Plan to trade condos for apartments angers residents in Richardson's Brick Row development
08:32 PM CDT on Saturday, September 25, 2010
Construction at Brick Row, a mix of apartments, condominiums, townhouses and retail in Richardson, started two years ago as the real estate market was imploding.
Developers and city officials touted the $140 million project as an upscale replacement for hundreds of aging apartments near a DART light-rail station and a place for young professionals to get an Uptown feel in the suburbs.
But with the condo market still lagging, developer Winston Capital is asking for permission to build more apartments instead of the condominiums that were planned.
That has nearby residents and those who bought the first townhouses in Brick Row crying foul.
They want the development that is on paper, which included 150 townhomes, 300 condos and only 500 apartments.
"I would never have bought if I knew this was going to happen," townhouse owner Gary Flatt told Richardson plan commissioners this month. "Would you buy next to a bunch of apartments? I wouldn't."
The City Council is expected to consider the proposal in October. Commissioners voted 5-2 to allow some of the planned condominiums to become apartments, but those closest to the townhouses are to remain condo units.
A handful of Brick Row's townhouses have sold, and the condos probably wouldn't sell if they were built. But the apartments are renting briskly, developers say.
They argue the buildings would look the same, and they would fill more quickly, providing more residents to draw retail. The goal, the developer said, is to build a complete community.
"The market is what it is, and we're trying to make the best development we can," said Chris Ray, a Winston Capital executive. "It all relies on the other pieces."
The mix of housing at Brick Row, once called Centennial Park, has long been a contentious issue. Residents in nearby Highland Terrace wrestled with a plan for the area nearly a decade ago, eventually settling on 800 units at most. They strongly objected when Brick Row's zoning was set in 2007 at 950 units.
Brick Row is one of several mixed-use developments in Richardson and is part of a larger redevelopment strategy. It replaced hundreds of older apartments at Greenville Avenue and Spring Valley Road.
Since Winston broke ground on the project in 2008, some segments of the housing market have recovered. Even some condos, primarily near downtown Dallas, are once again selling. But new suburban condos are simply not viable because people can't get financing to buy or even build them, said Mike Puls, a Dallas real estate analyst.
"A condo won't work there for 20 years," Puls said of areas beyond LBJ Freeway.
While residents would rather the land remain vacant than have apartments on it, Puls said it's better for the tax base and property values to have something built.
Still, residents are adamant in their opposition to substituting apartments for condos. They want owner-occupied units, not hundreds more renters.
"It needs to be what they said it was going to be," said Shelley McCall, president of the Highland Terrace Neighborhood Association. "If it takes a little longer, that's fine."
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