Cole Avenue Complex on Dallas Council Agenda
Highland Park officials and residents will have one final chance to voice their opposition to a proposed seven-story apartment complex on Cole Avenue when the project is considered on Wednesday by the Dallas City Council. The meeting, which includes a public hearing, is set for 1 p.m.
For almost a year, the town has persistently objected to the proposed complex adjacent to the Katy Trail and across the street from HP’s southern border. Dallas city staffers agreed with those concerns and recommended denial of the project when it was brought before the Dallas Plan Commission this spring.
The commission, however, voted against the recommendation of staff by a 12-1 margin on May 8 and supported the project, which would replace the existing Saltillo Apartments.
“I think this is a project that is in the best interests of Dallas,” said commissioner Paul Ridley, who added that such taller, higher-density apartment structures are one key to future development in the city. “We have to look at appropriate places that can support higher-density development, or else we can remain mired in the past. I think this makes sense.”
The development would include a maximum of 258 luxury units and a building height of up to 84 feet. The multifamily zoning restrictions currently on the property allow for only 240 units and 36-foot buildings. The current two-story complex, which would be demolished, has 58 units.
It would include an underground parking garage and fitness center, among other amenities.
The project was proposed more than a year ago by a group headed by Otto Maly, who owns a commercial real-estate firm in Columbia, Mo., along with Dallas-based Provident Realty Advisors. They purchased the 2.4-acre property under the name Travis Cole Apartments LP.
The application was filed with the city in February 2013, and last September, the HP town council passed a resolution against the development. Since then, it has openly encouraged its residents to lobby against it, citing increased traffic near Abbott Park and a negative impact on property values, among other issues.
After initial objections last fall, the developer revised its plans to increase the setback on the side of the complex facing the trail, and to offer a stair-step approach to building height, whereby only a portion of the complex would be eight stories.
In 2005, a different developer lobbied to build an eight-story apartment complex on the same site, but was denied by both the plan commission and the Dallas City Council.
As a resident of HP, I’m disappointed in Mayor Joel Williams, III. I would think Mayor Williams and the HP Town Council would be more friendly to our neighbors in Dallas. Mayor Williams, I’m not understanding your anti-development with the project, and your discourse with Southwest Airlines in the past. How many developers live in HP? REIT guys?
All the hoop la about Abbott Park, yet about 2 weeks ago I stopped for a drink of water and found approx. 13 dead floating mosquitoes in the public drinking fountain (and right next to the children’s playground). It appears HP council and the administration can’t even do simple checks on the park itself, yet you want no building next to it? The mosquitoes were even verified by a HP officer. Gross!
This was not the first time this has happened, and what about the many kids who play in Abbott Park who may have sipped from the dirty diseased fountain? It would seem to me if HP Council and it’s “okie dokie” administration really cared about Abbott Park, this would never happen, hey?
Please leave Dallas and Love Filed alone. We have issues here that need to be dealt with. Not long ago I thought I understood you claimed HP did not have the money for future projects…..and I wonder why?
All the best (and my opinions as a resident),
As a former resident of Highland Park, I lived in a sub-let in the Saltillo Apartments for three months in 2009. It was one of the few places in the neighborhood where I could afford to stay when I visited Dallas. The apartment complex had some problems with plumbing and some of my neighbors had serious roach problems, but I enjoyed staying there. Living so close to where I grew up and seeing the nice improvements, like the Katy Trail and how the Highland Park Library has evolved and the new Dallas Public Library in Oak Lawn made me happy. I have lived abroad for over 30 years now and whenever I go back to Dallas, it makes me happy to see that things are being well taken care of and improvements are being made. Now that the DART is being run all the way to the airport, I might visit more often, since I do not drive a car and need to use public transportation.
I’ll be sad that the Saltillo Apartments are getting torn down. I am certain that the replacement won’t be the place where I can share a sublet next time I come for an extended stay in Dallas. It looks way to expensive. It makes sense that a piece of prime real estate is getting developed. I wonder about the block of small houses that are overrun by feral cats, – a little farther down Cole Ave. toward Knox Street. If ever anything needed tearing down or being remodeled, those houses sure need attention.