Economic concerns sweeping the nation have been taken intoconsideration, but the long-term outlook is driving the developmentpartners to forge ahead with confidence on the 2.14-acre project at1717 McKinney St. and 1700 Cedar Springs Rd., according to GregFuller, COO of Dallas-based Granite Properties. "You really have tohave a five-year horizon window. There definitely are going to beareas that see economic downturn, but real estate fundamentals inthat area [Uptown] are not going to go away," he tells GlobeSt.com."You've got to look long term, past this rocky bubble. Great realestate in great locations will always survive in good times orbad."

The class AA office tower is a 19-story design, with 361,524 sfof rentable LEED Silver-certified space. It will sit on top of sixlevels of parking and retail, with a one-acre "amenity" deck thatconnects to its neighbor, a 26-story residential tower with 292units, also being designed for LEED certification. It will have 20residential floors and six floors of parking and retail. The towerswill have 15,000 sf of street-level retail and restaurant spaceplus room for a bank with drive-through lanes. [IMGCAP(2)]The deckwill sport a 4,000-sf fitness center and infinity-edge pool in apark-like setting overlooking Victory Park and Downtown, with theCalatrava Bridge as part of the view from the balconies ofupper-bank office tenants.

Granite will own its tower and the Atlanta-based Gables will ownits tower too, with the land tract secured by condominiuminterests, according to Fuller. "We decided to develop as one foreconomies of scale," he explains. "We are getting a 7% to 10%reduction in pricing than if we had built them separately." LeadingGables' project is its senior vice president Doug Chesnut.