Humongous Arts District Development Gobbling Up Portions of Several Downtown Streets

By Eric Nicholson Mon., Nov. 12 2012 at 1:00 PM

thespiredallas.com

Right now, the land stretching south and east of The Arts District toward Deep Ellum is a sea of parking lots. We've known for a while now what's supposed to go there -- a humongous, six-building mixed-use development known as The Spire -- but news has been scarce since developers first announced their plans more than two years ago.

It seems the project is still moving forward, as the City Council will vote Wednesday on whether to to abandon stubby segments of Federal, Hawkins, and Jack Evans streets to make way for the development. The city would then sell the 15,000 square feet of land to Spire Realty Group, which spent a decade acquiring the surrounding property, for $1.9 million.

First up for Spire is the 21-story office tour you see above. It'll have 390,000 square feet of office space and a ground level devoted to retail. I have a call in to the company, which has not yet announced anything by way of a timeline. For now, we'll go with what Spire President Caleb Smith told the Morning News in 2010, "We are not in a rush."

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LDR4

Save the liquor store! Also, there is a large apartment building on the corner of Ross and Routh. There are even more just on the other side of 75. It will be a quick walk to the area under 75 that will look especially bright when the light sculptures are installed. Everyone will enj.... oh, wait, no one walks. Well, they can drive two blocks and valet. That's the Dallas way!

superbjorn

2 Like

Well the ultimate problem with this and any further developments in the area is a total lack of residential units. One out of seven buildings has residential. This needs to be more mixed use so it doesn't become wasteland. If there is residential, there can be nightlife (see Mockingbird Station, West Village, Uptown, etc.). The arts district needs a lively post-performance life and without residential, the retail will just board up at 5 like most of downtown in this area.

downtownworker

They better not close N Hawkins between Ross and San Jacinto. I need that street to get to the liquor store.

Daniel

@downtownworker That's my spot, too (that or Spirits; some days I can't handle the ungodly congested slog down San Jacinto).

Slowpath, what's the bad news? They're very nice people. Immigrants from Cambodia, I believe; quite talkative and curious about our political system. For awhile. they had their baby crawling around in the back room, but I guess they found more suitable accommodations.