North of Lemmon could be another Uptown

FirstWorthing plans to redevelop 25 acres near the tollway

12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, September 1, 2005

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

Developers have quietly bought most of a neighborhood on the northern edge of Oak Lawn for an apartment and townhome community.

FirstWorthing Corp. – already one of central Dallas' busiest builders – has purchased almost 25 acres near Lemmon Avenue and the Dallas North Tollway.

The builder will knock down blocks of aging apartments and replace them with new housing.

John Allums, FirstWorthing's executive vice president, confirms that his company has acquired apartment houses along Bowser and Holland streets just north of Lemmon Avenue.

But, Mr. Allums said, the project is still in the planning stages, and it would be premature to discuss details.

Real estate brokers say FirstWorthing plans to rebuild the area as a new urban neighborhood similar to Uptown.

The property is zoned for apartment construction and could accommodate almost 1,000 units.

"It makes perfect sense as a development site," said Dallas-based apartment industry analyst Ron Witten.

"One of the struggles that the rental development industry has is finding some way to build new product they can lease at other than record-setting rents."

With land prices high in Uptown and rising on the east side of downtown, developers are looking for alternatives, he said.

"Taking a half step out of the fairway and saving a substantial amount of money on land gives the developer an opportunity," Mr. Witten said.

Most of the apartment buildings FirstWorthing bought have been emptied of tenants, and many of them are boarded up.

Most have two stories and were constructed in the 1960s.

The apartment blocks are just south of the Highland Park city limits and are close to the entrance to the Dallas North Tollway at Lemmon Avenue.

Developer Gables Residential is about to break ground on a smaller apartment community at Lemmon Avenue on the south side of the tollway.

Gables' Tom Bakewell said he isn't surprised that FirstWorthing and other builders are interested in the neighborhood.

"Even the car dealerships going in now along Lemmon are spiffy like Bentley – if you have to have a car dealership as a neighbor, that's the one to have," he said.

FirstWorthing is building in several central Dallas locations.

It has two Cityville projects east of downtown on Live Oak and on Fitzhugh avenues.

It's also planning to break ground soon on the first phase of a 16-acre apartment and retail complex on Motor Street near Parkland Memorial Hospital.