"Now, we encourage the different developers on this to come in to build the projects that are allowed," Rick Bidne, vice president of the association, tells GlobeSt.com. "We are excited about this. In the end, it will be good for everybody."
Crow Holdings and Apollo Real Estate Advisors were the largest stakeholders requesting land-use changes, which had to be approved by at least 60% of the association's membership. Of the partnership's holdings, 15.63 acres front Lake Carolyn. The other lakefront land is owned by JA Green Development Corp., which among its changes got the right to raise a hotel. Also seeking changes were Prime Income Asset Management Inc. and Texas Health Resources.
In all cases, the changes impact land fronting the proposed light-rail line for Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The line, when completed in 2011, will connect to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The goal, as so many cities are now planning, is to stimulate economies with transit-oriented, mixed-use development. The Las Colinas Urban Center, built for corporate America's needs, boasts a daytime population of 34,667 that drops to 3,700 after 5 p.m.
"Without further residential development, we will never realize the concept for which a truly urban environment can exist," Irving Mayor Herbert A. Gears wrote to association members prior to yesterday's vote. "We are convinced that retail, restaurants, shops, hotels and entertainment venues will arrive if residential development occurs to help our already established office base."
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