You Can Always Go Downtown

Lifestyle Choices Lead Residents to High-Rise Residential

by Tonie Auer

A growing demand for high-rise residential developments is jump-starting construction in urban areas around the state. Three projects demonstrate the growing trend. The new 31-story high-rise, Azure, brings a new sparkle to the Dallas skyline, a new 33-story Grand Hyatt for San Antonio brings high-rise condos to the Alamo City for the first time and the 21-story Seven Riverway offers new luxury digs for Buffalo Bayou-area residents in Houston.

A rendering shows the future One Victory Park. Dallas-based Hillwood is leading the master-planned urban development known as Victory Park in Dallas. (Image courtesy of Victory Park.)

While the majority of Texans reside outside the perimeters of their center cities, the trend of multifamily high-rise living in downtown areas is on the rise in many areas of the state.

"Multifamily high-rises have not been as successful in Texas as in other parts of the country in the past," said John Cryer, principal and CEO of Texas-based PageSoutherlandPage. "We have unlimited amounts of land and it is easy to expand horizontally.

"But there is a national trend to reclaim the urban area of cities. Baby-boomers are seeing their children grow and leave home. They want to go to the theaters and restaurants, which tend to be in urban areas."

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Dallas Reaches for the Sky Dallas, in particular, has seen a recent boom in mixed-use urban developments featuring high-rise residential properties with an upscale feel.

Bill Hilburn, senior vice president for development of Dallas-based Harwood International, the developer of the high-rise, resort-style residence Azure in Dallas' Uptown area, agreed that high-rise residential developments are in demand and that their construction is a growing trend.

"People are leaving the suburbs for a more maintenance-free environment and that fits the vertical residential style," Hilburn said. "Younger couples are trying to stay away from commuting and the suburban lifestyle."

While the younger crowd tends to seek out areas with an "uptown vibrancy" near attractions such as the American Airlines Center and the Arts District, there is also the AARP generation that wants the entertainment amenities without the hassles of owning a home.

"Baby-boomers are growing out of their homes," said James Cheng, principal of James K.M. Cheng Architects Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., and the architect for Azure. "Their children have grown up and they would prefer to have a smaller place, shut the door and travel without worrying about the yard. That is one reason we are seeing more residential high-rises being built: convenience and security."

The 28-floor Cirque is the fifth residential building under constrcution in Dallas’ urban development Victory Park. (Image courtesy of Victory Park.)

People are leaving the suburbs in search of a more centralized place to live, work and play, too, said Richard Click, director of construction for Dallas-based Hillwood, which is leading the master-planned urban development Victory Park under way in Dallas.

The increased cost of gasoline may be driving people to search for more economical ways to live, he said.

The vertical lifestyle is being seen everywhere from Miami to New York, said Nunzio DeSantis, executive vice president and director of hospitality for Dallas-based HKS Inc.

DeSantis said projects such as Victory Park will be mixed-use, combining residential with hotel and retail.

"We're seeing more of this building type," he added. "It is the way you'll see development in the future. Instead of single-use property, we'll see more layers."

Timing is everything, and if a great piece of property is found, spending the money to layer a series of uses vertically and share the cost will maximize the potential of the land, DeSantis said.

"Hotels can't always afford a great location with great view," he said. "So layer it with condos and a great restaurant to share the cost and build it vertically," he said. "On top of it, sell units at the higher price point because of services and amenities. They are complex buildings that cost more to build and are more difficult to build, but when they're done people applaud and want to be part of them."

Having a condo on top of a hotel gives residents the ability, for instance, to pick up the phone and have the concierge send up a tailored breakfast, DeSantis said.

"And when you go to work, a maid shows up and does your bed and laundry, a service that a freestanding condo doesn't have," he said. "Layer in the fitness area and a full-service spa, an entertainment pool and we've created a lifestyle and a place downtown."

Challenges and Rewards As land prices escalate, the idea of high-rise, mixed-use projects can make the most bang for the developer's buck, but not without a few headaches along the way because buildings still must be designed so owners can make money, Cryer said.

Throw in the increasing costs of construction materials and add in the complex issues that come from stacking different styles of buildings on top of each other, and you have the typical mixed-use, high-rise project.

Chris Peck, vice president of Dallas-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc., which is working on the Victory Park project, said the different product types have different functional requirements.

"We have a vertical building that stacks three uses: retail on the ground floor, then a hotel and condominiums, he added.

Cryer said parking is a big factor, too.

"High-rises of the 1980s had no requirement for parking, but the reality is you've got to offer adequate parking," he said. "More of the new models are a building on top of a garage. If you look at the cost of land, it is no longer affordable to have a parking garage detached."

The structural component of a garage tends to be different from a high-rise tower, so examining options to do the project efficiently are important, Cryer added.

Making column spacing work is an issue, Click said.

"Holding up a garage is different than for an office building," he said. "You start mixing in hotel rooms and condos and those challenges are quadrupled. The same structure has to hold up all of those different functions and it is hard to work those items out."

DeSanti added: "You have to be aware of each of the different building types and minimize interference with one another. It is costly and definitely impacts the schedules in terms of construction when layering systems and determining how they interface with one another."

He said that whenever three or four of these elements are stacked, the structural grids work for those building types causes some issues.

"Mechanical, electrical and plumbing are all factors," he said. "When certain buildings are stacked, these uses don't align with one another and you have to shift systems so each of these components can work independent of one another. It can be a coordination nightmare on paper and in construction."

Getting people up the building while keeping the various uses segregated from one another is another consideration.

"Planning and design are critical," Click said. "People in the condos don't want to mix with the hotel, and we don't want office people mixing with the hotel. So, all vertical transportation - elevators, escalators and stairs - becomes a problem that is exacerbated by height."

Add to that service elevators and the need for access to the common facilities such as exercise areas.

Having an elevator bank that services the garage and tower can contain costs, but most developers are not comfortable doing that yet because it is relatively new, Cryer said.

"We keep looking for ways to contain construction cost and be more efficient," he added. "We want to make the project work financially and be innovative to attract potential tenants and buyers."