WITH $361 MILLION ON THE WAY, HPISD PRIORITIZES ITS CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS 40
DECEMBER 2015 I Vol. 35, No. 12 parkcitiespeople.com @pcpeople
Hope on Hillcrest
E D U C AT I O N HPHS student volunteers open closets for cause
A DEVELOPER CHASES A FRESH VISION FOR A PARK CITIES EYESORE
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LIVING WELL C H R I S M C G AT H E Y
By Todd Jorgenson
People Newspapers
J
im Strode’s new property is one of the most talked-about sites in the Park Cities, although not always for the right reasons. Strode recently closed on a purchase of the old Chase Bank office tower on Hillcrest Avenue. It has sat dormant for years amid failed attempts at redevelopment by its former owner, Park Cities businessman Albert Huddleston, who had previously resisted opportunities to sell it. Now, Strode hopes to transform the eyesore with an eye-catching new look. “We’re just hoping to make a clean break,” said Strode, the president of Dallas-based Strode Property Company. “I’m not going to look back. We’re going to take our ideas to the city and get something done.”
Strode wouldn’t reveal specifics other than saying he hopes to bring a mixed-use development to the 2-acre property, which currently includes an adjacent parking lot and three small multifamily developments on the west side of the same block. “We’re just going to do what feels right for the location,” Strode said. “Many people have tried, and we just happened to be there when he decided to sell it.” Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Huddleston declined to comment through Bob Myers, the broker who represented him in the sale. One significant feature of the property is that it’s the only tract zoned specifically for offices uses in University Park. “That building occupies a prominent piece of land in the city,” said UP city manager
BUSINESS
Sharing secrets from a quarter century of Park Cities catering 12
CONTINUED ON 43
A STORIED STRUCTURE
Widow finds healing, career in therapeutic yoga
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2001 The Legacy Hillcrest Investments group buys the building and submits its first redevelopment plan to University Park.
2006
Legacy Hillcrest is granted city approval by the city for a development about 60 percent of the size of the group’s original proposal, but nothing happened.
2011 The developer proposes to build a
multistory parking garage on the site, but the city’s board of adjustment says no. The city won a related lawsuit on appeal in 2014.
2013
After several years in the building, the University Park Public Library moves to a permanent space near Preston Center.
SPORTS Remember the Scots: State champs celebrate 10 years 1B
C RY S TA L C H A R I T Y
COMMUNITY
What’s in a name? Tracing the origins of the annual fundraiser 30
Slow burn: Fire Station 27 is finally ready to open its bay doors 44