The next time you drive by the southwest corner of Loop 12 and North Central Expressway, take a long look.

Then ask: What was all the fuss about?

There's a generic office tower and a shopping center with a couple of restaurants, a bookstore and a supermarket. Behind the strip mall, there's also an apartment complex, a hotel and a retirement community.

But for decades, the idea of building almost anything on that corner caused hissy fits in nearby North Dallas and Park Cities neighborhoods.

One of the last undeveloped portions of the old Caruth family farm, the corner sat vacant for decades after most of the surrounding area was developed.

While shoppers queued up at NorthPark, horses grazed across the street.

It wasn't until 1997 that this bucolic bubble was burst for construction on the 39 acres that is now viewed as just a normal part of the urban landscape.

So you'll pardon me if I snicker when I listen to all the furor about recent zoning cases in East Dallas and Uptown. Yes, I've heard it all before.

Opponents say there will be too much traffic, too many people, too many stories tall – just too much of everything, it would seem.

Of course, they are right. There will be more traffic and people and construction. And it's going to happen whether they manage to block the proposed developments or not.

Last year, Dallas-Fort Worth was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country. And some projections call for our population to increase by 50 percent in the coming two decades.

That would mean more than 9 million people in an area where 6 million live now.

To get ready for that, we will have to build more. And that doesn't mean expanding the metro area all the way to Oklahoma.

High gasoline prices and long commute times will force high-density redevelopment of Dallas' close-in neighborhoods.

And areas with easy access to the light rail lines and the center city are going to see even more and larger developments.

It's going to happen. It's inevitable.

And tussling today over whether to add an extra floor or two to a new apartment building won't make a difference given the inexorable forces at work.

If you don't believe me, just drive by the corner of Loop 12 and North Central.

The last horses on that corner have long since ridden into the sunset.

Another North Dallas apartment complex has a date with the bulldozers.

Demolition crews are preparing to knock down the 200-unit Park Forest apartment community on Greenville Avenue north of Forest Lane.

Built in 1968, the rental complex is owned by a Houston-based apartment firm, M. Kaplan Cos.

Kaplan officials did not respond to a request for information about the property.

But the company's Web site listing of future projects includes a 350-unit apartment project to be called The District on Greenville.

In the 12-month period ending with March, more than 4,400 D-FW area apartments were demolished.

The Dallas office of Colliers International has landed a new exec.

Joe Garrett, formerly with Sperry Van Ness, has joined Colliers as executive vice president working with investment sales in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Print

E-mail this article

Forums

Check Screen Name Availability

Screen names can only consist of letters and numbers.

---

Leave Comment

Conversation guidelines: We welcome your thoughts and information related to this article. When leaving comments please stay on topic and be respectful of others.

You must be logged in to contribute. Log in | Register Now!

You are logged in as screenname | Log Out

You are logged in, but do not have a "screen" name. Update Your Profile

Showing:

Newest first Oldest first

---