Jon Anderson

An award-winning columnist, Jon has earned silver and bronze awards for his columns from the National Association of Real Estate Editors in both 2016, 2017 and 2018. When he isn't in Hawaii, Jon enjoys life in the sky in Dallas.

Penthouse Plunge: Finding a General Contractor is Harder Than it Looks

By Jon Anderson / September 20, 2019 /

I’ve never used the same general contractor twice. That says something right there. So every time I do a renovation, I have to start from scratch. The usual reason I don’t repeat contractors comes down to communication. I say things that don’t happen. They do things without asking that aren’t on the blueprints. They ignore…

PACE Is The Place For Helpful Green Financing

By Jon Anderson / September 19, 2019 /

Recently, the New York Times wrote about the rapid growth of the green financing initiative called PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) and the infusion of cash available to lend. Many NYT stories are national or international in focus, so some digging was required to discover what Texas and Dallas were doing with the program. Created…

PD-15: Revisiting My Plans and Predictions in The Aftermath

By Jon Anderson / September 18, 2019 /

“And that’s my fear. A city that is more lenient than the neighborhood, resulting in even more being built. Many think of the towers as being an aberration in the neighborhood. They’re not — they’re a harbinger.” I wrote those words in December 2017 after having resigned from the first PD-15 task force. The quote…

Dallas City Council Ends 30-Month PD-15 Saga With 240-Foot Height

By Jon Anderson / September 12, 2019 /

Dallas City Council unanimously passed city staff’s plan for PD-15, which compromised on height, topping out at 240 feet. Some small changes were made to the plan. The general wisdom is that any city council vote requiring a supermajority due to opposition will be a nail-biter. And while certainly many a nail was chewed to…

Oak Lawn Committee: A Sign, A Drive-Through, And Two More High-Rises

By Jon Anderson / September 11, 2019 /

Let’s begin big. The Oak Lawn Committee saw four projects last night. The one above is a nice residential high-rise at the corner of Boll St. and McKinney Ave. We also saw a proposal for a 13-story retirement home around the corner from Al Biernat’s, as well as the more mundane signage variance in Victory…