Wayne Swearingen
In the past few months, there have been several large and relatively new office towers in the inner core of Dallas that have lost major tenants and are now in financial trouble with lenders. Loans are in default, as occupancy nears 50 percent or less.
Dallas can ill afford to let these major landmarks on our skyline fall into the “fire sale” category and erode the tax base.
On the plus side, most of these properties are DART-served and on the CBD tunnel system. Reasonable upgrades can restore tenant appeal. Bargain rents are ranging from $15 to $19 per square foot, plus electric.
On the minus side, these buildings are short of parking, which would make them competitive with options in Uptown and North Dallas. Why were they built short of parking? The answer is simple. They were surrounded by ample parking lots in the 1970s and ’80s. Not now. Converting parking to green parks is a fine idea, but not if no one is left to walk in the park.
Parking can be created and apportioned to buildings according to the need, and the building owners must “buy” the parking when they buy the buildings.
It may take some form of public/private initiative, but the time is right.
Wayne Swearingen is a principal at Glacier Commercial Realty. Contact him at wswearingen@glaciercommercial.com.
4 comments
Is this some kind of joke? I work downtown and I see OCEANS of parking, from Victory Park to the Farmers Market.
Maybe the owners of these office towers should encourage their tenants to use DART. They should provide on-site bike facilities and work with the city to accelerate the creation of bike lanes throughout the CBD.
Yes, these office towers were built before we had downtown parks, but they were also built before we had the largest light-rail network in North America.
Wayne,
Please research what other cities around the world are doing right now. They are taking parking OUT, restoring cities to walkability. What you are advocating is from the failed urban policies of the mid-20th Century; the suburbanizing of downtown cores.
If there isn’t enough parking for you downtown, then move closer to downtown and take DART. Otherwise quit messing with a neighborhood in which you apparently choose not to live. Thanks.
I was recently at the downtown library and the ginormous parking garage underneath was practically empty. With a full time guard on duty. It’s what, 3 blocks to Main Street Garden from there?
The only reason the city is building a parking garage at Victory is to protect its successful investment in the AAC while opening land for residential development. Sounds like your client misread that story and though “hey, we want a parking garage too!”