D

Bridges And Shoes Are Good For Dallas Property Values

Tim already has all this on Frontburner, but I just want to add two things: one, this is the second news of the day that is going to keep our property values nice and shooting upwards come the next boom and two, a lady at last night’s event noted that “Calatrava has more expensive shoes than I do.”  I am DYING to know if his shoes are more expensive than my Choos Todds Manolos.

3525 Turtle Creek Update, Inquiry

Inquiring minds are asking me:

Did 3525 Turtle Creek ever obtain Landmark Status?

What about that multi million dollar assessment to improve the interiors and exteriors?

What is the total number of units in the building?

What physical changes are proposed for the exterior elevation?

Has anyone agreed on anything?

WRR Gets House Porn

It happened rather suddenly today — our director of marketing, the fabulous Mary Poe, asked me to fill in for Tim Rogers (as if my Choos could even tap his Cole-Haan’s) over at One Arts Plaza where the D empire is co-broadcasting with WRR the first week of every month. I arrived at the sleek WRR One Arts “studio” to see Adriana Bate sitting on a Barcelona chair and — broadcasting! I did radio so long ago it was the technological dark ages — we had to be in soundproofed rooms with giant earmuff headsets. Over at One Arts, people wandered in and out and I wondered, are we actually on the air? Don’t we have to whisper? Seems not — the mikes are so powerful they probably picked up the sound of my brain cells dying. In any case, it was SO MUCH FUN! Not only did I get to talk about people buying and selling Dallas dirt — oh yes, we were talking about Daria Place big time. I delighted in the guests — particularly Kevin Moriarty, artistic director of the Dallas Theater Center. Kevin was describing the uber coolness we will experience when the new Wyly Theatre is complete — it will pull creative talents from everywhere like a magnet. The seats, he said, will be movable. They can appear. Or disappear. The audience can sit in a traditional auditorium or move to the stage. Seating can also be surrounding the stage, like at a sports event. Architect Rem Koolhaas, a genius with glass, has designed a glass enclosed stage that will be visible to all then can dissappear in a snap — Star Trek images came to mind, “Beam me up Scotty!” Kevin said Mr. Koolhaus told him he was designing a theater machine for Dallas — “and you,” said Koolhaas, “will make great art in it!”

Update: An earlier version of this post, and my interview on WRR, contained information that I had been given from a knowledgeable source who told me one reason why the Bushes bought their new home on Daria Place was that their neighbor, Tom Hicks, had agreed to give them access to his helipad. A spokesperson for Mr. Hicks tells me he does not have a helipad on his property.  While Mr. Hicks occasionally obtains a day permit to land a helicopter on his land, I’m now told there was never any official discussion about letting the President and Mrs. Bush “borrow the landing space”.

Victory Update & I Love Condo Life

Condos on the brain ( not condoms): my dear friend Michael Davis at Dallas Progress has some thoughts on Victory Park, which is ironic because I spent this afternoon at One Arts Plaza with Kyle Kearbey shooting video of a gorgeous 2 bedroom unit. This was the first time I have been inside a One Arts unit where I could kick the tires, open the cabinets and drawers. (Well, I only do that in some one’s home behind closed doors!) Am totally in love with the place, and cannot wait to post our video. Know what’s even cooler? Almost every tenant I ran into had a dog. Having been in NYC just two weeks ago, it is great to be up high and admire the view which changes dramatically depending on the direction in Dallas. But Michael is right: we cannot just wait for baby boomers to kick their kids out, then sell their Greenway Park, UP or HP homestead and POUF — move into a downtown condo. We need to get young people down there, and young people cannot afford $400 to $600 per square foot digs.  (Not unless they are trust fund babies, what my husband would call members of the Lucky Sperm Club.) Know what else would make downtown hop? A movie theatre, though I’m told they tend to bring on crime when added to a shopping center.  Thoughts?

President Pervez Musharraf Dining At Cafe Pacific

And he is probably one of the hottest men I have ever seen, exquisitely dressed in a camel-tan jacket with a colorful ascot. He was sitting on the upper level landing to the left as you walk into the venerable-see-and-be-seen Highland Park Village institution. The entire landing was reserved for the former Pakistani president and his entourage of beautiful women and body guards. I was tempted to snap a pic, but thought that might be disrespectful.

Or get me shot.

I thought the black Maybach outside was his, but was told it belongs to Gene Jones, also dining at CP.

Dallas City Council Hears About Urban Planning

Encourage development of dense neighborhoods and give people more transportation choices: four top urban planners give the Dallas City Council an Rx for a thriving urban core. Fabulous, great ideas presented… but are there enough people actually moving to the urban core to sustain this? 

Only One Liter of Livet In Texas

My husband likes Scotch whiskey. My future son-in-law also likes Scotch whiskey. We were in Mexico this weekend, and Dr. V was intrigued by the value of the Scotch at the duty-free shops. (Get the connection? He’s part Scottish; not only does he like bargains on his liquor, he saves ketchup packets and will squirt them into the fridge ketchup container annually.) Told we could legally take home 4 liters of Scotch whiskey, he snagged 4 liters at the duty-free store in Cabo and hauled ‘em home on the plane. Imagine our surprise when we passed through customs, our purchases clearly marked on the travel forms, to learn that the state of Texas will not allow more than 2 liters of liquor into this state from Mexico — one liter per person. As the customs agent told us, if we were connecting on to another flight to another state, we would have paid a small tariff and gone on our merry. The agents further told me that TABC recently cracked down on them for not being tough enough on Texas liquor law violations. “Do you see any TABC officials here?” asked the customs agent. His message: Texas was asking the feds to do their work, and they did not like it. Well yes, I agreed, I’d certainly rather have you guys checking for drugs and bombs, the really bad stuff, not two liters of Glen Livet.  (So, um, can I have my booze and go home now?) Frustrated as they were, no shirking their jobs: $100 worth of Glen Livet was confiscated and poured down a sink at DFW. And we were not the only alcoholics dumb dumbs. Walking into the “serious” customs area, I saw piles of neatly packaged liquor bottles and knew we were in for it.

So I ask: why is Texas so weird about limiting liters of liquor? Why isn’t TABC policing throngs of tourists bringing home bargain booze from Mexico? Why force the U.S. Customs agents to diddle with dumping confiscated liquor down the drain at DFW and let them focus on TRUE contraband. And where do the drain lines at D/FW end up?

My best line during the fiasco: could you at least give it to a homeless person?

A House Is Not Necessarily The Same House

Remember The House By Phillipe Starck? Remember this? I’m told sales are going slow but also told that folks confuse the The House with The Glass House. OK, here’s our lesson for the day: The Glass House is a high-end, high rise rental unit, leasing just starting this month. The House By Phillipe Starck is a high-end, high rise condo where I’m told model furniture is en route and models should be rolling out the red carpet for buyers any minute now. You rent at The Glass House, you buy at The House — David Griffin is the broker. Pop quiz in twenty.

Seem Like Everyone Is Moving To Texas — They Are!

It is not our imagination that the roads are more crowded, parking spots more coveted. More people are moving to Texas than any other state in the U.S., so says a report by ABF U-Pack Moving, a nationwide moving service specializing in out-of-state moves. From whence do they flee? The northeast — especially New Jersey. Also — here’s a shocker — Orlando (cannot blame them), Oakland, Vegas, Miami. Texas is one of the top ten states on the inbound migration flow — so see ya’, wouldn’t want to be ya’:

“Regarding volume of moves at the city level there are notable inbound numbers for Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Charlotte and Raleigh.”

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Houston Mayor Powers Up Eminent Domain

On .09 acres near the Galleria. You just don’t hear about politicians using this power all that often. There were claims of public necessity for a park, but others claim this was a political move on the part of the mayor to help out a buddy’s new development — a buddy who also happened to donate to his campaign.

The Legacy of George W. Bush: A BBC Perspective

Meet Neal Razzell, senior broadcast producer for the BBC World Service Radio. As I am typing, he is likely boarding a plane at DFW heading back to the U.K. to complete a BBC documentary on the legacy of our President and current world leader, George W. Bush. A seasoned journalist, Neal has been with World Service Radio for six years where he worked as a Washington producer. He also produced a daily news program. But for the last year and half, Neal has been producing radio documentaries, traveling far and wide.

Neal contacted me when he read about the Bush home purchase on this blog, and made plans to fly to Dallas and check out the President’s home turf. He asked me if I would spend some time with him, show him the new Bush digs, and Dallas homes in general. If you know anything about me, I jumped at the chance and spent about two delightful hours showing off Dallas homes December 20. His documentary will run January 19, Bush’s last day in office, and we hope to have a link on Dallas Dirt. It will be translated into 30 languages and beamed just about everywhere. I about choked on my peach mango iced tea with Neal this morning at Celebrity Cafe at Preston Royal when I learned of the world dignitaries he’s canvassed for reflections: the Dalai Lama, Hamid Karzie, Jacob Zuma, Desmond Tutu, Sherry Blair, Gordon Brown. He asked producers at all BBC bureaus to tack on questions about the Bush legacy on all interviews with high profile leaders.

His colleague, Justin Webb, BBC Washington correspondent, interviewed former Bush chief of staff Andrew Card. But Neal wanted to come to Dallas to poke Bush roots for himself, kick the tires in Crawford as well as get an inkling of where the President will soon be putting up his boots. Neal spent Sunday in Crawford, then returned to Dallas to interview future Bush neighbors on Daria Place. It’s always fun to interview a journalist, give us a taste of our own poison pen — or in this case, microphone. So I had to ask…

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I Heart Gordon Keith & More Media En Route To Dallas To See Bush Home

I should have posted this yesterday but, ah, we had the D holiday party. Beauty of the web is I will soon be able to post a link for you right here. Gordon Keith was kind enough to have me on his show  to chat up chez Bush. He also had a hysterical visit with Santa, who I secretly slipped my Christmas list. (Santa said something about dreaming on, then passed the flask.) Speaking of house dreams, folks on Daria Place may be itching to clear the media from their cul de sac, but should be thankful they are not in the Albany Park section of Chicago. Might as well set up a few tea and crumpet stands because more media are on their way to Dallas: BBC World Service Radio is making a documentary about the Bush legacy and will be in Dallas in the next couple weeks.

I Read RECON, Not The Stock Market

Because then I don’t need as much Prozac: First of all, three Texas foreign trade hubs have been ranked in the top five U.S. General Purpose Foreign Trade Zones based on admittance of foreign goods, and Alliance Global Logistics Hub in Denton County  was number one. If that doesn’t float your boat — hey, more jobs — then look at existing home sales. A total of 16,711 homes were sold in Texas last month, which was a 17 percent decline from October 2007, when all real estate was on steroids (according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University). But get this — though we sold 17.8% fewer homes in Dallas this October than in Oct. 2007, median home prices actually crept upwards .6 percent . OK, nothing to buy a Lear jet, on but hey, it’s a positive number. Baby steps. And want to talk about a city in Texas where more homes are likely being sold this year than last? Talk Granbury.

Stevie Chaddick Just Back From Rosewood’s Artesana

Where I am DYING to go and visit the new hotel and residences, after visiting the grounds pre-construction in San Miguel last spring. I’ll get Stevie to tell me all!

Dallas Dirt On Tape This Afternoon: Welcome Real Estate Ribbit

On Friday, a new real estate site is going online from Dallas that promises comprehensive insight into residential real estate with daily news stories and features and links kind of like — oh yes — kind of like what we are doing here at DallasDirt: it’s called RealEstateRibbit.com. (Like the sound a frog makes, ribbit ribbit ribbit.) And wild commenters, get your fingers ready — there will a blog called the Frog Blog. The developers/partners are Karen Taylor, who has written about the local real estate industry for more than 30 years; Stewart Lytle, another veteran real estate writer, and husband and wife team Beverly and Steve Smirnis, publishers of Building SAVVY Magazine, a trade pub for builders and remodelers. The site launches Friday, so I am going over to CBS to pre-tape an interview about my experiences writing a real estate blog. Maybe we’ll get a copy and let you listen in. Maybe you think I’m crazy because this is future competition and I should send them a gift basket loaded with giant gumballs. But then maybe… I’ll just go dig up some dirt…

Update: We just finished the interview, and I love Karen, love Stewart! What a great interview — we wanted 15 minutes, we talked for 25. Am very excited about what they are doing and you will be, too! And as a housewarming gift, I am going to give Ribbit Wick’s Candy, Say It Ain’t So Joe, Heeeeere’s Johnny, Orange You On Vacation, Dooner and a host of commenters from the Dallas Dirt Comments Hall of Fame.  

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Memories… Like The Corners of The Stoneleigh Hotel

Unfortunately, I did not grow up in Dallas. (Got here soon as I could.)Any child-hood hotel memories I have evoke the Drake, Palmer House, and a Howard Johnsons where we used to pig out on ice cream and crash pool parties. So any memories I have of the Stoneleigh Hotel on Maple are fresh — sweet and fun, not ancient. I remember loving it the first time I laid eyes upon the maroon-y lobby because, I think, it reminded me of an old, grand Chicago hotel, which made me feel at home. I remember fun Nancy Smith luncheons — Carlton Varney holding court in the fabulous oak-panelled Dorothy Draper dining room in the penthouse. I remember a luncheon or dinner where Linda Ivy lost one of her ginormous diamond rings, her husband Steve told her not to worry about it, but that darling girl got down on her hands and knees and hunted ’til she found her bling. I remember the last Press Club event at The Stoneleigh — a great party — what was Elizabeth Albanese doing that night?

Who cares about my memories, click here to connect to theStoneleigh memories Contest and give us yours. Help a great hotel take a walk down Memory Lane. Comments are on, especially if you have something to say about that Mistress Tunnel… 

Plop Me At The Ritz-Carlton Residences, III

Lovely living room…and you never have to worry about squirrels.

Plop Me At The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences

Little marble around the tub for soaking.

Note To Kids: My Time To Go, Plop Me At The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, San Francisco

This article about how Marie-Dennett McDill, an east coast socialite, spent her last days on earth at the Carlyle Hotel, nearly made me cry. So much I called our attorney and re-drafted our will. When it’s my time to go, I want my kids to plop me at The Ritz, preferably in my San Francisco fractional ownership. Cannot get closer to heaven on earth. (more…)

A-Rod’s Coral Gables House On Market

From my pals at Zillow… later I’ll dig up his cribs when he lived on Douglas in Dallas so stay tuned. Guess they’ll need more space for a nursery.

The Ritz Just Takes You Higher and Higher

With an exclusive publication just for Ritz-Carlton Club Members, those lucky flush few who own Ritz properties — full or fractional ownership — called Elevation, published with American Express Publishing Corp. Those are the same folks who produce Departures Magazine, free to American Express Platinum and Centurion (Black) card holders, but not available to the general public. In other words, the top 1/2 of the top 1 percent wealthy in America, folks with disposable income of half a million or more. The discern is this: if you are affluent, you have $125K to $249K in discretionary annual spending — super affluent, $250K to $499K, wealthy $500K, all this according to The Harrison Group, who presented this information last year at Luxury Portfolio.

Dallas Center For Architecture

While I was trying to figure out which downtown condos were going to survive last night, Dianna Wray was doing some actual interviewing of Peter Doncaster, the young Booziotis architect responsible for the cool interiors and that neato glass wall at 1909 Woodall Rogers Freeway: there is a pattern, Doncaster told me, to the folds, and it is stationary. Reminds me of one of those vinyl accordian doors that were used a lot in 1960’s tract homes, only created out of glass.

AIA Dallas 2008 Design Awards

The architecture world gave major kudos to a handful of hot Dallas architects last month for humanism, sustainabilty and simplicity at the 41st annual AIA design awards. Names recognized — Ron Wommack, Gary Cunningham and The Joule Hotel:

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Downtown Condo Gossip/Update

I was treated last night to the opening of the Dallas Center for Architecture at 1909 Woodall Rogers, a new central HQ to support architects, allied organizations and disciplines, and engage the public in learning more about the plethora of talent this city holds when it comes to architectural design. The center is beautiful. I also had the chance to speak with two architects working on two major downtown condo developments that many say are lagging. Given the nature of our economic climate the last two weeks, I had to ask them about progress or lack thereof. Good news: Museum Tower just made another residential unit sale, buyer met with the architect recently: MT is plowing ahead. As for the Stoneleigh, word is that the hotel was so successful and overfloweth so much they need the parking garage to be done STAT — so all hands on deck are finishing the parking garage, then going back to complete the Stoneleigh Heritage.

Do We Need Another Downtown Hotel Or Don’t We?

Only the financial Gods know for sure. I’ll admit that recent financial news now has me thinking against this. There are plenty of hotels downtown,and more slated to come… maybe contract with one of them? There are 129 rooms in The Joule, located in the landmark 1920’s Dallas National Bank building. On the other hand, it would be tragic if this economic crisis put a crimp in our development just as our city is about to really spread wings.