, that area between Lamar and Memorial Arena where the KBHCC once stood is going to be empty much like how new GRBCC was in the early 90’s way before Discovery Green. While I like the plans of a new building fronting an opened Lamar St connecting to Cedars, I’m not sure this was the best option because the new building will essentially be landlocked with no room for future expansion. This new $2 billion dollar building, which is budget overkill for convention center, really just feels like an attempt to move the front entrance further away from a cemetery, which it achieves by 1 block.

I think a better idea would’ve been keeping and renovating the existing structures but building that massive glass facade in the front. While Pioneer Plaza is a cemetery, I would’ve explored beatification efforts along with redeveloped Akard Plaza next door, creating one big lineal park fronting the existing convention center from the Omni Hotel to City Hall. By then, your hope is development occurs across Young St, creating something similar to GRBCC and Discovery Green in much quicker time at a cheaper cost than demolition and full reconfiguration. I would also expand the back of the existing KBHCC over 1-30 and create a rear entrance connecting to Cedars. It’s like the idea HoustonFirst has for creating a rear entrance for GRBCC over tunneled 59 connecting to EaDo. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by tigereye

[mattyt36]

Conceptual rendering.  'Nuff said.

[ChannelTwoNews]

New Dallas convention center plan now includes former DMN site - Dallas Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

"In the new site plans presented to the committee, the convention center building itself will no longer encompass lot E at the southeast corner of Memorial Drive and Hotel Street along Interstate 30. It instead would have a footprint of about 130,000 square feet on the southern half of the former Dallas Morning News property on Young Street, where a parking garage currently sits. It is unclear whether the city plans to acquire portions of that property.

The facade of the new convention center will remain the same, Fleming said, but the footprint has been modified due to requests by the Texas Department of Transportation to use a flyover bridge for Union Pacific Railroad construction and staging space for dirt and equipment for construction on Interstate 30."

Previous plan

New Plan