Larkspur Capital has a lot planned for the Deep Ellum music and entertainment district just off downtown Dallas, signaling plans for its third multifamily development in the enclave since 2020.
On Thursday, the Dallas-based developer told the Dallas Morning News, it had a site on Haskell and Parry avenues, near the entrance to Fair Park, under contract. Upon closing the deal, the firm says it plans to use the site for 5-story to 7-story apartments totalling 240 units.
In April, it bought another lot down the street on Commerce, also next to Fair Park, with plans for a 19-story rental tower called The Juniper. Larkspur partner Carl Anderson said he expects builders to clear the site in September and commence construction by November.
The firm has also acquired a third block adjacent to Fair Park along Second Avenue, DMN reports. Larkspur has plans for a 310-unit rental project with ground floor retail on the Second Avenue block, according to Anderson. The architecture is expected to evoke “elements such as its Art Deco buildings and cameo reliefs,” he says.
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“We’re clearly very bullish on this pocket,” says Anderson.
Deep Ellum is one of Dallas’ Opportunity Zones, where developers can receive more favorable tax treatments. It’s an area that’s been of interest to Larkspur for some time. In 2020, it announced it had filed a permit for The Willow, an eight-story building also on Commerce Street. The project was postponed due to Covid and then re-launched in June of last year. The development will reportedly be finished in November, bringing 190 new apartments to the neighborhood
Deep Ellum also holds historical significance. “We’re in what used to be called the Gin District, which was comprised of cotton gin manufacturing buildings,” says Anderson.
“Several of those same buildings served as munitions factories during World War II, and there’s a lot of history in this immediate pocket,” he said. “Just across the street is a fully restored and landmarked Dallas Power & Light substation, just one of four and built in 1920.”
[DMN] — Maddy Sperling