Behind The Scenes Of The Union Dallas And Factory Six03

Two of DPR Construction's Jeff Parsons biggest projects—The Union Dallas and Factory Six03—are starting from completely different places. The Union is a ground-up development in Uptown, and Factory Six03 is a historic redevelopment in the West End. But both types of projects take a lot of work by GCs before construction begins. Hear more about DPR's projects at our 2016 Development & Construction Forum event on Oct. 20 at the Westin Galleria.

Jeff (third from right with DPR colleagues) and DPR are working on a ground-up development in one of the hottest areas of Dallas—Uptown. The Union Dallas will have 420k SF of office space and 309 units of multifamily. The 800k SF project is centered around a Tom Thumb grocery store and will have 87k SF of retail and a handful of restaurants.

After hitting site bottom at 50 feet below street level at The Union Dallas last month, DPR has started to lay foundation of the 22-story office tower and 23-story multifamily tower by Red Development and StreetLights Residential.

But ground-up work was hardly the beginning, Jeff tells us. As a new development in Uptown, DPR spent a lot of time in the streets surrounding the project, adding in water, electrical and sanitation infrastructure. That's a project within a project, Jeff tells us. HKS designed the project (above) on Cedar Spring Road and Field Street.

And on the other end of the construction spectrum, DPR will deliver on Granite Properties' Factory Six03 redevelopment in the re-emerging West End later this year.

Adding in lines for utilities may not be part of the job for a redevelopment, but turning an old shopping center built in 1903 into a mixed-use haven has its own challenges. Jeff says redevelopment is fascinating to him. Having grown up in Dallas, seeing firsthand how many neighborhoods and projects have been given a second chance has been fun.

Now Jeff and DPR have the chance to make such an impact at Factory Six03. DPR came on board early on to help with a feasibility study before Granite Properties purchased the seven-story, 237k SF building. This study showed how elevators, bathrooms, lobbies, restaurants, kitchens and more could be added into the building that had been sitting empty for a decade. 

After Granite signed on the dotted line and sorted out TIF funds and historic tax credits, DPR came on officially to convert the old building into a mixed-use project with ground-floor restaurants, boutique offices and 50 underground parking spots. DPR will also replace all building systems and windows. By removing escalators, the team can create a five-story atrium (pictured) accented by a skylight. GFF and Architexas are the project architects.

Hear more from Jeff, Jeff DeBruin, Rob Huthnance, Andrew Ord and other development insiders at our event on Oct. 20. Sign up here.