[Owlhorn]

new announcement

Turtle Creek in line for another luxury high-rise
Developers plan estate-like setting for 60-unit building

11:41 PM CDT on Thursday, July 15, 2004
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News


A Turtle Creek high-rise is the latest contender in the race to provide deluxe Dallas living spaces.

The Cresta Bella condo tower will have 22 floors of luxury residences priced from about $1 million to more than $10 million each.

The classically styled building will have a three-acre park, a spa and room service from the neighboring Mansion on Turtle Creek hotel.

"We wanted to design something with the look and the feel of a grand European resort," said developer Larry Meyer. "We think we have identified the right niche."

Mr. Meyer has built two residential towers, the Plaza Turtle Creek buildings at Gillespie and Hood streets. Cresta Bella will be at Hood and Brown streets.

Cresta Bella will hold only about 60 units in a building designed by Robert Boyd Architects and Wilson Fuqua & Associates Architects. Mr. Boyd worked on The Mansion's restaurant, and Mr. Fuqua is billed as a historic preservationist and architectural historian.

Building details will include a two-story, mahogany-paneled lobby, private elevators to the residences and a lower-level health club.

The tower will have about four condo units per floor, and the penthouses will have 22-foot ceilings.

The wooded grounds surrounding the building will be landscaped to resemble a European estate, with fountains, waterfalls, gardens, swimming pools and a dog park.

These frills are a must to attract buyers moving from large homes in affluent neighborhoods, sales agents say.

And the Cresta Bella isn't shy about appealing to wealthy buyers. Advertisements for the high-rise promise that "your neighbors are few and privileged."

While the luxury condo field is crowded in Dallas, with several buildings on the drawing board, real estate analyst Mike Puls predicts that the Cresta Bella project will be a hit.

"Larry Meyer knows his market, and this should sell well," Mr. Puls said. "There are a lot of guys talking about condos, but there isn't that much really high-end on the market."

He said both the planned Ritz-Carlton and W Hotel condo projects, where starting prices are lower than at Cresta Bella, have done well in preliminary sales.

Mr. Meyer, who finances his own projects, recently began presales and is meeting with potential buyers. "It will take us 6 to 12 months to start this building and 18 to 24 months to build it," he said.

E-mail stevebrown@dallasnews.com

Cresta Bella IS Plaza III. For reference, the Mansion on Turtle Creek and Residences would be on the lower right, just off the map.