This Year's Hot Headlines

Hot neighborhoods and house porn top 10 most popular real estate stories of 2014

Editor’s note: Another year has come and gone, so we are looking back on the most-read CultureMap stories of 2014. From the best neighborhoods to buy to the latest developments in high-rise living in Dallas, these are the real estate stories that had people talking:

1. Five best Dallas neighborhoods to buy a house right now. This was such a hot story that it made our overall list of most popular stories from 2014 too. To determine the next hot neighborhoods, we asked local real estate experts where homebuyers should invest their hard-earned money. These five kept coming up.

2. The most expensive homes for sale in Dallas right now. In June, when news broke that attorney Lisa Blue Baron’s palatial Preston Hollow estate was on the market for $37 million and some change, real estate contributor Candy Evans was inspired to find the most expensive houses for sale in Dallas at that time. Here is what she uncovered.

3. West Village completes Uptown Dallas domination with unveiling of 3700M. West Village officially secured its position as the epicenter of Uptown with the opening of 3700M. The fourth phase of the residential-retail wonderland includes a 21-story tower, two five-story buildings, 380 apartment units and approximately 37,000 square feet of retail space.

4. Most recognizable house on Inwood Road commands castle-worthy price. Anyone who has driven past the intersection of Inwood Road and Royal Lane in Dallas knows this house. It sits proudly on the corner, the imposing castle-like façade fully exposed, without a stone wall, tree or even a shrub to hide behind. And 10770 Inwood Rd. can still be yours for $6.399 million, down from $7.7 million.

5. $215 million resort will bring world’s longest indoor ski run to North Texas. If all goes according to plan, the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie will have a grand addition in 2018. Dubbed The Grand Alps, the $215 million development is an indoor ski resort and hotel that will sit on a massive, 350,000-square-foot property off Interstate 30 and Belt Line Road. The City of Grand Prairie announced the news in October.

6. Old Lake Highlands ranch with HGTV cred can be yours for less than $300,000. Ashley and Steven Walton found the home at 881 Berkinshire Dr. with the help of HGTV’s House Hunters. The couple says they were looking for a project when they moved out of their Uptown apartment in 2010, and they found it in this 1954 ranch near Hexter Elementary, which they put back on the market in July.

7. Uptown Dallas’ next haute high-rise promises to be a mind-blower. Back in July, real estate VIPs and select members of the media got a sneak peek at Bleu Ciel, the Harwood District’s next luxury high-rise. In addition to two- and three-bedroom units, Bleu Ciel will have a gourmet grocery market, restaurant, juice bar, bike shop, onsite dog run, two junior Olympic-size pools with cascading water features, and residents-only spa.

8. Jonas Brothers leave Westlake with $3.2 million parting gift in Vaquero. The Disney stars-turned-heartthrobs put their 7,360-square-foot Vaquero manse at 1724 Wisteria Way on the market. Besides the thrill of telling house guests who once owned the joint, the new owner gets six bedrooms and six-and-a-half baths; music, media and game rooms; and outdoor oasis replete with view of the Tom Fazio-designed golf course within this gated community.

9. Ballyhooed Preston Hollow Village reveals first round of restaurants and shops. In November, Preston Hollow Village, the much chattered-about, mixed-use development at the northwest corner of Walnut Hill and Central Expressway, officially released a list of phase 1 restaurants and retail stores that will open in early 2015, including Trader Joe's and Orangetheory Fitness.

10. Inside the Philip Johnson-designed stunner just listed in Dallas for $27.5 million. In September, the Dallas real estate world was buzzing with the news that the renovated Philip Johnson home at 10210 Strait Ln. had hit the market for $27.5 million. The New York Times called the home “almost campy” and said it was the “the most strangely fascinating thing” Johnson ever created.

3838 Turtle Creek Blvd. was once on the market for nearly $13 million.

3828 Turtle Creek in Dallas

Photo courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller & Associates

3838 Turtle Creek Blvd. was once on the market for nearly $13 million.

GP News

Grand Prairie expands to the south with new master-planned community

Goodland Grand Prairie

Rendering courtesy of Provident

Goodland Grand Prairie

The City of Grand Prairie is growing fast and expanding to make way for a new master-planned development south of US Highway 287 and along Tollway 360, in Ellis and Johnson counties.

The community development, called Goodland, is the result of Grand Prairie’s recent 1,500-acre annexation extending its southern border toward Mansfield. Overall, with the added land, Goodland will be a 5,000-acre site featuring 15,000 residences including townhomes, custom homes, and gated communities for 50,000 residents.

According to a release, it will be a “city within a city” and a 45-minute drive from Dallas-Fort Worth. Beyond housing, there will be shops, restaurants, schools, public and private event venues, regional sports fields and complexes, dance halls, churches, trail systems, city parks, ponds, and preserved green spaces.

“This is a significant step in our city’s development,” says Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen in a statement. “Unlike many of our neighboring cities, we have the unique advantage of new development opportunities to our south that will drive the growth and prosperity of our city. We recognized the opportunity and took decisive action.”

Leading the development is Provident, a Dallas-based real estate firm that has created other master-planned communities across Dallas-Fort Worth, such as Preston Hollow Village and Hillstead in Collin County. Provident has plans to work nature into the space design with more than 1,600 acres of creek corridors and floodplain land.

Plans are ongoing for a centralized mixed-use walkable Town Center, complete with civic buildings and other commercial development. Further south on the property near Highway 67, light industrial uses and other private employment campuses are already underway, projects that will contribute vital tax dollars for city growth and future expansions.

“This level of placemaking is quite rare, and certainly not easy to execute, especially in a brand-new community," says Provident Managing Director Rylan Yowell in a statement. "We are committed to a long-term vision with a desire to be good stewards of the land."

A new four-lane road called Goodland Parkway will link Goodland to Grand Prairie at Tollway 360 and US Highway 287. It's set to open by December 2025.

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