Welcome to Ultraground. We stand in the zoning river sifting through meetings so we bring you the best nuggets worth keeping.
September 15th Approvals:
300-Unit Multifamily/Townhome
2,340-Unit Mixed-use
ADU Area Plan Final Decision
197 Subdivision Lots
Full meeting length: 6h 33m
The Standard at Shoreline
Lochwood | 7.26 Acres | 300 Units
Ojala Holdings LLC gave us a case study on how to secure an approval.
What'd they do differently?
Had 60 meetings with the community → made major changes to the project (ex: surface to underground parking) → cited every change before the board
They also increased the size of their amenities:
There was pushback on this project for two related reasons.
Height
Sight lines
Those in support of the project had one main reason: this project helps with the housing crisis.
150 of the units will be reserved for low-income housing.
But the board couldn't say no when they showed its compliance with the Residential Proximity Slope (The RPS is an angled plane that limits the building height).
This “hard decision about where to put density” was approved by all 12 commissioners.
Developer: Daniel Smith LinkedIn Email: [email protected]
Architect: Mike Arbour LinkedIn
Preston Del Norte
Far North Dallas | 24.8 acres | 2,340 Units
With initial meetings dating back from 2019, Terracap brings their 290-foot project back to the CPC. The plan is broad, with only a concept and no detailed architectural plans.
But they asked for some serious exceptions. Height increase: from 35' (MF-1) to 290'. And that means raising the Residential Proximity Slope on the west side.
The team got some straight-and-to-the-point questions:
The changes since the last CPC meeting are:
Ensuring open space
No more than 30% be used for non res
Additional mixed-income housing
If they hit all of the bonuses, they would be providing 300 units of mixed-income housing.
Their community-serving restaurant and retail will include a new traffic light to ensure the safety of pedestrians. "In our mind it's more of an amenity" Brian Crombie, COO, Terracap (developer).
They also went a step further to take care of the existing residents:
No impact on current lease terms
Advance notice prior to each phase start
Benefits to staying on lease terms: last month free, substantial security deposit
The commissioners approved the project with a limit on retail to 100,000 SF across the two sites. 2 Commissioners voted against it.
Architect Marc Sullivan [email protected]
Relocation Management Krystol Morrow LinkedIn
West Oak Cliff Area Plan
WOCAP will leave the Planning Commission with an approval. The plan that encourages ADUs by-right was amended to permit missing middle housing by authorized hearing.
There were also 15 amendments to the original plan. A few that stuck out below:
Completely remove reference to any recommendation to split large, lots into narrow lots, including striking the words and narrow single narrow lot single family homes.
Remove the map that references specific lots (shown below).
No larger than 20% of the average of the block to maintain the existing lot pattern and consider maximum floor plates to be determined by block face or any new construction to ensure scale compatibility with surrounding single family homes
West Moreland Plaza on page 50 add a sentence that multifamily is not proposed here.
There were 197 lots that were subdivided on September 15th. They were spread across 16 different projects.
T Bar M Racquet Club
North Dallas | 12.47 Acres | 35 Courts
The T Bar M is a 700-member tennis club in North Dallas. They are upgrading their offerings with the help of Lake Flato. They will have 25 new tennis courts, 2 padel, and 8 pickleball.
The commission added language that prohibits adding speakers and music.
Thank you for being a part of Ultraground.
What's coming:
"I don't see how we're gonna fit them into our hearings, frankly. I mean, STR are, uh, they will never fit into it." "STRs are gonna have 300, 400 people"