DALLAS — Groundbreaking ceremonies were held earlier this month for Midtown Park, an 83-acre, mixed-use development located near Presbyterian Hospital on North Central Expressway in Dallas. The project is currently zoned for up to 3,800 residential units, 930,000 square feet of office space, and 90,000 square feet of retail space — but these numbers could be changed as space is subtracted from one use and added to another.
Current plans for the residential component include townhomes, high-rise condos and a senior housing element. The office component will provide space for hospital-related tenants, as well as Class A users in the area. Plans for a hotel are also in the works. When coming up with the idea for Midtown Park, owner Valencia Capital Management wanted to create a community around the busy Presbyterian Hospital.
“The reason we made this investment is because of the hospital,” says Tim Kaiser, principal of Valencia Capital Management. “That hospital generates a lot of jobs and a lot of economic activity in the area.”
But the hospital is not the only draw in the area. Midtown Park’s trade area also is home to the headquarters of Texas Instruments, North Park Mall and Royals Oaks Country Club. The property on which Midtown Park will be constructed had fallen on hard times in recent years, but Valencia knew that opportunities abounded with neighbors such as these.
Midtown Park is being designed as a transit-oriented development. The project will have 4 acres of parks and esplanades, as well as hiking and biking trails. But a lot of the emphasis is on creating a walkable urban environment.
“We want it to be a pedestrian-friendly area, where people can, if they want, walk to the train station, or walk to work at the hospital,” Kaiser says.”
Demolition and remediation of the site is complete, and infrastructure work has been ongoing since May. Construction of the infrastructure is slated for completion in mid-2009, with vertical construction expected to begin in the second half of the year. Valencia is hoping to sell sites to developers and users, but Kaiser says they are prepared to partner with companies at first to get some of the projects off the ground. Completion of Midtown Park could take 7 to 10 years. Once complete, Kaiser believes that the project will become a vital part of the surrounding community, rather than a project that was simply built up amongst long-standing neighborhood.
“I think it will be a unique, mixed-use neighborhood to live in,” Kaiser says.