For All the Reasons the Sams at City Center is Wrong, Provident’s Saltillo is RIGHT!

Well, it’s been a lovely rest from the antics at 1500 Marilla but, come tomorrow, it’s show time for the folks at Provident Realty Advisors.

On Wednesday, at 1:00 p.m, the Dallas City Council meets to approve re-zoning for the new 258 unit, $80 million dollar apartment development along the Katy Trail that will replace the aging and (sorry) kind of ugly Saltillo Apartments. This debate will frame the future of Dallas development as we either increase the density of a city that has overgrown its boundaries, in appropriate neighborhoods, or let developers take their shovels to the suburbs. 

You may recall that getting this project past the Dallas Plan Commission was no easy feat, despite the beautiful design. But approved it was on May 9 by the Dallas Plan Commission with a near unanimous vote save for one nay, which came from Lee Kleinman’s plan commission rep, Jaynie Schultz.  Which still kind of blows me away after all the ruckus Laura Miller and Mitchell Rasansky stirred up over the Transwestern deal behind the Pink Wall.  (I’m trying to reach her and ask what gives.)

The town of Highland Park opposed re-zoning for the new development because, they said, a new, larger complex would negatively impact a tiny park called Abbott Park. I think they are worried about density.

The Friends of the Katy Trail opposed the new development because, they said, it was too tall, to0 dense, and the height and 90-foot building was too close to the Katy for comfort.

Highland Park’s main beef had been that nothing on the trail should be more than two stories tall. HP Mayor Joel Williams said his town isn’t opposed to development, but his council passed a resolution last fall saying the building would infringe upon residents’ privacy, especially at Abbott Park.

The Friends of the Katy Trail’s beef was that the running and biking path turns into a canyon lined with too-tall towers.

But the folks at the Oak Lawn Committee want the development and support it.

“There’s been lots of misinformation about this project, ” said Brenda Marks, president of the Oak Lawn Committee (OLC). “Most of it came from Highland Park.”

The Oak Lawn Committee is an action group formed back in 1985 the day after Trammell Crow tore down the Esquire Theater at 3415 Oak Lawn. If you walk into Eatzie’s, you are walking where the old Hoblitzelle-owned theater once stood. These guys are the original protectors of the Oak Lawn PD 193, which guides Oak Lawn development. The OLD fosters rows of trees,  small streets, maintains the personality of Oak Lawn. The OLC is likely one of the reasons why Oak lawn is still one of the hottest tax revenue-producing-areas in Dallas.

And the OLC folks have been working for re-development of the Saltillo apartments since 2005.

The first plan was for a St. Regis Hotel and condominiums at the Katy Trail and Cedar Springs, which was way-laid when the “biggest recession since the Great depression” gripped the real estate market.

But the OLC liked Provident’s plan even better than the St. Regis.

“This one has what we believe is good density development,” says Brenda. “It’s on the trail, near major transportation corridors, near the vibrant Knox Henderson retail, and very walkable.”

In other words, this is EXACTLY what should be built there. This is EXACTLY what should be built over on Central near Cityplace – albeit a less luxurious version and NOT a Sam’s Club. The 85 feet in height is not all of the building, but rather it stairsteps up from the trail,  a concession to homeowners made by the developer.

The tallest portion will be seven stories. There is a nice green space as buffer before the Trail.

“We so listened to the community,” says Jerry L. Jackson, PE, LEED AP, vice president of development and the point man on the Saltillo project. “We could have kept the plan as it was approved, but we decided to relate to and listen to our neighbors. As a result, we made three very significant changes.”

The following changes were made AFTER Plan Commission approval.

One, Jerry worked and pushed to lower the building height as much as possible to avoid a canyon-like feel on the trail side, while still maintaining the underground parking.

Two, he lowered the height of the building structure closest to the Katy Trail to only 28 feet tall. It could have been 36 according to current code. He created an H-shaped building so only two portions of the total structure, the “wings” or H-bottoms, are adjacent to the trail, thereby minimizing the building’s exposure. The height of the building is focused on Cole Street, NOT the Trail. Balcony fencing will be transparent.

“We worked hard to develop something that treats the Katy Trail with respect, like a front yard, ” says Jerry. “We feel our building complements an already fantastic neighborhood.”

Thirdly, and pretty major: the developer has agreed to help maintain neighborhood peace and quiet. Provident agreed to include in the zoning a ban on outdoor speakers on the building, around the pool, and none attached to the building by the developer, including in the pool area. That’s pretty unprecedented.

“Our Highland Park neighbors expressed concern about the noise,” says Jerry, “so we mitigated it, and eliminated the problem.”

Currently, there are 78 rental units now at the Saltillo. After redevelopment, there will be 258 brand spanking new units spilling more diners, bikers, walkers, shoppers and tax payers out into Knox-Henderson. Of course, that extra density is what has the neighborhood going all NIMBY, as it does in other parts of town. As a commenter for The Dallas Morning News pointed out, ch en

“Such enhanced density seems to be the right fit for a neighborhood that is already surprisingly walkable and becoming more so all the time. for the HP crowd, these were the same folks that fought to stop a privately funded toll-tunnel to take the traffic off Mockingbird, so I don’t pay much attention to their Crocodile tears about congestion. Will HP continue constructing towers on Turtle Creek, yet oppose a comparably modest development in a neighboring community?”

That’s the question that will surely be addressed by the elected reps on Wednesday: does Dallas want to keep growing? Or shall we relegate that to the suburbs while we rip out highways? Do Dallas citizens want to limit growth to certain areas only? Clearly we have reached our boundaries: Here’s how eloquently Dallas plan commissioner Paul Ridley framed the choices we face at the meeting last May, and I think every Dallas citizen needs to hear this:

“We have a clear choice at this point for the commission. We can either embrace the future of Dallas and the necessity to increase the density of a city that has in most respects reached its boundaries and has very little new developable open land to redevelop. That requires us to look at appropriate places in close end locations that can support additional development at higher densities, such as this project and I believe this location. Or, the opposite choice is to remain mired in the past of 50 or 60 year old two-story apartment buildings that are becoming more and more dilapidated and force development to occur on the fringes of the Metroplex in the far northern, and eastern and western suburbs where utilities are expensive to maintain, where new schools have to be built, and where people have to drive 50 miles to get to their jobs in downtown Dallas.

I’m a strong advocate for the former where it makes sense and I think it makes sense in this instance. This is not such a great departure in density from the existing development restrictions. It is an increase of 18 units over 2.4 acres from what is allowed today (258 versus 40 units). It is a height of 84 feet compared to 36 feet, but only over a relatively small portion of the site. One of the things that I like about this project is that it is very sensitive to the trail. In fact, its front door is the trail. It establishes a wide 25-foot setback before any building structure is erected and then it steps back at two different levels away from the trail preventing any significant shade of the trail or any impositions on site lines from the trail.

This is also an area of the city, which is a small pocket of MF-2 zoning surrounding, which is much higher height limitations of 240 feet in the LC zoning to the south. At Knox street there is an apartment building that is situated directly on the trail that is 15 to 18 stories tall, twice as tall as this building, and to the north where there is an office building and future apartments that will extend up to over 200 feet in height. This location is two blocks from Central Expressway so it is readily accessible to a major avenue for reaching any corner of the Metroplex.

This project has strong support from the neighboring properties in Dallas and from the Dallas Oak Lawn Committee. They are the people who have the interest of Dallas at heart and I think that this is a project that is in the best interest of Dallas and I encourage your support.”