Scenic eyes Deep Ellum for 25-story resi

Developers continue to target the Deep Ellum neighborhood, east of downtown Dallas, for dense residential projects. 

New York-based Scenic Investments is seeking approval from the Dallas City Plan Commission for a 25-story building with 354 residential units and 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, adjacent to the Deep Ellum DART rail station at Good-Latimer Expressway and Swiss Avenue, the Dallas Morning News reported. Costs weren’t revealed.

The site currently contains a vacant commercial building and is within walking distance to the Epic office tower and downtown attractions. It’s also near Baylor Scott & White’s East Dallas Baylor University Medical Center.

Five percent of units in the multifamily building will be for “mixed income housing,” according to documents filed with the plan commission.

Scenic, led by Michael Pullman, has plans for at least 18 micro units, defined as efficiency, studio or one-bedroom apartments less than 400 square feet, the document says. The inclusion of micro units could kick start a trend in Dallas, where small floor plans are less common compared to other major cities that have seen a surge of studios and efficiencies in new developments, the outlet said. 

Deep Ellum has emerged as a real estate hot spot in recent years. The neighborhood, once dominated by restaurants, nightclubs and loft-style apartments, is now home to an array of office towers and residential high-rises. 

Larkspur Capital recently began site work for the Juniper,  a seven-story, 240-unit multifamily complex with an estimated cost of $160 million. In January, Westdale Real Estate delivered Good E — a redevelopment of an Elm Street block with five commercial buildings comprising 30,000 square feet.

—Quinn Donoghue