Exclusive: Dirt FINALLY Flying at Valley View Mall for a First of-its-Kind Partnership With Prime Life Technologies

District 11 City Councilman Bill Roth took to NextDoor to announce good news for large parts of North Dallas and the entire city. Developers will break ground Friday morning on Premier at Dallas Midtown, located near the northwest corner of Dilbeck and Preston Road. It will be the first commercial mixed-use development on the site of the former shopping center, which was demolished in 2023. The development promises a new chapter for the remains of the former mall: an $85 million, vibrant mixed-use live-work-play environment.

“This will mark the ceremonial kickoff of a new chapter for North Dallas. Premier at Dallas Midtown will bring new residential, retail, dining, and office space to one of our city’s most strategic corridors, creating jobs, boosting our tax base, and delivering the walkable, vibrant urban district our community has been asking for,” Roth said in his announcement.

The Beck family has owned 110 acres of the 450-acre total site since 2012, when long-ago District 11 Dallas Councilperson Linda Koop urged the family to buy and develop the mall site. And they have been trying to develop it as Dallas Midtown for years.

This time, the Becks have a strong partner.

CandysDirt.com has learned the Becks are developing Premier, along with a powerful capital partner, a joint venture firm backed by two dynasty Japanese companies: Prime Life Technologies Corporation.

The dynasty companies? Panasonic and Toyota.

Established in January of 2020, privately held Prime Life Technologies (PLT) is one of the largest developers in Japan with interests in real estate, remodeling, new home construction, and design. Headquartered in Tokyo, Prime Life Technologies also specializes in town development, real estate transaction/management, housing interior decoration, energy-saving solutions, renovation, contracted building construction, and construction consulting. PLT’s capital investment in Premier is about $28 million.

“This is fantastic for Dallas to bring Panasonic and Toyota, two of Japan’s most powerful companies, to Dallas. Prime Life is one of the largest developers in Japan,” said Scott Beck. “This is the result of strong new leadership in District 11 in Bill Roth. When citizens put real leadership in place — not political hacks —-things get done.”

The Becks have long blamed the leadership of former city councilman Lee Kleinman and his protege, Jaynie Schultz, for obstreperous maneuvering in the 13 years that the former mall grounds have been an eyesore in District 11.

A little background on the complex dirt that was once Valley View Mall — the development story could almost be a miniseries:

The former Valley View site now has three owners: Scott and Jeff Beck, Seritage Growth Properties (Seritage being the real estate arm of Sears Roebuck, whose store anchored Valley View Mall), and Life Time Inc. The three joined together last March to push development on their 110 acres, part of the larger 440-acre “Dallas International District”, as former CM Schultz named it.

Originally called Midtown, and still called Dallas Midtown by Beck, the land stretches within a rectangle of the Dallas North Tollway, Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, and Preston and Alpha roads. The property includes the Galleria, which the city considered linking to Valley View with a “People Mover” gondola system in 2013.

Valley View Mall closed in 2015, and the various property owners were ensnared in lawsuits against each other. The last standing structure was the AMC movie theater, which held out because of its lease, but ultimately closed during the pandemic. By 2022, the site was more than an eyesore — a shell of a mall that attracted vagrants and crime until three fires were started by the homeless. The city sued the Becks, forcing them to tear down the remaining structure.

The Becks have long maintained that the City of Dallas reneged on several promises, including early help with infrastructure, security that was difficult on the 110-acre property exacerbated by Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot’s refusal to prosecute theft crimes under $750 during his first term, owner lawsuits, and marketplace conditions. The original structure was built with asbestos, which required a strictly supervised removal process. Beck also said that CM Schultz asked for Section 8 affordable housing on the site in exchange for city help, which Schultz denies, though she told D Magazine‘s Matt Goodman the Becks were land flippers and “it’s a waste of time and effort to encourage any type of development.”

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

At long last, development is coming: six stories of 296 luxury apartments, ground floor restaurant, and retail, Anthem Development announced in May 2023. At full build out of the 110 acres, Beck estimates $4 billion in revenue to the city of Dallas, and a place for businesses trying to get out of the CBD to land without leaving Dallas. This is what Jeff Beck has wanted for 13 years, he told the Dallas Morning News:

“People can live, they can work, they can play and have access on LBJ, Central Expressway and the toll road to get to airport, downtown, anywhere,” said Jeff, who garnered his reputation as the developer of Trophy Club. “We’re sitting in the center of Dallas, and were tired of seeing this development escaping the confines of the Dallas community, going out to the suburbs. Now we can capture those tax dollars and keep them in the city.”

Premier, built by Beck’s Anthem Development, will occupy 4 of those acres.

‘With Bill Roth,” says Beck, “we have bookended the efforts of two capable city council members —Roth and Koop — and we will finally get the deal done.”