Proposed plans for the highly visible block within the 103-acre Preston Center development at Preston Road and Northwest Highway in Dallas included parking changes, garden terraces and other tweaks.
Ramrock Real Estate LLC is looking to add office and residential towers to a stretch of the block’s south side bordered by Berkshire Lane, Westchester Drive, Luther Lane and Douglas Avenue. The land also includes Preston Center Pavilion, a retail building with tenants including Target, CVS and Marshalls, and its parking lot.
The Dallas Planning Commission on Thursday approved a zoning application to allow the project to be built to a height of 225 feet and include a mixed-income residential component.
During the meeting, Robert Dozier of Ramrock said the plans for the block are consistent with the vision of the Northwest Highway and Preston Road Neighborhood Plan passed by the Dallas City Council in 2017.
“They were really encouraging all the property owners there to densify their sites. They wanted to have retail on the ground floor. They also wanted to see multifamily and office as mixed-use elements,” Dozier said. “The other vision they wanted people to think of as an example was the West Village neighborhood of Dallas.”
University Park resident William Tovell was the only area resident to speak out against the project.
“Frankly, the existing traffic in the area cannot accommodate the size and scope of this project,” he said, noting he believes there could be an increase in accidents.
“There are already problems in Preston [Road]”We’re experiencing problems on the Northwest Highway,” Tovell said.
The application was first considered by the city Planning Commission in March, and following a community meeting hosted by 13th District City Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis, the plans were slightly altered.
The most eye-catching addition is the expansion of office parking to retail customers after business hours on weekdays and 24 hours a day on weekends and holidays, providing approximately 1,000 parking spaces in the area, with valet parking also available after 5 p.m.
The application now also calls for a 30,000-square-foot landscaped rooftop terrace.
HKS Inc. is leading the design, and a 180-unit apartment tower and a 265,000-square-foot office tower will be built on the south side of the project. The application also lists 40,000 square feet of retail, in addition to green space.
The project must be approved by the Dallas City Council.
This isn’t the only project aiming to increase density in Preston Center.
Across Luther Lane from the site, on a block currently housing Hopdoddy Burger Bar, medical offices and other businesses, are plans for two future towers. Developed separately, the two buildings would each stand more than 300 feet tall.
