For Uptown Dallas' Sleepy Routh Street, It's High-rise and Shine on the Horizon

In Dallas' Uptown neighborhood, along Routh Street between McKinney Avenue and Cedar Springs, the view hasn't changed much in the last couple of decades.There are several blocks of old homes converted into business, a couple of parking lots and — of course — the familiar Quadrangle retail and office center.Come back in 12 to 18 months, and the view down Routh Street will be a lot different.Two of the biggest high-rise developments planned for Dallas are gearing up to start across the street from each other at Routh and Howell streets.Just this week, Stream Realty Partners announced plans for a major addition to the half-century old Quadrangle that will add an office high-rise and retail buildings.Across Routh Street on what is now a parking lot, developer Ryan Cos. plans to build an apartment tower, luxury hotel, high-rise office and retail space on the surface parking lots and replacing several small buildings along Cedar Springs.Together these projects have the potential to dramatically transform the area between the Crescent and Turtle Creek."Its right in the sweet spot of Uptown," said Stream Realty managing director Ramsey March.Stream Realty, which bought the 4-acre Quadrangle property early this year, intends to build a 12-story office project on the north end of the property.And at Howell and Routh, the developer plans to add a collection of small retail and restaurant buildings that will be a new front door to the project.On the block across the street, Minnesota-based Ryan Cos. has teamed up with architect GFF and Greenway Investment Co. to build an 18-story office tower, a 22-floor apartment high-rise and a small hotel. The new buildings — along with a landscaped plaza in the middle — will join GFF's existing office building on the block."The amenities within walking distance are incredible," said Ryan Cos' Paul Rowsey. "It's a great opportunity to incorporate what is already a horizontally mixed-use neighborhood with a vertically mixed-use development."With land prices in Uptown topping $300 a foot, it's only a matter of time before the entire area between Turtle Creek and Woodall Rodgers goes high-rise.Two more new towers, an apartment by San Antonio-based Kairoi Residential and an office high-rise by Granite Properties, are already in the works in the Cedar Springs corridor.Uptown in the next few years will be reaching new heights as buildings in the old Dallas neighborhood get taller and taller.  Continue reading...