After working for 7 years to assemble land in the Bishop Arts District, the Nazerian family is about to break ground on a new development they are calling Bishop Arts Village. They are starting with utility work this month and may have the first two buildings coming out of the ground by the end of the year according to Advocate Oak Cliff.
Those buildings will be around 30,000 square feet (SF) and will have street level retail and second-story office space and should be open by the end of 2016. The overall project which could include a total of 95,000 SF and 400 apartments is estimated to cost $42 million by the time it’s done.
The development is on 4.5 acres bounded by Bishop Street, Madison, Melba and Ninth in Oak Cliff. This should be an interesting development because it’s a full two blocks south of the heart of the main Bishop Arts District and half a block south of Emporium Pies which is currently the southernmost point of the district’s retail (but still the best way to top off a Bishop Arts District visit).
I think the real key to the success of this project will be to make the buildings look old like they have been there all along, and then to fill them with interesting retailers and restaurants keeping the chains out. Stay tuned for more developments in the Bishop Arts District. It’s a fun place to eat and shop and should only get better over time if it remains true to itself.
Bob Gibbons is a Real Estate Advisor & Tenant Advocate with REATA Commercial Realty, Inc. which is a tenant advisory firm based in Plano, Texas. Bob serves companies in Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Richardson, Addison, Dallas and the surrounding areas and specializes in companies which lease or buy office and warehouse properties.