316 replies to this topic

[mosteijn]

Next Trinity Bluffs phase: Villa de Leon

Luxury condos in the works for downtown

By SANDRA BAKER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

FORT WORTH — The developers of Trinity Bluff plan to break ground early next year on a six-story building with 23 luxury condominiums overlooking the Trinity River at the northeast edge of downtown with some units costing more than $1 million.

The development in the historic Samuels Avenue neighborhood will be called Villa de Leon, for its European villa style of architecture and for Alonzo de Leon, a Spanish explorer credited as the first European to see the Trinity River in 1690 and who gave it its modern name.

“He could have stood on that very spot. I like to think of it that way,” said Tom Struhs, who heads the development team.

Struhs said the building will be aimed at buyers at the high end of the housing market. The condos will sell for an average of $350 a square foot, meaning the units, at 2,500 to 3,000 square feet, will likely range between $875,000 and slightly more than $1 million.

Villa de Leon will have an underground parking garage, Struhs said. The building will have some common areas among its amenities, including a catering kitchen, grand living area, workout room and pool. The condos will have fireplaces, elaborate kitchens and bathrooms, large closets, and wood windows and flooring, he said.

The condos would be the top end of the market for the area — now called Trinity Uptown — which more than a century ago was a showcase of large Victorian-style homes. Town houses under construction nearby range in price from $299,000 to $546,500.

“What we want to do is try to market this building directly to the prospective customers,” Struhs said. “We have seen a significant interest. People want to live downtown, but not in the hustle and bustle of a tall building. The truth is, the real high end has not been addressed at all.”

Earlier this year, Dallas-based developers dropped plans for a 60-story tower at Seventh and Calhoun streets that would have included offices and condos. Now they are only considering a much smaller office building. Initially, plans included condos priced at more than $300 a square foot, but the developers said they felt the project was getting too costly for the market.

Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., said Villa de Leon is a significant project in the push to establish a center-city housing market.

“Just a few years ago, the northeast corner of downtown was not paid much attention,” Taft said. “Today, the strength of downtown, the promise of the Trinity River Vision and the investment that Tom Struhs and his partners have made in Trinity Uptown are coming together to support a project of this magnitude.”

Struhs and his partners — his wife, Elizabeth Falconer, and Rudy Renda of Oscar Renda Contracting Co. — began buying property in 2002 for Trinity Bluff, the redevelopment of one of the city’s first neighborhoods. The once-upscale area had become mostly dilapidated buildings and run-down houses in the past several decades. Most of those structures have since been razed.

Trinity Bluff is bounded by the Trinity River on the west, Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks on the east, Belknap Street on the south and Samuels Avenue Baptist Church and historic Pioneers Rest Cemetery to the north.

Villa de Leon, scheduled for completion in spring 2008, is the next step in the redevelopment, which Struhs said will likely take another six years to complete. Their goal is to provide 1,800 residential units, which will include some affordable housing.

Struhs is also building the Pecan Place Townhomes, 26 town houses on East First Street; Lincoln Property Co. is nearing completion on the 304-unit apartment building called Lincoln Trinity Bluff nearby; and Main Street Living is building Palisades, 40 town houses on Bluff Street.

Struhs is planning another condominium tower on 2 acres across Samuels Avenue from Villa de Leon. The details of that building are still being determined, but Struhs said it will be taller than Villa de Leon.

The exterior of Villa de Leon will be made of cast stone and brick, with a slate roof, he said. The building was designed by Fort Worth architect Ames Fender.

[SurplusPopulation]

Well that's exciting news! I know as soon as a rendering pops up someone from the forum will bring it to us. Thanks, johnny for the story.

[Fort Worthology]

The exterior of Villa de Leon will be made of cast stone and brick, with a slate roof, he said. The building was designed by Fort Worth architect Ames Fender.

Isn't that Wyatt Hedrick's grandson? Or something like that, anyway. Neat!

[AndyN]

Great news. I assume this is the area just north of the elementary school. I am looking forward to the increasing density in the neighborhood. And as the new developments creep toward my house, maybe they'll stretch the fiber optic lines close enough that I can get FiOs or something faster direct to the house.

BUT, PLEASE WORK ON THE RETAIL/RESTAURANT aspect of the development. As someone who spent about 10 years watching, working in and enjoying McKinney Avenue/Uptown in Dallas, it won't be first class without mixed use. And right now, it's looking a little too homogeneous-residential.

AND PLEASE STOP CONSTRICTING SAMUELS AVENUE. Admittedly my goal is to utilize public transit, walking and biking for regular transportation, but the constriction of Samuels is going to be a negative when all those buildings are full. I can just imagine driving down Samuels and having to hit the brakes repeatedly for car doors and vehicles entering and exiting the parallel parking lane.

I went to the Tower 55 Meeting this evening and I think this would be an opportunity for consolidation of the various rail lines on the east edge of downtown. If that were to happen, we could get rid of the overpass on Belknap Street and permit better access between downtown and northeast Fort Worth neighborhoods. Scuttlebutt has it that one of the BNSF bigwigs is planning to buy into one of the Uptown area condos and move downtown. If he does, I can imagine the quiet zones nearby will become more regularly adhered to by the BNSF trains.

I am excited by the projects and glad to be part of the neighborhood.

[FWillustrator]

This is the version I was asked to submit to the Star Telegram...I understand there will be some slight changes, though.



Andy, it is the vacant property directly north of Nash Elementary.

[John T Roberts]

Atomic, you are correct. Ames Fender is Wyatt Hedrick's grandson. He was also just recently elected as Chairman of the Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission.

[vjackson]

I like it. It looks classy. I hope the area around it becomes more dense and it doesn't stand alone like that for very long.

[AndyN]

Excellent. I am thinking this complements the architecture of the school to some extent, but I need to look at pictures of Nash to back that up.

With all the dirt they are moving east of Samuels, I thought the next project would be a 20 story building across the street. I need to go back and check the announcements.

Good to see you involved with the project FWIllustrator and thanks to the development company for allowing you to sneak preview the drawing here.

[SurplusPopulation]

WOW! That looks great and to me it has a Fort Worth scale about it. Some might not agree (maybe it should be taller), but I think it will look great peaking over the trees on the bluff. Can't wait to see it from N Main and also can't wait to see what else is coming in this neighborhood. Thanks for the rendering.

[rriojas71]

I like the look of the building on the left side of the picture, they have a warm traditional look but the ones on the right side of the picture almost look like Soviet Block housing, very drab and cold looking... almost project-like. (I'm referring to the Lincoln and Pallisades builidings)

[Fort Worthology]

That's a beautiful building. What a great look for the area. A big "job well done" to Mr. Fender.

I agree with Andy re: the need for more retail along the Bluffs. That's what's been missing thus far.

[Now in Denton]

In the StarTelegram. I guess Johnny missed this part. It said.

"What we want to do is try to market this building directly to the HIGH END customers" Who else are you going to sale them too? I guess this is were Jerry Seinfeld comes in and says "Unlike in the past were saleing million dollar condos didn't sale very well to the poor"

[AndyN]

I suppose it can be said that master plans are like battle plans - they never survive the initial contact with the enemy. And by that I am referring to the Trinity Bluffs Masterplan on the UptownFortWorth.com website. It is a little grainy at the resolution they provide, but the master plan showed 7-Story Multifamily with 257 units, 3 levels of underground parking, and 8200 s.f. of retail. This sounds like a much larger building than what is actually going in and from the rendering, I don't see any retail.

[Now in Denton]

That's a beautiful building. What a great look for the area. A big "job well done" to Mr. Fender.

I agree with Andy re: the need for more retail along the Bluffs. That's what's been missing thus far.

Atomic I guess you missed WBAP yesterday. They talked about the state of DT Fort Worth. In short. It said DT is going well if not for short of office space. More is coming but thier still won't be room for business that are thier now that want and need to expand. They been trying but that getting retail and affordable housing has been hard to get into DT Fort Worth. And said thier saleing the "State of DT Fort Worth" report for 10 bucks at city hall. Just want to pass this along.

[cberen1]

I drove by a few minutes ago. There is a lot of new activity on both sides of Samuels from Belknap down to the cemetary. Things are starting to move.

What's the story on the few remaining holdouts?

[AdamB]

very disappointing that there is ground floor retail yet in this project. I hope this does not become typical with the development there. I would like to seem them market this place as a destination in Fort Worth and no retail as of yet.

What is happening across the street from Villa DeLeon? Seems to be a lot of clearing going on over there.

[redhead]

What is hard for outsiders to understand is that the wheels of progress on TB started BEFORE the Tower deal was inked, and before the TCC deal was announced! Ergo, at that juncture, no retailer would have ventured into the old Samuels Ave area, and hence, the two initial land sales were to Lincoln (for apartments) and to Ncap for townhomes. No one in their wildest dream knew the Tower would happen or that the college would move to its present location. 20/20 hindsight is a great gift that developers cannot afford. The ability to change a master plan and move with the flow is the best we can hope for. The other issue that is omitted by the youthful voices here, is that the Sundance folks may not have been supportive if this project were viewed as competition for top retailers. Thus the positioning as the residential component to support SS was not only necessary, but logical. Think about it in its true temporal context and it will make more sense, young grasshoppers.

[AdamB]

I don't know that a little bit of groundfloor retail would have that much of an effect on SSQ. I think you have an opportunity to go after two VERY different types of clientele. First SSQ is concentrated on being an entertainment area with the nightlife, Bass Hall, two movie houses, comedy clubs, etc. etc.(very concentrated on the nighttime crowd and the business lunch people. I view Trinity Bluff as a type of daytime retail/lunch spot with a mix of places like Pottery Barn, Celebrity Cafe, etc. I think that there is more than enough room for the two to coexist. If we are worried about stepping on the toes of Bass and SSQ and our future development reflects that then I become firmly against the entire Trinity Uptown project if this is going to become the par for the course. However, I simply do not think that is the case or anywhere near it. SSQ does not even come close to catering to all the needs of DTFW and never will.

[vjackson]

I agree with AdamB. SSQ is more of an entertainment spot, not a place to shop. Trinity has the potential to become more of a shopping destination. It seems odd that these developers of mixed used centers in FW never seem to round up retailers before construction begans. It would be cool to see some retailers start to open shortly after tenants start moving into these buildings. I've seen several instances here where retailers open before tenants move in. It makes me wonder if the developers are having difficulty signing up retailers to these project.
But TB being a project coming into an area that hasn't seen any retail for years, it might make since that retailers might wait until they see how the area takes off before moving in.

[AndyN]

Yeah, I always considered any retail part of Trinity Bluffs to be neighborhood retail/mixed use - supplementary to the housing, not as a destination in and of itself. If the Trinity Uptown developers are trying to draw retail cards that would compete with SS, I think that is not quite the role for retail in Trinity Bluffs.

But then again, you know they say that opinions are like, uh... belly buttons. Everybody's got one. One of my developers in Dallas is getting pounded on in the Dallas forum and I ultimately fall back on the response that if you want to see a different type of development, then get out your wallet and do it yourself.

[Dallastar]

One of my developers in Dallas is getting pounded on in the Dallas forum and I ultimately fall back on the response that if you want to see a different type of development, then get out your wallet and do it yourself.

Would that be the "Shafer"

Also, competion is good, it causes other developers to up there game with developments or to change to become better. DTD has struggled so much because there are simply to many options for people to go for entertainment and shop, but now to win people back they have to up there game. DTD has a long ways to go but they realize while they were just sitting there banking off of what a beautiful skyline they have, all the other hot areas of town started stepping up their games, The Gallaria area UP their game, Northpark UP their game, UPTOWN really UP their game, Lower Greenville AVE, Mockingbird Station, Knox/Henderson, Victory Park have all UP their game, you see where I'm going here.

Every development with office or residential in the Trinty UPTOWN Fort Worth should be mixed used and have retail, if it scares SSQ or other developments downtown Fort Worth it shouldn't, because it will give Fort Worth more vibrancy and choices. Something better happen soon (if it hasn't already) because I believe "Glory Park" is going to start stealing customers. IMO

[AndyN]

No, not Shafer.

I just find it hard that Tom Struhs' original vision didn't include space for drycleaners,minimarkets and other neighborhood retail.

[Thurman52]

Found a public notice online for 12 public housing units in a 36 unit towhome development slated for corner of Samuals and Poindexter

[Fort Worthology]

Recent pic of just a few of the approx. 6 million Palisades units going up:

[John T Roberts]

They are starting to look much better as they are nearing completion.

[mosteijn]

The new Bluff Street:



And Palisades almost done:

[vjackson]

Lookin' good!!

[AndyN]

The Palisade units closest to the intersection are actually occupied. They need some curtains, though.

[Fort Worthology]

A few pics from the home tour:

[AndyN]

Is that a shower door in the mirror in the bathroom or a piece of art? Looks kinda cool for a shower door.

Thanks for the pics, AG. I wasn't able to make the tour, but I did see the buses cruising around town.

[AndyN]

Dang. Looks like they just cut the knees off DeLeon.

Council OKs keeping tax agreement with developer
By Anthony Spangler and Mike Lee
Star-Telegram staff writer
FORT WORTH -- Trinity Bluff Development's plan to scale back on proposed luxury apartments overlooking the Trinity River in downtown Fort Worth will not invalidate the city's agreement to provide tax breaks for the projects, the City Council agreed.

The council voted 8-1 Tuesday to allow City Manager Charles Boswell to adjust the agreements between Fort Worth and the development as the project changes. Councilman Chuck Silcox voted against it.

The developers, led by Tom Struhs, are reducing a proposed six-story project to three stories and reducing the total investment by $13 million, but they plan to enhance development of a four-story project by $5.7 million.

The city had agreed to provide grants up to 100 percent of the property taxes paid on the project.

[PLS]

haha, notice the eighth picture "office" has a keyboard but seemingly no monitor.

that aside, i think the inside of those projects is on par with the stuff in uptown, which i personally like. the units are stacked together too close for my personal preference, but who wouldn't like more property right?

[AndyN]

Trinity Bluff expanding
By Sandra Baker
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Lincoln Property Co. is about to begin the second and third phases of construction in Trinity Bluff, the residential development along Samuels Avenue and Bluff Street at the north end of downtown Fort Worth.

The Dallas-based company, operating under the name LPC Trinity Parks, acquired an additional 7.5 acres in May from Trinity Bluff Development Co., which is managed by developer Tom Struhs, to build 368 more residences.

The company is working on site and design plans, so a timetable for construction was unavailable, although work is expected to begin in early 2008.

In March, Lincoln opened a 304-unit apartment community, Lincoln Trinity Bluff, that overlooks the Trinity River. The apartments range in space from 573 to 1,447 square feet.

The second phase will be a combination of 70 high-end town house-style apartments and one- and two- bedroom apartments, said Holin Barber, Lincoln's regional marketing director.

These will be on 2.4 acres just north of where Struhs plans to build Villa de Leon, a 20-unit, six-story luxury condo tower on the west side of Samuels Avenue.

Read the rest of the story at the Star-Telegram.com website.

[Fort Worthology]

Sounds good, though the neighborhood still needs some retail IMHO. I look forward to seeing renderings of these new projects.

[AndyN]

Rah Rah Retail! Rah Rah Retail!

Retail, retail, it's our man. If retail can't do it, nothing can!

Come on developers, let's get some neighborhood scaled retail in here! I'm tired of taking my drycleaning to the Sonic Drive-in. It's hard to get to in the mornings with all the inbound traffic.

[urbancowboy]

I was wondering the same thing, is retail part of this development?

[beverlyb]

Bring on the retail...having more choices than SuperTarget would be a good thing!

[redhead]

What's the matter you? There's retail!!!! Do you support Mr. Vu's convenience store...we don't need no stinkin' Target!

Seriously, retail is a discussion, but it is a tough lease on that side of Belknap. Retail gurus have been naysayers...

[AndyN]

Shoot. I just spent 15 minutes typing out a reply and lost it.

Goodnight.

Lost my train of thought. Nevermind

[AndyN]

I took a drive through Trinity Bluffs this afternoon on my way back from doing some shopping and saw that they are making good progress on digging out the hole for the foundation of Villa DeLeon. It must be easier to dig a basement when there are only three sides on it. Mr. Burda's house looks small and fragile perched above the hole.

I also noticed new developer signs on all the other tracts that used to belong to Tom Struhs. Preston Carter if I remember correctly. I suppose either Tom has sold his remaining land or has restructured with a new partner. I hope the vision doesn't change with the new owner/partner.

I see on the Uptown Fort Worth website where Carter Properties is a real estate broker and has been part of the development team for Trinity Bluffs. Perhaps the signs just indicate that the land is for sale? Curious.

[AndyN]

Got an email from the developer explaining that the signs are part of a clean up campaign as the development moves forward - no change in ownership. I must admit that they have done a lot of clearing of the lots and things are looking better. Also happy to see that the forms are down for the new concrete on Samuels Avenue. I am looking forward to the new, smooth pavement.

[AndyN]

Some of the remaining holdout homes directly across from Nash Elementary School have been acquired and bulldozed in the past week or so.

I saw an interesting piece of graffiti on the Villa DeLeon construction trailers yesterday. The tagger had sprayed "Trinity Bluf" and below it "Rock Island". Looks like they don't like the new neighborhood appellation. I've always been partial to the historic neighborhood name, Live Oak Point.

[safly]

Rock Island and Live Oak Point are both cool names. But I heard it called Spanish Rock or Spanish Island from my black buddies.

[AndyN]

Graffiti's gone. Replaced with a wall-sized image of the view from the future balcony of the condo. I hope they paid extra for the graffiti resistance top coating. It's sure to be tagged again, soon. I actually saw the little *^&%* doing his deeds one night but did not have my cell phone on me to call it in. I called the police when I got home but they had moved on by then.

[AndyN]

Developer completes buying land for Trinity Bluff

BY ALESHIA HOWE
June 23, 2008

After nearly a decade of buying parcels of land piece-meal along the banks of the Trinity River, Fort Worth Developer Tom Struhs finds himself in new territory – the sold-out kind. Struhs has closed on the last piece of land for his 35-acre riverfront project, and with construction and demolitions running in tandem, the Trinity Bluff project is making noticeable headway.

“The project is extraordinary,” Struhs said. “This is world class and we want to do a world-class development at the river’s edge so we can all enjoy it.”

The area referred to as Fort Worth’s Uptown is a 30-acre plot of land along the Trinity River. In the northeast portion of Uptown is an area called Trinity Bluff, which is the planned site of an elaborate urban community.

Trinity Bluff Ltd. is heading up the project, spearheaded by Fort Worth developers Struhs and Rudy Renda. The bluff area’s $350 million master plan will include 10 mixed-use projects with residential and 30,000 square feet of retail space as well as a 140-room hotel at the intersection of Belknap Street and Samuels Avenue, which Struhs said has been finalized and should be announced this summer.

Read the rest of the story HERE.


Yay, Retail!

[PLS]

lincoln trinity bluff is on the market - i got a marketing flyer from ara today. per the announcement, occupancy is 97% with rents averaging $1.45 psf.

[AndyN]

97% sounds like a pretty good occupancy rate for an apartment complex.

[redhead]

This probably should go to another thread. I was in a meeting last week and Tom Struhs announced that he was re-financing the unsold townhomes on 1st Street so that they could be leased. He told the group that he can protect the values better by holding them and leasing them that accepting any lowball offers. Just an FYI, adds some new product to the "for lease" list.

[Thurman52]

S-T had an article of TownPlace Hotel going up in this development. Not exactly high-end, but I guess extended stay near downtown makes sense. Renderings looked ok

[UncaMikey]

Saw the article, and had heard about the possibility of a hotel on the site of the "Fried Hicken" store.

I hope this leads to some retail in the area. And they'll have to get a traffic light at Pecan and Belknap and Weatherford! Cars come zooming over the bridge into downtown, I am surprised there's not more accidents.

I am curious to see how they manage traffic/directions to the new hotel, since it's not a clear path from Belknap/Weatherford.