Victory Park was built in Dallas from blind ambition, but was the plan ever realized?
#dallas #victorypark #dallastexas
Visit our sponsor: Valet Maids Dallas valetmaids.com
Use promo code SAVE30 for $30 off your first home cleaning
SOURCES:
www.dmagazine.com/publication...
www.dmagazine.com/publication...
www.wfaa.com/article/news/wha...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory...
parksfordowntowndallas.org/th...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America...
www.dallasobserver.com/news/u...
www.dallasnews.com/arts-enter...
trademarkproperty.com/victory...
www.dallasnews.com/business/2...
OVERVIEW:
Looking at Victory Park in Dallas today, you would have no idea that it struggled for most of its two decades of existence. In fact, in 2010, D Magazine proclaimed that Victory Park was a bust, and to be fair, at that time, it was. It seemed as though Ross Perot, Jr., with his vision for building the “Times Square of Dallas” had bit off way more than he could chew. Was Dallas not really ready for a truly urban neighborhood? For several years, the answer seemed like “no.”
Let’s start by going back to the late 1900s when this all started, well, 1997 to be specific. Back then, Ross Perot, Jr. son of two-time presidential candidate, EDS founder, and very rich guy, Ross Perot, owned the Dallas Mavericks. He knew it was time for a new arena and proposed taking the rail yard where Victory Park sits today to building a new home for the team. Beyond that, he had a vision for an urban mixed-use community surrounding it with office buildings, residential buildings, restaurants, and hotels. It was a vision for Dallas that hoped to compete with New York City or Chicago.
Things started off well and the stadium broke ground in 1999. American Airlines announced that it would be acquiring the naming rights for the stadium for $195 million shortly thereafter. The original plan for Victory Park was for it to have 31 high-rise and mid-rise buildings, with 8 of them being residential on the 75-acre development and things seemed to be going according to plan.
Things with the project pretty much halted for several years until the W-hotel opened in 2006 and things began to pick up steam again. From 2006 - 2008, almost 400 condos, 380 apartment,s and more than half a million square feet of office space were built. Class A office tenants including public accounting firm Ernst & Young, who probably got a great deal to occupy the space, moved into the neighborhood.
Consider the book Death and Life of Great American Cities which was written by Jane Jacobs in 1961. Her book discusses scale and density and how humans relate to size and movement and safety in their built environment. Buildings constructed to human scale and out of natural materials are naturally more appealing to people. The tall, overpowering buildings that dominate Victory Park subconsciously drive away pedestrians. Think about Paris or Greenwich Village in New York. These are appealing, human-sized neighborhoods with plenty of pedestrians. That can help explain why developments in Dallas such as West Village or even Knox-Henderson, with lower-rise, more approachable buildings have thrived just a few miles away while Victory Park has struggled.
Remember how at one time, Victory Park even had the vision of being the Times Square of Dallas? So, from 2007 - 2014, Victory Plaza hosted Big D NYE. The event featured live music and was similar to the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, but the partnership between WFAA and the American Airlines Center dissolved in early 2015. One of the main reasons it was canceled was security. In 2014, over 42k people packed Victory Plaza. It was the one night of the year that Victory Park was too successful.
It wasn’t easy as some once-popular Victory Park staples began to concede. While it started out as a popular late-night venue, Ghost Bar inside the W hotel saw revenue decline 76% from May 2007 to May 2012. Keeping it open wasn’t sustainable and it closed in 2012.
The W hotel also closed its Tom Coliicio owned Craft restaurant inside the hotel. The plan was to replace the high-end Craft with the more affordable and approachable Cook Hall concept. This was a sign for things to come in Victory Park.
New apartment buildings opened including The Ascent Victory Park, Victory Place, and The 23. Restaurants such as Mesero, Billy Can-Can, and HERO by HG were open as well.