Mall demo paves way for $1B Dallas development

Dive Brief:

Demolition has started on a portion of the Valley View Mall in Dallas, marking the first phase of the property’s transformation into the $1 billion Park Heritage mixed-use development, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The 23-acre project will be built on the site of a former Sears and its surrounding parking lots and will include a 3-acre park, up to 1.8 million square feet of office space, a 300-room hotel, up to 800 residential units and between 300,000 square feet and 400,000 square feet of retail. Dallas architecture firm has performed master planning for the project. Developers KDC, Seritage Growth Properties and Toll Brothers will build out the project.
Demolition of the Sears and other portions of the mall now underway should take 90 days. Construction on complex's first high-rises is scheduled to begin in early 2020.

Dive Insight:

Planning and construction of “live-work-play” mixed-use projects — both big and small — are underway around the U.S. This continuing trend is meeting the demand of those who want to live in an urban environment that is close to services, amenities and work and that will allow them to go longer periods without relying on a personal vehicle.

On a mall site in Orlando, Florida, another developer is also planning a $1 billion mixed-use project. Chuck Whittall recently struck a deal to purchase the Orlando Fashion Square mall site for $23 million. Whittall wants to demolish the existing property and replace it with retail, residential and office space; mid- and high-rise apartments; restaurants; as well as a hotel and other amenities. However, he must first negotiate details with Bancorp, the lender that foreclosed on the mall structure.

And while the Orlando and Dallas projects promise to be filled with luxury apartments, Class A office space and high-end retail, there are some more modest mixed-use developments out there as well.

In Detroit, for instance, MHT Housing Inc. and the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance recently wrapped up construction on a $9.5 million, 52,000-square-foot affordable apartment project in Detroit that has set aside 10,000 square feet on the ground floor for retail, Crain’s Detroit Business reported. This is just one Detroit project aimed at revitalizing blighted areas.

But the massive mixed-use projects still draw the lion’s share of attention, and Miami’s $4 billion Worldcenter falls in that category. The Worldcenter development will offer up 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment, plus residential, commercial and hotel space. Project officials recently announced that construction is underway on a high-street retail promenade and the first of two parking garages. The 444-unit apartment building Caoba, the development’s first finished tower, opened in January.