Cheer up, Dallas. Yes, your hometown newspaper just completely snubbed you with its Best Neighborhoods list, and, yes, the chances that The Dallas Morning News will ever include any place south of Plano are close to nil, but there is hope, a development on the horizon that just might thrust Dallas back into respectability, or at least the Morning News version of it.
To wit, CityPlace is getting a Sam's Club.
Why developer Trammell Crow would decide to take the trend toward increased density in and around the urban core and screw it in the eye socket with the most unrepentantly suburban establishment possible is baffling. Presumably, they are addressing the oft-repeated gripes of downtown residents tired of schlepping to Duncanville or Garland for comically large quantities of pretzel bites.
Doesn't really matter. What does matter is that the development is scheduled to go before the City Plan Commission on Thursday.
The Plan Commission and City Council have already endorsed the idea that a big box store will go on the 16-acre property, which sits at Central Expressway and Carroll Avenue, just north of CityPlace Station. Last year, both approved a planned development district that would allow a 100,000-plus-square-foot food store (e.g. Sam's Club or Costco) or home improvement store (e.g. Home Depot or Lowe's).
But the CPC and City Council still must approve the development plan, which will be presented Thursday.
(A local zoning rep emailed Monday night to correct us: "Development Plans are ONLY approved by the Plan Commission. They do not go to Council, except for an appeal, which never ever happens. If it meets the requirements in the ordinance, the development code says that the commission 'shall' approve it.")
The development is planned for Councilman Adam Medrano's District 2. His representative on the CPC is Gabriel Soto, whose email address can be found here.
Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.
