I’m still learning my camera, so these pictures didn’t turn out like I wanted. You live and you learn right? Anyway, I think you can get the picture (no pun intended).
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I’d like to congratulate Jack Matthews, Jeff West, and Matthews Southwest for being selected to build the Dallas Convention Center Hotel. Matthews Southwest is responsible for the South Side on Lamar Lofts as well as the soon to open Beat Condos.
Dave Levinthal of the Dallas Morning News reports that The Dallas City Council Economic Development Committee unanimously directed the city staff to enter a 60-day negotiation period with Matthews Southwest to build the hotel.
The Allen Group Announces Build-to-Suit Project at the Dallas Logistics Hub ADESA selects site at Dallas Logistics Hub for a 175-Acre Auto Auction Center
DALLAS, Texas, (June 5, 2008) – The Allen Group, developers of the Dallas Logistics Hub, a 6,000-acre multimodal logistics park in Southern Dallas County, announced today that ADESA, a full-range auction, reconditioning, logistical and other vehicle-related services company, has entered into a 20-year lease for a new state-of-the-art auto auction center at the Dallas Logistics Hub.
The build-to-suit facility will be located on 175 acres within the City of Hutchins. The property will house three buildings totaling approximately 196,000 square feet of space for an auction arena, administrative and financial offices and reconditioning facilities. ADESA projects that the facility will require several hundred full- and part-time employees once fully operational.
“We are extremely excited to welcome ADESA to The Hub, as they are a great corporate tenant for the community through the creation of jobs, tax revenue and demand for retail and hotel services,” said Daniel J. McAuliffe, President of The Allen Group’s Texas operation. ”ADESA has found the location at the Dallas Logistics Hub to be a perfect site for expanding their operations.”
The Allen Group and ADESA have agreed to design, construct and commission the facility as LEED certified. Construction will commence in a few weeks, and the facility is expected to be operational in summer 2009. Also, the Dallas Logistics Hub’s new speculative industrial buildings are the first two industrial buildings in North Texas to pursue LEED Certification in accordance with the standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Certification guidelines (www.usgbc.org). The Allen Group has committed to maintain the Dallas Logistics Hub as an eco-friendly Inland Port.
For more information about The Allen Group or the Dallas Logistics Hub, please visit www.allengroup.com.
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About The Allen Group
The Allen Group, one the nation’s fastest growing privately held commercial development firms, specializes in the development of high-end industrial, office, retail and mixed-use properties throughout the United States. The Company’s major focus is the development of Logistics Parks and Inland Ports, which are located adjacent to some of the most sophisticated rail, intermodal and highway infrastructure in the country. The Allen Group has developed a wide range of commercial projects for Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 clients and currently has over 8,000 acres under development across the United States. The Allen Group is based in San Diego with regional offices in Visalia, Bakersfield (Calif.), Dallas and Kansas City. For more information about the Company, please visit www.allengroup.com.
About ADESA
ADESA offers a full range of auction, reconditioning, logistical and other vehicle-related services to meet the remarketing needs of both its institutional and dealer customers. With 60 auction locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, strategically located near metropolitan areas with a large concentration of used vehicle dealers, the company is well positioned to host both physical and Internet auctions. Through its related subsidiaries of AutoVIN® and PAR North America, it is also able to provide additional services including inspections, inventory audits and remarketing outsourcing solutions including a network of repossession agents, titling and auction sale representation. Visit ADESA.COM for details.
The Rangers have promised development around The Ballpark for nearly 20 years since voters approved the stadium in 1990. In 2001, an April article by Kelly Patterson in The Dallas Morning News seemed like progress was on the way.
In March of 2002 it was…you guessed it, terrorist attacks. MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News
“We work on it every day,” Mr. Cramer said. “I meet personally with the Arlington chamber folks just about every week. We have a very big investment there already in the team and in the land.”
Arlington officials and residents have been waiting about 10 years for the development at The Ballpark’s 270 vacant acres to begin. Retail, office and residential projects had been billed as another reason voters should support a half-cent increase in the sales-tax rate to pay for the stadium.
Rangers owner Tom Hicks bought the team and associated properties in 1998 for $250 million. Last April, he announced that the first phase of a long-term major development project would begin in 2001. Three buildings were to be under way by the end of December.
Mr. Cramer said the terrorist attacks of last fall and the uncertain economy since then had forced the company to wait.
“Sept. 11 definitely sidetracked us,” he said. “And we can only create what the market will support.”
Dallas Business Journal June 2004, once again it’s on.
And now, the dreaded credit crunch. From Thursday’s article:
“We’re in the most difficult credit crunch I’ve seen the last 20 years,” Mr. Hicks said.
Congrats Arlington! They’ve done it to you again.
We’ve had a great new addition to Southern Dallas in recent weeks. Back in March, the first tenant of Wheatland Crossing (Target) opened their doors for business. Wheatland Crossing is a retail development just north or Interstate 20 and just west of Hampton Road.
But as I drive around the “Red Bird” area, and especially Camp Wisdom Road, I wonder is Wheatland Crossing masking a significant net loss of businesses in the area. A number of tenants at Wheatland Crossing are simply packing up and moving down the street.
The blame does not lie with the companies who are moving. The shopping experience at Target has been greatly enhanced since leaving the store that for years has been located at Cockrell Hill. But one has to wonder what will happen to the strip center that the store anchored – which is already only half to 2/3 occupied. The recruitment of new businesses to the area is key, but let’s look at those who had invested in the area and are continuing that investment.
Moving Over
I remember a couple of years back when Chili’s at Camp Wisdom and Highway 67 was open one day and closed the next. It dealt the casual dining choices a real, leaving Cheddars as the lone choice for many casual diners. Yes there’s Red Lobster and Olive Garden down the street, but they are both in Duncanville.
It will be good to have Chili’s back in the neighborhood when they open May 1st. Mike Davis (Dallas Progress) talked to me about how this is the best case scenario. “Chili’s took a while, but they (eventually) moved and South Dallas Cafe comes in and backfills the space with something positive,” he said. “It happens all over Dallas.”
Mike makes an excellent point. I drive around every corner of Dallas in my job and in every corner there are abandoned grocery stores and shopping centers all over town. Yet the situation around the mall -empty office buildings, oil change stands, the vacant Petco- seems more desperate than in other parts of town. Mostly because the only noticeable new entrants in the area have been Golden Corral and a Check Cashing store.
In addition to Target; Office Depot will probably close their Camp Wisdom store when they open a location at Wheatland Crossing. I’d assume Ross will do the same thing, and Chick-Fil-A will close their Southwest Center Mall location once their stand alone location is built at Wheatland Crossing.
Moving Out
There are also those stores who have left the area never to return. It’s been years since Best Buy shut down their Gannon area location and moved to Cedar Hill. They have opened a store at Pinnacle Park off I-30, but I tend to head south to Cedar Hill rather than north for my electronic needs. 
Speaking of moving to Cedar Hill, a Family Christian Store has opened (near Half Priced Books) as one has closed in a Camp Wisdom strip.
There needs to be special attention paid to this Camp Wisdom area. The infrastructure is there (with the exception of a Camp Wisdom exit heading north on Hwy 67) and with a little vision, this strip could return to its heyday of the 1980′s .
There are many troubled apartment complexes in the area especially east of 67 and south of Camp Wisdom. Demographics is a challenge that also exists. Choice Homes has started a new single family community on Westmoreland, but others like it must come on board to truly sustain the area economically.
I often ask myself who’s leaving next. Toys R Us? Chuck E. Cheeses? Party City? I believe in the market, yet I also believe that if the city and the community ignore what’s going on there could be a gaping hole in the area.
And then there’s Southwest Center Mall….
Land Development, Homeownership, Juvenile Justice System, Substance Abuse and the Return of New Orleanians on
Dallas, TX –
Opening political forum and workshops set a three fold agenda: (1) to take a microscopic look at
On Friday, a community job fair with over thirty-five employers will be on site to offer employment opportunites for job seekers including the formerly incarcerated. In addition , a special focus will be on foreclosures, first time buyers and New Orleanians who wish to return home at the Town Hall Meeting and Homeowner Workshop set for Saturday.
DA Craig Watkins, Senator Royce West, Judge Cheryl Shannon,
Register, get involved and be a part of the solution today. Go to www.friendshipwest.org.
Cost: Free
Time: Friday, April 25th –
Registration
Opening Political Forum
Luncheon 12:00noon
Workshops
Community Job Fair
Saturday, April 26th
Town Hall Meeting
Homeowner Workshop
Community Resource Center
We invite you to be a part of progressive dialogue and action!
I now see why in the media world they give deadlines. In that spirit, I’m letting you know that I plan to write a post on Thursday concerning my thoughts on the new Wheatland Town Crossing development in Southern Dallas and the Red Bird/Camp Wisdom area down the road. Check back on Thursday, I hope to get some feed back from the community on this one.
IRS Targeting Americans Eligible for Economic Stimulus Payment Who Are Not Required to File Income Taxes
“We believe (the hotel) will be a huge benefit to South Dallas and will kick off a lot of development.” Jack Matthews
I’ve gotten a number of emails over the last couple of months regarding my writings on the Dallas Convention Center Hotel. Many of them we’re thinking I’d pulled my thoughts on the subject out of thin air.
Now there’s another voice weighing in on the subject. Sheryl Jean of the Dallas Morning News writes an article regarding Matthew’s plans for the property on the convention center’s southern side. Here are some highlights from the article.
Read Ms. Jean’s article from yesterday’s business section by clicking here. I still support the Matthews Southwest plan. You can read my thoughts on the subject here, here, and here. And remember, you heard it here first.
In honor of Erykah Badu’s album release, I thought I would repost something I had on the site a few months back. It’s a list of my five favorite Badu songs to date. In stores today is Ms. Badu’s latest, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). It’s her first album in 5 years.
It’s rare that an artist comes along and totally changes the music scene the way Erykah Badu did in the late 90′s. Though Mary J. Blige remains my favorite female artist, her contributions to the Black Music experience are not as significant as those made by Dallas’ own E. Badu.
As my college days progressed, female R&B was dominated by groups like SWV, Total, and Xscape while the aforementioned M.J.B. was just beginning to gain her footing as the queen of hip hop soul. Many of the songs when revisited today have suspect vocals and cookie cutter beats but still jam, if for no other reason than taking you back to where you were when the songs were hot.
If there was a precursor to Ms. Badu’s brand of “Neo Soul” it would have to be Zhane. The duo’s sultry vocals backed by live instruments were unique for the time, and their music still sounds good today.
Enter 1997′s Baduizm and its first single On and On. Videos were still a big deal back then, and the image of Badu on screen is still impressed upon my brain: her eyes, her hair, the ways she moved. It was apparent from the start that she was destined for stardom. What wasn’t apparent was that someone with so much soul was from (Sunny South) Dallas, Texas.
The CD was outstanding and her stellar studio work was surpassed only by her skills as a live performer. The Booker T. Washington High School alum is a trained dancer and often plays instruments during her concerts. The songs haven’t changed much in the last 5 or 6 years, but her interpretation is always fresh.
It’s amazing that someone with so much talent and such a loyal following has released so little material. She teases us with singles and collaborations here and there but no albums since 2003′s Worldwide Underground. With 10 cuts including an intro, outro, interlude, and remix (Love of My Life) it’s hard to really count that one as an album. But Badu fans have to take what we can get.
Here are my 5 favorite Erykah Badu songs to date. Feel free to let me know what you think.
5. Other Side of the Game (Baduizm)
Smooth and soulful, the song evokes memories of the great female jazz vocalists of a bygone era. As in so many of her songs, Ms. Badu does so much with so little; smooth bass line, simple drum beat, and honest lyrics. “Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Work ain’t honest but it pays the bills.”
4. Danger (Worldwide Underground)
The track actually starts with Other Side of the Game playing in the background and serves as a bit of a companion song. While on OSTG she sounds like a young girl reasoning with her man to get out of the drug game, on Danger she’s grown into a woman who’s in it knee deep. The music is bumping and vocals are coming at you from all over the place.
3. Love of My Life (Brown Sugar Soundtrack)
One of a number of collaboration projects, Love of My Life -Erykah Badu’s Ode to Hip Hop- teams here with rapper Common. Of course the first few times that you hear the song it sounds like a garden variety relationship joint. That’s all good, but listening to the song in its true context gives it a whole different feel. And for fans of the genre, many can relate to highs and lows Common and Badu attribute to hip hop.
2. On and On (Baduizm)
On and On immediately put Erykah Badu on the map. At the time I compared her music to Arrested Development of Tennessee fame, but her lyrics were more complex. Ms. Badu’s star continues to shine while Development flamed out long ago.
“I was born under water, With 3 dollar$ & 6 dimes. Yeah, U may laugh ‘Cuz U did not do yo math.” On and On along with Baduizm in its entirety gave way to a whole new expression of Black Music.
1. Green Eyes (Mama’s Gun)
I was hooked from the moment I heard the familiar (for the older set) crackling sound of a needle placed on an old record followed by “My Eyes are green, cause I eats a lot of vegetables. It don’t have nothing to do with your new friend.” The first movement, a throwback with only a horn and piano is a playful attempt to hide the pain caused by a lover who has found comfort in someone else.
The lyrics of the second movement are a haunting introspective of insecurity with which many of us can relate. This part is backed by a simple jazz grouping of drums, bass, piano, and the trademark flute that is present throughout her career.
The songs final movement brings the horns back. The naive anxiety of the first two acts are replaced by hopeful desperation. The song conveys the downs and downs of love with barely hint of optimism. Green Eyes is an exceptional example of Badu’s musical genius.
Honorable Mentions
Bag Lady (Mama’s Gun), Tyrone (Erykah Badu Live), Apple Tree (Baduizm), Bump It (Worldwide Underground), Southern Girl
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