Former City Plan Commissioner Claire Stanard Addresses The Future of Preston Center West

By Claire Stanard
Former District 13 Dallas City Plan Commissioner

There has been a great deal of conversation lately about the proposed increased density at Pepper Square at Beltline and Preston roads. But what about the Preston Center West shopping center at Northwest Highway and Preston Road?  

Preston Center (City of Dallas) is about to quietly be changed into a high-rise office and apartment complex without any community meetings or overt notifications to the public. This is Z223-141 Development application in Preston Center West is being heard this week for denial or approval by the City Plan Commission. 

These same plans were presented to me by the developer prior to my term as District 13  City Plan Commissioner recently ending, and I totally denied them due to the two-year Northwest Highway and Preston Road Area Plan that was put in place after two years of meetings and neighbor input in  January 2017. This developer’s prior plans, as well as the present ones being heard by CPC this Thursday, March 21, in no way represent the Area Plan requirements voiced by the Preston Hollow residents. 

Rezoning Tosses $300K Area Plan Aside

As the community recalls, there was $300,000 invested in this Area Plan process for this area and countless neighborhood meetings with the residents envisioning a revamped center similar to the West Village with retail and restaurants surrounding the parking lot and about four stories of multifamily on top, no higher than the 85-foot underlying [Planned Development] 314 restrictions. 

The neighbors also envisioned a park at the site of the City-owned center parking lot in the middle of this center, since this entire PD contains almost NO green space for the present 3 million-plus square feet of office space in PD 314.  Specifically, residents opposed more office space in Preston Center, since there was already an extreme imbalance between residential units and office space in the area.

Preston Center West is an Unusual Place

Preston Center on the west side of Preston Road is a very unusual residential retail shopping center for the following reasons:  When Mr. Lobello sold this agricultural property to create a multi-landowner shopping center, he deeded the central parking lot to the City of Dallas in order to prevent his new owners from having to pay property taxes on the parking area. 

However, with this gift were strict deed restrictions that prevented the City from charging for parking; selling the property without 100 percent approval of all owners; making any alterations or additions to the parking lot without 100 percent approval of the surrounding owners; requiring a minimum of 200 spaces of parking always be provided for the surrounding owners’ enterprises; requiring the surrounding retail owners to perpetually maintain the city-owned parking lot; and forming a governing group of owners designated as The Preston Center Parking Corporation. 

This situation has put the City of Dallas in a bind as far as the future of the center parking lot at Preston Center. The only option is to legally “condemn” it due to the lack of adequate maintenance by the owners of the parking lot.  

Preston Center Parking Garage Study Issues Final Report

First, before any radical change to Preston Center and piecemeal approvals for development, there need to be definitive plans for the City-owned parking lot situated in the middle of this center and providing the majority of the parking, and an overall plan for this shopping center that follows the basic recommendations of the Northwest Highway/Preston Road Area Plan of 2017. 

This is a neighborhood shopping center that needs to provide restaurants and services for the west of Douglas office buildings (where retail is restricted) and have a uniformity of heights as provided in the underlying PD 314 requirements. This is NOT downtown Dallas. The purpose of formulating Area Plans is to ensure that the neighborhood objectives are followed in all future development. The developer’s vision of 225′ tall glass buildings of 884,000 square feet with 100 percent lot coverage on 4.5 acres with 2,000 square feet of green space at Tract III of PD 314 in NO WAY conforms to the recommendations of the Preston Hollow neighborhood.  

High-Rise vs. Low-Rise

If this proposal is approved this Thursday, it will result in Preston Center being a high-rise office park of 22-plus stories, as opposed to the highly successful low-rise Preston Center East revamped site which is commanding high dollar rents now and is a retail destination and entertainment site (across Preston Road in University Park).

We already have an office park west of Douglas, with deed restrictions prohibiting most retail establishments.  Even the new Lincoln Park development next to St. Michael on Douglas is only 13 stories. 

There have been no voices in opposition because the very neighbors who attended those endless Area Plan meetings for two years have no idea such a major decision is being determined this Thursday at the City Plan Commission. Where are the required Community Meetings and neighborhood input in regard to this major proposal in District 13? 

New Report Exposes Preston Center Plan As Financially Bogus

This will have major impacts to Preston Hollow residents and traffic in an area with little to no public transportation. Why is there no comprehensive plan for Preston Center and the parking lot before any more re-development is allowed? 

The Preston Hollow community spoke loudly in the 2017 Area Plan that they wanted a neighborhood retail, services, and restaurant center with increased multi-family of low density with no additional office space in Preston Center, and significant additional green space.  Preston Center is not Wall Street and was never envisioned by the community to be only a cement office park. 

Is anyone listening to the neighborhood?