After 11 Years of Delays, Scott Beck’s $80M Mixed-Use Project at Former Valley View Site Could Break Ground This Year  

Dallas developer Scott Beck was 39 years old when he bought 30 acres at Preston Road and Dilbeck Lane. 

He’s fought “obstructionist” elected officials. He’s refused to build affordable housing without a profitable incentive package. He’s watched his property — the former Valley View Mall — become a homeless hangout and “habitual criminal property.”

And in an exclusive interview last week with CandysDirt.com, Beck, now 50, said he’s ready to move forward with an $80 million mixed-use project that will include 285 luxury apartments, 10,000 square feet of amenity space, and 26,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. 

Dallas Midtown Partners Announce Plans For 275 Luxury Condos, $80M Mixed-Use Development on Former Valley View Site

Beck Ventures and partner Anthem Development held a press conference in May 2023, announcing a rise from the ashes at the old mall. We didn’t hear much about the project in the following months, leading some surrounding property owners to speculate on whether Beck was planning to sell or if anything would ever happen at Preston and Dilbeck. 

Game on, Beck says, as the development is not only happening, it will likely be a catalyst for big things in an area he’s referring to as Dallas Midtown. 

“We’re excited to get started with our first project, which will kick off what should be the next 10 to 15 years of $5 billion-ish in development,” he said. 

Demolition of Valley View Mall

Beck says he’s learned over the years to be patient. The developer completed late last year the installation of offsite infrastructure, including a sanitary sewer line and access road at the old Valley View site. He paid for 100 percent of the cost, a burden Beck claims was put in place by “obstructionist” former District 11 Councilman Lee Kleinman. 

“That’s part of the reason the project has taken 11 years, just leftover from Kleinman,” he said. 

Demolition began in earnest in October, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration took over the site. 

“We weren’t even allowed on the property, inside the fence line, once they started demolishing because they had to pull all the asbestos out,” Beck said. “That was completed in December, and here we are in February, where we can actually begin a project. It’s our goal to start our first project before the end of the year, maybe the first quarter [of 2025], depending on the timing of getting the permits from the city.” 

The mixed-use project will take up to 30 months to complete, with new apartment tenants moving in about two years after the groundbreaking, Beck said. 

“We’ll have a groundbreaking when we actually start the project,” he said. “This project has been going on for 11 years so there’s no reason to have any more groundbreakings. People will see us going vertical with a permit in hand, and then we can have a groundbreaking.” 

Is it the International District or Dallas Midtown?

While numerous businesses in the area have dubbed the area “Dallas Midtown,” District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz and other city leaders refer to the Preston Road and Dilbeck Lane corridor as the International District. 

Since 2012, the city has worked with private developers, the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and neighborhood stakeholders to craft a redevelopment vision for the 450-acre Valley View/Galleria area, one of the largest urban infill projects in the U.S., officials said in a January Economic Development newsletter. 

“After extensive research, key stakeholders decided to reposition it as Texas’ first international district,” the newsletter states. “The area is already home to numerous international restaurants and a diverse and dynamic residential community. The area was renamed the Dallas International District with a goal to celebrate the variety of residents from across the world who have chosen Dallas as their home, and to serve as a welcoming space to encourage and promote Dallas’ global diversity.” 

Nearby Property Owners Want to See Beck’s Project Go Vertical 

Cash Kern, founder and managing partner of Titan Vanguard, bought the nearby office building at 13747 Montfort Drive in 2019 and said he’s anxious to see Beck’s project take off. 

“We knew that we could reposition the building and make a great return, regardless of the International District coming out of the ground, but obviously there would be a huge appreciation of rents,” Kern told CandysDirt.com during a January phone interview. “We do think there’s going to be a lot of value added for the legacy properties around there that have ownership and are willing to spend the money and claim a much higher rate. We’ve invested heavily and we still invest in the building regularly, but we would probably go up in order of magnitude once [development] starts occurring.”

Kern said he and other property owners have been waiting and watching to see what happens with the old Valley View site.

“Did they get the city out for a photo opp [in May], and now there’s nothing going on?” Kern said.

The Montfort property is on the edge of a major Complete Streets project that will make the area more walkable and bikeable. It seems everyone who lives, works, and represents the district recognizes its potential, Kern said. 

“It’s not about me, but I want to see something happen [at the old Valley View site],” he said. “This is a major economic engine that hasn’t started.” 

Dallas Midtown: Affordable Versus Market Rate Housing

Beck Ventures and Anthem Development have released renderings of their plans for the site and also have other ongoing projects in Dallas, Garland, and Sachse. Construction delays reflect the city in which they’re working, Beck explained. A rezoning application in Dallas on a different project has been pending since August of last year, he said. 

“We’re in the construction business and we’re developing, it’s just been 11 years of developing in the city of Dallas,” Beck said. 

The Midtown area already has several affordable and low-income housing developments, Beck explained. The new construction Class A office market is robust, he added. 

“That’s what we’ll be doing,” he said. “That will help the district significantly. Certainly, it will help the Galleria. I think you’ll see all tides rise at the same time in the district. The only thing that’s out of place in this district is the old Valley View Mall. You’re in a fairly affluent area. We aim to complement the adjacency with a higher-end type of mixed-use.” 

Affordable housing was suggested by former Councilman Kleinman a few years back, Beck said, but it wasn’t going to net a return for the developer or investors. 

The City of Dallas has a lot of work to do if it wants developers to take on big redevelopment projects like the old Valley View Mall, Beck said. The newly formed Dallas Economic Development Corporation, which is expected to hire its first CEO this quarter, could be a positive approach. 

“The EDC is typically thinking long-term and they effectively solicit and then secure various entitlements or grants and then they go out and actively recruit, already having a bucket of incentives that they can work with a tenant,” he said. 

Investors are going to choose projects where they can make a return. It’s not profitable to build affordable housing with no incentives, Beck said. 

“The question is, how do you pay for it?” he said. “You’re trying to encourage equity investors to invest in a project … Dallas can put restrictions on a builder, and they’ll just go somewhere else. We have to get creative with how we’re going to solve these issues.” 

And although the Dallas Midtown project is within a tax increment financing district, no real increment has been collected yet, Beck explained, so the payoff is still 20 years down the road. 

All told, Beck is happy with his project as planned and thinks it’s well-suited for the neighborhood. 

“The missing ingredient of the area is a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood, and that’s what we’re going to build,” he said.