First Look: McKinney & Olive Tops Out
With less than a year to go before construction and finish-out are completed, leaders from Crescent Real Estate Holdings marked the topping out of McKinney & Olive. Located in Uptown Dallas on a 3.1-acre site at McKinney Avenue and Olive Street, the tower's neighbors include Ritz-Carlton and The Crescent. It's just a few blocks from Downtown’s Dallas Arts District and Klyde Warren Park. The building will be the tallest commercial building in Uptown, slated for an August 2016 completion. Here's a view of the piazza construction at the event Tuesday.
The rendering of the outdoor piazza. The special space will be filled with umbrella-covered tables, park benches, water features and more. The piazza, surrounding grounds and rooftop garden are designed by acclaimed landscape architect, The Office of James Burnett, who crafted Klyde Warren Park.
Crescent Real Estate Equities CEO/chairman John Goff says, “When we broke ground and unveiled the renderings back in June 2014, we were confident Cesar Pelli and his team had created a blockbuster design that truly embraced Uptown’s vitality. Now that the mass of the building is complete, the proof is here for everyone to see. Knowing that Pelli Clarke Pelli only takes a very limited number of new commissions a year, we’re truly honored they chose McKinney & Olive as their first building in Dallas. It’s been a great partnership.” John says the quality and design are unlike any commercial building in Dallas. In addition to its sculptural design, McKinney & Olive will feature state-of-the-art security, destination elevators, an outdoor landscaped garden on the fifth floor, a fitness center designed by Canyon Ranch and a conference center. There will also be 50k SF dedicated to ground-floor retail, including Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse.
The features of McKinney & Olive’s ultra-premium design are emerging including a two and a half story lobby with crystal-clear glass in addition to the one-acre piazza and community gathering space, and the canopy with eye-catching oculi that is both aesthetically beautiful and structural. Crescent leaders also mentioned construction highlights to come, such as the dramatic Carrara marble—extracted from the legendary Italian quarries that Michelangelo once surveyed and prospected—that will be installed in the grand lobby, Staffelbach is the planner of record for the entire building.
The corners of the building have been specially designed without supporting columns so that the floor-to-ceiling glass walls offer unobstructed city views up and down McKinney Avenue, throughout Uptown, over to Downtown Dallas’ Arts District and Klyde Warren Park, and as far as Victory Park.
The Beck Group is building the tower, which topped out Oct. 6. The Beck Group CEO Fred Perpall tells us the challenging geometry of the office tower allows it to tilt outward on the north façade, creating additional space as the tower rises. In addition, the building is designed so that corner offices have an unobstructed view of Uptown and Downtown Dallas.
Interest in the building is extraordinarily high, John says. Already, Gardere Wynne Sewell and Sidley Austin have signed on, and more leasing announcements are coming this fall. Crescent also expects to reveal additional retail commitments by year’s end. John says he's telling people if they’re interested, they had better get on board fast. The response has been very strong, he says, especially after people get a chance to get inside, experience the light coming into the building and see the extraordinary views.
The night view of the tower from McKinney Avenue. The project team includes Crescent Property Services as developer, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects as design architect, Kendall/Heaton Associates as executive architect, The Office of James Burnett as landscape architect, and The Beck Group as general contractor. The development is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification. In preparation for the fast-paced year as construction is completed and interior finish-out begins, Crescent has hired Angelique Wade as senior property manager for McKinney & Olive.
The tower is the first commercial building in Dallas to be designed by internationally acclaimed architect Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects’ Cesar Pelli. Pelli Clarke Pelli principal Gregg Jones says everyone at the firm is pleased that Crescent chose to complement the architecture with extremely high-end finishes —such as the beautiful marble that the team traveled to Italy to hand-select for the walls and floors of the lobby.
