COVER STORY, MAY 2005

Developers Cater to the Mixed-Use Trend
The desire for an urban lifestyle drives the demand for mixed-use development in Texas.
Dawn Pick Benson

Mixed-use developments have been springing up all over Texas in recent months. Because of a renewed interest in an urban lifestyle among both young professionals and empty-nesters, developers are seeing an increased demand for this type of product — and they are working to meet it. To find out more about this trend, Texas Real Estate Business recently spoke with three companies about their newest mixed-use developments. 

Kings Harbor Place
Kingwood, Texas

Kings Harbor Place is a 20-acre mixed-use development in Kingwood, Texas.

Kings Harbor Place is a waterfront community comprised of businesses, restaurants and urban-style residential living located in Kingwood, Texas. Situated on the northeast corner of West Lake Houston Parkway at Lake Houston, the 20-acre site will include approximately 30,000 square feet of office space, 75,000 square feet of retail, four restaurants, and about 36 condominiums and 33 brownstones. The $50 million project is currently under construction. According to Mark Anawaty, executive vice president at Midway Companies, the first phase will be completed in the first quarter of 2006 and the second phase will follow a year later.

Kings Harbor Place is unique in that it is the only commercial development within the Kingwood trade area located directly on Lake Houston. The project’s close proximity to the lake has created a few challenging design considerations, though. “We wanted to maximize the views and the buildings’ orientation so that visitors truly have a waterfront experience,” says Anawaty.

Locally, Anawaty says that Midway is leading the school of developers working toward a better integration of uses. “In the past,” he says, “Texas developers have taken a piece of property and cut it up into smaller pieces, selling them off with little regard as to how the different pieces/uses related to each other.” As the development industry continues to mature, he says the bar will be raised. “We will do a better job of laying out these different uses so that they communicate with each other in a way that enhances the overall experience of a visitor to the project.”

The Triangle
Austin, Texas

Cencor Urban is developing The Triangle, an urban mix of retail and residential uses located in central Austin. Bordered by Lamar, Guadalupe and 45th streets, the development will include 120,000 square feet of retail and 700,000 square feet of apartment space. The first phase, which will include 335 apartments and 25,000 square feet of retail, is under construction and will be available for occupancy late this summer. The second phase will include 75 apartments and 95,000 square feet of retail space.

Cencor Urban is developing The Triangle in Austin.

According to Tom Terkel, president of Cencor Urban, The Triangle will offer retail shops with apartments on top of them in an arrangement that resembles the neighborhood surrounding it. “We’re going to have six to seven high-quality restaurants and more than 20 retailers — all within a two- or three-block area,” says Terkel. He says there isn’t a concentration of retail, entertainment and residences like this anywhere else in the city.

Another unique amenity to the project is a 2-acre public park located right in the middle of the triangle-shaped development. “The park will have live musical performances once a week, as well as other scheduled activities that are all designed to bring the community to this latest extension of the neighborhood,” says Terkel.

Developing a project of this size does not come without challenges. One of these challenges has been building community support, which Terkel says was initially difficult. Recently, though, the community has become a champion for the project and an essential part in its planning.

Terkel expects more projects of this nature to be created over the next 10 to 15 years as people begin to appreciate the advantages of an urban lifestyle. “There’s no question that creating urban alternatives for both young professionals and empty-nesters is a long-range trend.” 

Victory
Dallas, Texas           

Victory in Dallas will include a 250-room hotel.

Currently, the second phase of the project is underway and will include eight buildings. In this phase, there will be 300,000 square feet of retail space, 380,000 square feet of Class A office space, a 250-room hotel, 900 residential units, and a variety of other amenities such as health clubs and night clubs. Five of the buildings are currently under construction and will open in early summer 2006. The other three will open in 2007 and 2008.

This 72-acre project is one of the largest single-developer-controlled urban sites in the country, according to Woods. “This gives us the ability to deliver a very dense urban district that would be much like a downtown in most cities,” he says.

Despite the fact that this area is controlled by a single developer, Woods says that Hillwood is taking a very different approach to its development. For example, every building has a different architect. “We want Victory to feel very organic,” says Woods. “We don’t want it to seem like a master plan.” Also, to ensure a constant pedestrian vibrancy to the neighborhood, all of the buildings will be designed with retail shops or restaurants on the ground floor.

Another unique aspect of the project is how Hilllwood has decided to lease retail space. Instead of courting the usual mix of retailers that can be found in most malls, Woods says the company has intentionally looked for tenants out of other cities — retailers with stores that don’t exist at all in the Dallas area. “We’ve done all our prospecting for tenants out of places like Soho, Los Angeles and London,” says Woods. A few of these signed tenants include restaurants such as Belly Italiano and The Ghostbar and retailers like The Lift Shops, which includes brands like J. Lindeberg, Ted Baker, Chip & Pepper, and AG Jeans.

“We brought [these retailers] here because we think it will be easier to entice people to come back to Victory time and time again if it’s providing something that is a one-of-a-kind experience,” says Woods. “We think this will attract people from not only the Dallas area, but from places like New Orleans and Little Rock as well.”

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