A Sneak Peek at the Grand Ricchi Dallas

By Robert Wilonsky Fri., Sep. 10 2010 at 2:00 PM

Categories: City Hall, Development

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Speaking of conceptual renderings ...

Just because the Downtown Connection TIF District Review Committee canceled its meeting yesterday for lack of a quorum doesn't mean you can't look at the Grand Ricchi Dallas design docs that were passed out ahead of time. Whenever the committee finally does get together, it'll discuss whether the latest plan, which now includes office condos, is viable enough to merit millions in tax incentives. The docs are on the other side. Fancy. The Grand Ricchi Design

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awesome stuff here!
Wonder how he abated the asbestos? Or has he?
You have to at least give him credit as a good photo shoot editor. Pretty pictures, with pretty people.
WOW, this guy is really good! He's even managed to get the sun to shine on the North/Pacific side of the building (see slide 10)!
Wylie H. is right on target. Not very practical at all (how do you clean all that glass behind the decorative grilles?). Lots of pretty images, and dreams of what could be. It is doubtful that the final product (if it gets built) will even remotely resemble these slick images. This guy is a "promoter". He could probably sell igloos to eskimos if given a chance. Let's see what the City's Design Review Board has to say.
So, he's using the Harvey Nichols from the Happy Valley area of Hong Kong (one of the most densely populated places on the planet) as inspiration... Okay..... Where is the residential lobby? It is missing from the floor plan. The hotel lobby will be on the 2nd floor, while the entrance is on the ground floor--- that area will have to be manned 24 hours a day, plus luggage will need to be shuttled from the ground floor to the 2nd floor by elevator-- again, lots of expense. Where is the hotel service elevator? They can't share it with the office. Very impractical.
My question is about the name. Ok, so you've switched from residential to office condos and hotel...who wants to say "I office at the Grand Ricchi"? I mean, its one thing to have that be the name of your residential building, but quite another to list it as your work address.
Is anonymous pissed about this or what? Same comments as previous post about this project.
The left-hand image on Slide 2 is directly lifted from the Wikipedia article on Harvey Nichols. It's barely even photoshopped. It was uploaded there (Wikipedia)by a user who cites it as his "own work," so I guess there's no copyright. Still, talk about lazy.
What real developer goes into a building and starts all this expensive work without any financing in place? Answer: None!!! This must be some sort of money laundering facility for Mexican drug money or something related? Smells really bad, I hope this doesn't turn into the scandal of the year for Downtown Dallas and City Hall.
Yeah, 13 glitzy pictures equals 13 million in TIF dollars from this dumb ass City Hall given away taxpayers dollars like its monopoly money,
I'll say it again: This guy doesn't have a clue. He changes from one plan to the next based on the wind. There is no market for what he is talking about and his lack of experience is abundant. This has to be a complete embarrassment for City Hall. BTW, isn't his family a large shareholder of the bank that has all the loans on this property? I heard its true. This is nothing but a straw man for the bank, in my opinion! I hope the regulators aren't snooping around this deal.
13 slides...? give me the tif money, I'm really good in photoshop. Like I could make that shit look real.
Nothing is being done to the curtain wall of the tower. They have to do something here or the project fails, not to mention there is no way to get the project financed with 4 different uses in one building. The renderings look good, but the reality of this is project, given all the circumstances, are extremely questionable from many perspectives. This project will have to go back before the TIF Board as it is not in anyway the same project that was conditionally approved by the TIF board. This is the wrong project at the wrong time in the wrong place. I hate to be a realist here, but he needs to change the plan again to have any hope of success and the TIF Board should be smart enough to see beyond the glitzy pictures of some hotel in South Beach Miami!!!
Drug money laundering or not, it would be nice to see those renderings come to life. I'm liking the "art wall" and the esplanade/connection to Stone Street. Well done.
Why is everyone wearing sunglasses on slide 10? Is that a requirement to enter the building?
Where do they plan on having all their tenants park? Are they planning on buying the parking garage next door? It could use a makeover. It's quite hideous.
Shiny!