This is a major coup for Downtown Dallas, with work now underway on the residential renovation project for this complex of four vacant older office buildings on the eastern side of Downtown!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
Downtown Dallas’ landmark Lone Star Gas complex getting a redo
This view from the 12th floor of the old Lone Star Gas building will belong to a new apartment unit, June 30, 2011 in Dallas. (Photo by Amy Gutierrez/Special Contributor)
By STEVE BROWN
Real Estate Editor
stevebrown@dallasnews.com
Published 07 July 2011 11:40 PM
Excerpts:
Hamilton Properties has redone more downtown Dallas buildings than any other real estate firm.
Its next project — converting the vacant Lone Star Gas complex into rental housing — is the most complicated yet. The one-block redevelopment includes a dog’s dinner of old commercial buildings constructed between the 1920s and 1970s. The former office complex has been empty for five years. “This is our fifth project — we are getting the hang of it,” said developer Ted Hamilton, dodging demolition crews and piles of debris as he gave a tour of the old gas utility buildings at Harwood and Wood streets. First up for renovation will be the newest building, a 12-story marble-and-glass office tower that was built in 1979. It’s being remodeled into 107 affordable apartments that will rent for between $250 and around $750.
......
Construction should take about a year.
Before that first project is finished, Hamilton Properties plans to begin remodeling the two oldest Lone Star Gas buildings, which were built in 1924 and 1930.
Legendary Dallas architects Lang & Witchell designed the two brick buildings facing Harwood. The largest, a 13-story tower built in 1930, is one of downtown’s best Art Deco landmarks.
The grand lobby on the ground floor will be used for retail space. “We are in talks with a bookstore,” Hamilton said.
......
The Art Deco tower and the 1924 building next door will be remodeled into 123 more apartments.
Just under half of those will be full-market-rate units. The rest will be affordable rentals.
An eight-story office building constructed in 1966 on Wood Street will be turned into a parking garage for the entire project. “I would say the challenges increase somewhat when you have buildings of different architectural periods,” said architect Jerry Merriman, whose firm is designing the retrofit of the old buildings.
“The end result will be a great mixture of residential unit types and renters, which is the diversity we want in downtown Dallas today.”
......
Saving the historic Lone Star Gas buildings is a top priority for preservationists and downtown boosters who want to see the vacant block put to good use. It’s the largest concentration of still-derelict buildings in the Central Business District.
“It’s a really important project for downtown,” said John Crawford, CEO of the Downtown Dallas Inc., the economic development agency for central Dallas. “Back in the day, people said nothing would ever happen with those buildings.
“It’s important that it happens from both a perception and reality point of view,” Crawford said. “The Hamiltons have worked like Trojans to get this deal started.”
Full article may be accessed here, along with several more pictures of the incredible Art Deco details found in the Lone Star Gas Building:
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/c...ing-a-redo.ece
.
Prev
Linear Mode
