Luxury Homes Going Up East of Love Field

Say the word “solo,” and one thinks of “going it alone.”

But that’s not the case in an old neighborhood east of Dallas Love Field where independent builders and real estate professionals have joined forces to rebrand the area as the next luxury home-buying destination.

It’s informally dubbed “SOLO,” meaning “south of Lovers (Lane).” The developers, however, have agreed to a more sophisticated moniker: Inwood Park.

Within this enclave — about a mile square — is March Avenue where 15 luxury homes sprang up in recent months, ranging in price from top six figures to $1.1 million.

“Real estate is very political, a dog-eat-dog world,” said Alex Prins of Coldwell Banker. “But on this project, realtors like me, investors, and builders are saying, ‘Hey, let’s put our heads together and get this going.”

Mark Alexander, one of the builders, said many of the existing homes were built in the mid-1900s for families of service members stationed at Love Field.

Alexander is the owner of Alexander Hunt Distinct Homes. Other independent builders are Anderson Homes and Holz & Stein Custom Homes.

“We’re working together as friendly competitors, so we can all build and make money,” Alexander said. “The quicker we’re done, the quicker the area will turn.”

Alexander said a slate of new homes on the same street avoids having to list a single high-end home in a sea of low-income housing.

“Instead of doing the onesies and twosies here and there, we’re putting them down on one block,” Alexander said. “That makes it easy for future buyers knowing they’re not the only new guys.”

Prins said design styles vary among the builders.

He is working with Brian Karr, founder of Holz & Stein, which is making modern homes with “clean lines, a lot of glass, metal beams, and room for an infinity pool, potentially,” Prins said.

Alexander has said his company offers various styles, including “contemporary, Tuscan, European, Hill Country, transitional or traditional.”

The Anderson twins, Ronnie and Donny, are longtime Park Cities builders who make both rustic and modern “green” homes.

Inwood Park West would nudge up against the amenities of the upscale Bluffview neighborhood and shopping at Inwood Village to the north, Alexander said. To the south is uptown Dallas, and the Park Cities are to the east.

Love Field is at the west, but noise pollution isn’t an issue because the flight paths don’t cross the neighborhood, Prins said.

Meanwhile, he said, current residents are turning good profits by selling their homes to make room for the new. Area homes that sold for $50,000 a decade ago now fetch close $300,000, he said.

As of this writing, Prins was handling three of the 15 new homes on March Avenue. More building, he added, could come soon; he knows of at least one investor who already bought 20 lots in the area.

But, Alexander noted, that there’s “the value of getting in early.”

“The next houses,” he said, “are only going to be more expensive.”