Post Properties Eyeing Fourth Quarter Ground-breaking on 400,000-SF Luxury High-Rise

DALLAS-The Mercer, the first for-sale residential high-rise in Uptown Dallas, is sealing options in anticipation of breaking ground by year’s end on the nine-story, 400,000-sf project.

Atlanta-based Post Properties Inc. conceivably could deliver the unique project in 2002 should dirt begin flying before the year is out, a source close to the project told GlobeSt.com. The timing of the project’s start and completion have been kept under wraps while the REIT lays the groundwork for the 159-unit project.

Reservations, more commonly referred to as purchase options, started to materialize with last week’s opening of a high-tech virtual tour marketing center at 2815 Allen St. in Post Square. The project, promising spectacular skyline views of Downtown Dallas and Cityplace, will be built at the corner of State and Worthington Sts. near McKinney Ave.

“While for-rent homes and apartments will always remain an important part of the area, the natural next step in Uptown’s evolution is more for-sale housing,” says Art Lomenick, Post Properties’ senior executive vice president. The Mercer is the first high-rise condominium project in the eclectic district, where Post has a vested interest. In the 1990s, the REIT previously had developed a mix of urban apartments and ground-level retail and restaurants to help revitalize the neighborhood.

The open-design, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes range from 760 sf to 2,900 sf and carry price tags of $158,900 to $795,900 each. Rooms feature movable museum-style walls, hardwood floors, European-style spa baths and kitchens with wood cabinetry, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The project will boast seven courtyard townhomes with attached garages and private entrances, 20 second-level units and 21 units on the third through seventh floors. The eighth floor will consist of 19 units while 10 penthouse units, all with private courtyard and balconies, will cap the structure.

The Mercer is the design work of Dallas-based Corgan Associates while interior finishing is the handiwork of Canadian-based Mike Niven Interior Designs Inc. A general contractor for the project has yet to be determined, GlobeSt.com was told.

Nationwide, Post Properties owns 36,468 apartment homes in 106 communities, including 5,382 units currently under development, which includes a downtown luxury high-rise in Austin.