Ugly Duckling Lakewood Tower Eyed for Mixed-use Redo

Developers are working on plans to redo what they say is the ugliest building in Lakewood.The 7-story former Faulkner Tower is at 6220 Gaston Avenue near La Vista Drive.Built in 1967 for a savings and loan and office space, the almost 35,000-square-foot building has seen better days."It may be the saddest looking building in town," said Carl Anderson with Larkspur Capital which has contracted to purchase the property. "We'd like to take f from being the neighborhood eye sore to a neighborhood gem."Larkspur Capital - which builds townhouses and apartments in close-in Dallas neighborhoods - wants to remodel the old tower into a combination of office and residential space."We've been working with the city on that," Anderson said. "We've been meeting with neighborhood groups about our plans."The current zoning always for 50 percent residential," he said. "We'd make the top two floors residential."Developers have previously considered knocking the building down, turning it into a hotel or continuing use as office. The small floor sizes in the tower make it a tough economic deal for some investors.Larkspur Capital would give the building new windows and the concrete exterior would be cleaned up."There are amazing views of Lakewood and surrounding area," Anderson said. "As far as the real estate, it doesn't get much better than that - prime Lakewood."  Continue reading...