Wuh-oh. Hang on. Looks like you can forget that Downtown Dallas 360 plan. Why? Well, says right here: "North of Ross is the new downtown. South of Ross is a problem." At least, that's what Billinglsey Co. President and Chief Operating Officer Michael O'Hanlon says today in a National Real Estate Investor piece about the race to build, baby, build more, more, more office space in and around the Arts District. Then again, O'Hanlon would say that: After all, Lucy Billingsley put One Arts Plaza on the market earlier this year to finance the building of Two Arts Plaza, which, if all goes according to plan, will be followed by Three Arts Plaza.
Which is but one bit of development planned for that part of town: The piece mentions that Craig Hall -- remember him? -- still plans on building his long-stalled Arts District tower ... at some point. Possibly. More than likely. Maybe.
"Right now we think the timing is pretty good to do a building. We have some advantages over other people," emphasizes Hall, referring to the parking garage, performing arts venues and the overall location. "But even with our advantages, it's still a tough market to get financing."
The general consensus among local real estate brokers is that the Billingsley and Hall buildings have the best chances of getting built in the next wave of construction, if they can achieve at least 50% pre-leasing from the downtown tenants now in the market. But waiting in the paddock are two other strong contenders.
