This is a scary quote if you're doing any kind of real estate development in Dallas, and especially something as big as the Lake Highlands Town Center.
This is the toughest financing market that I've seen in the last 20 years. So we're going to have to pause and look at reprogramming it.
That was Tom Hicks, who announced yesterday he was indefinitely postponing his $510 million Glorypark development at in Arlington.
Hicks' company and the developer he brought in not only couldn't find a department store to anchor Glorypark, but couldn't line up financing to build the thing. Do Lake Highlands residents need to be worried that the same thing could happen to the Town Center?
Because there is one more quote to ponder, from a Dallas real estate analyst: "They've been talking about the project for a while, but they haven't been able to announce tenants. I don't think anybody thought they were moving full speed ahead."
We're still waiting, in fact, to hear about Town Center tenants. An announcement was tentatively scheduled for March, then pushed back to this month, and has now been delayed another month or so. This is not in itself an indication of any problems, but it is something to ponder given the Glorypark news.
Glory Park, Victory Place, Valencia ????
What do Tom Hicks, Ross Perot and Ray Hunt know that Prescott does not ?
Could it be that condo financing is almost impossible to get anywhere in the country because of what is going on in Florida and California ? Does that mean more apts. for us in LH ?
Could it be that "mixed use" developments have not been as successful as they were projected ?
Glory Park at the new Cowboy Stadium is on hold.
Victory Place has stopped condo development and is pushing forward with office buildings.
Valencia, the huge Hunt development just north of Presbyterian Hospital and west of Greenville
seems to be just sitting there.
They all obviously have the financial depth to sit and hold until the market is ready for them.
Does Prescott ?
And now the "look" of the LH Town Center appears to have changed from elegant,exciting, warm, cozy and inviting to stark, bleak, bland and cheap. Maybe the look is keeping tenants from signing on ? Or could it be that many retailers are taking the same approach as our own Ross
Perot, Tom Hicks and Ray Hunt and waiting until the timing is right ?
Posted by: wanting the best for LH | May 15, 2008 at 03:29 PM
Glory Park couldn't get financing for the deal. If they had financing, they'd move forward. Prescott has financing lined up, so they are progressing. Is it really any more complicated than that?
Posted by: Brian | May 15, 2008 at 06:11 PM
ICSC, the big conference/trade show of the year for retail stores and developers, is next week. I would expect alot of announcements to hit soon after.
Posted by: Scott | May 15, 2008 at 06:55 PM
They've been talking about doing development over there by the Ballpark for years and years. I think more than just the current real estate market is impacting it.
That part of Arlington is highways, theme parks, and sports palaces in the 'burbs (and no public transit). Lake Highlands is a neighborhood. And the Town Center is a tranit oriented development in the city.
Two different animals.
Posted by: Brian | May 16, 2008 at 03:31 PM
pardon my large thumbs. "transit" not "tranit"-oriented, but you knew that...
Posted by: Brian | May 16, 2008 at 03:34 PM
We were at Gloria's at that new lakeside development on Ray Hubbard last night. It was a wonderful sight to see a "town center" just booming like that. You certainly didn't feel like there was a recession there. Families, senior adults, young couples and jr. high kids were out in force. I'm sure hoping we can create the same atmosphere. They don't have much of a tenant mix, but they have great restaurants and the best place in the county to watch the sunset.
Posted by: wanting the best for LH | May 17, 2008 at 10:59 AM