Partners Break Ground for Dallas Multifamily Property
Dallas--A joint venture formed by Prescott Realty Group, Northwestern Mutual and AREA Property Partners has started construction on a new mixed-use development on the old Shamburger Lumberyard site in Dallas.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Dallas–A joint venture formed by Prescott Realty Group, Northwestern Mutual and AREA Property Partners has started construction on a new mixed-use development on the old Shamburger Lumberyard site in Dallas, near the campus of Southern Methodist University. The project, which will create 417 apartment units and 9,100 square feet of new retail, is the latest (third) phase of the revitalization of the University Crossing area.
The fist phase of the revitalization was a new garage adjacent to the light-rail Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) line running through the area. Phase II was the construction of the Shelby, which opened in October 2009 and includes 55 residential lofts and 3,500 square feet of retail located on SMU Boulevard. The three phases will have a combined projected taxable value of close to $60 million.
According to the JV, the new mixed-use development will be a major catalyst for the first-ever TIF district established by the city of Dallas, which is transit oriented. The TOD TIF includes 559 acres in addition to public rights-of-way stretching to the south from the Lovers Lane/Mockingbird area along the DART light-rail line to the Lancaster/VA Medical Center region. The new mixed-use development is within walking distance of the Mockingbird rail station.
The development will generate revenue for the TOD TIF, but it is being undertaken with private funding, and will not use any TIF funding or city of Dallas incentives. “The creation of the TIF was not meant to be a financing vehicle for the Shamburger project,” Jud Pankey, CEO of Prescott Realty Group, tells MHN. “The intent was to spur development around the stations that would not otherwise occur. Shamburger happened to be the catalyst project that provided the tax increment for the southern sector.”
Pankey adds that the partnership is contemplated using Community Development Block Grant dollars with the sponsorship of the City of Dallas, but in the end, the dollars were not needed. “Bond funds from the city and other grants are being used to improve certain streetscapes and connections to the light-rail station within the neighborhood,” he says. “These improvements have been in the works for a number of years and will provide better pedestrian connections to all neighborhood points of interest, including the expanding Katy Trail, a pocket park, the George W. Bush Presidential Library, and Mockingbird Station.”
