Will a Trendy Facelift for an Old Oak Cliff Apartment Building Make It the Next Big Thing?

In the years preceding Stern's death, Toops claims, the property fell into disrepair. At the back of the lobby, more than a hundred phone books are stacked next to mailboxes held together with duct tape. Two glass doors lead outside to a swimming pool and a pond with geese, ducks and other wildlife. Within a few feet of the doors, 11 peafowl are gathered in front of a rusted iron fence. Some of them are perched on the fence, and chips of white paint falls when they move. In front of the complex, one bird with a blue neck and green feathers passes by. It makes a loud squawk, and Toops says, "That's the sound they make every night." She claims about 70 peafowl roamed the property in recent years and she hopes part of the new plans will include removing the birds, although she says keeping a couple might be good to keep the history of the complex intact. Meszaros says he is meeting with specialists to find a way to relocate them to a safe environment.

Bostonian Investment Group, which changed its name from The Lindahl Group at the beginning of the year, plans to put another $2 million into the project to cover the name change along with giving the building a fresh coat of paint. The lobby will be redesigned, more landscaping will be added, the leasing office will be expanded and work will be done on the roof and penthouse. Meszaros plans to have the windows glazed blue to create a "soft, inviting atmosphere." He says he spoke with "trendy individuals" in Dallas, Las Vegas and South Beach, Florida, to come up with the new name and theme. Meszaros will be working with architects and designers over the next couple weeks and hopes to start making changes in 30 days. "We want to create a vibrant community and really put together a structure where people are excited to live."

Meszaros, who moved to Dallas' Uptown three months ago, says the Massachusetts-based company acquired the property at a great price of approximately $13 million, even though it is on the tax rolls for a paltry $1.8 million. He would not reveal the independent appraisal amounts done on the property, but Meszaros says they were "significantly higher" than the purchase price, which he maintains is roughly a quarter of the replacement cost of the complex.

A fourth-floor fire on December 3, 2005, caused damage to 70 of the tower's 299 units, and Meszaros says the previous owner recovered nearly $7 million of insurance money, which was used to renovate the rooms and build a state-of-the-art fire alarm system and new elevator. "All the types of things that could literally take us under if there was something wrong with them have been taken care of, so that's exciting," he says. "Now we just have to focus on the cosmetic things, which we're very good at."

Wedgwood's change to The Indigo is just one of many new developments in the area. Just north of the apartments, the Fort Worth Avenue TIF District was created with $80 million in tax money allocated to the area. Several mixed-use developments including a movie theater are planned nearby. "The Oak Cliff area is going to be a new hotspot," Meszaros says. "Seeing how fast Uptown developed and how fast the Trinity River Project is coming together as well, Oak Cliff is going to be big."