Apartment News

New luxury residences at former DISD building will keep cool facade

The Academic will go into the old DISD HQ.

Rendering courtesy of TBG Partners

Construction is underway on a new multi-family development going into the old Dallas Independent School District (DISD) administration building at 3700 Ross Ave.

Called the Academic, the development from Leon Capital Group will repurpose the site with an eye towards keeping historically relevant bits.

It'll keep the main entrance and facade, plus the two-story main building and several oak trees.

Preservation of the structure was included in the zoning ordinance. Leon consulted with the Landmark Commission to identify which parts of the 70-year-old building could be saved.

The Academic will be a luxury community situated on four acres, with a five-story, Class A apartment community with 365 units, including studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartment homes, ranging from 500 to 1,150 square feet.

Amenities include private balconies/patios and yards; 10- to 12-foot ceilings; quartz/granite counters and stainless steel appliances; full-size washers/dryers; and oval tubs with separate glass-enclosed showers.

Community amenities include a club house with golf and sports simulators; convenience mart; executive business center with flex office; resort-style pool; and fitness center.

The development will also include a six-story parking structure and exterior materials of cast stone, stucco, wood and metal.

"Through our preservation work, The Academic is a nod to the area's original essence, returning Ross Avenue to its fabric and vision,” says Carl Starry, a managing director of multifamily for Leon Capital Group.

"The transformation of the DISD administration building into The Academic has been a true collaboration made possible by the community, Leon Capital Group, and our design team working together for the best outcome," he says.

That design team included Architecture Demarest, Urban Structures, Basharkhah Engineering, Spiars Engineering, and DesignSixTwo.

Leon Capital Group is a Dallas-based investment company with a focus on real estate that's also developing three other projects: Society 190, a luxury apartment community in Richardson; Lakeyard District near the Grandscape development; and Hangar 19 located within Centerport just south of DFW International Airport.

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No Cap

Dallas was a top-10 destination for Gen Zers on the move for 2023

Photo by Lance Asper on Unsplash

Who wouldn't want to live in a Gen Z paradise like Dallas?

As Gen Z enters adulthood, many are flocking to the nation's biggest cultural hubs like New York City, Los Angeles — and now Dallas, which had the ninth-highest inflow of Gen Zers in 2023.

Dallas' new reputation as a Gen Z hotspot was unveiled in a recent report by American home improvement brand This Old House, which analyzed migration trends across multiple generations using 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Dallas saw an influx of 13,770 Gen Z residents last year to become the generation's No. 9 most popular city. That's 4,223 more Gen Zers than the net migration rate from 2022, the report found.

Real estate marketplace Zillow seems to agree on a statewide scale, declaring Texas as the No. 1 destination for Gen Zers on the move in 2024.

However, as Gen Z Dallasites may have learned, it's going to take a big bite out of their paychecks to live in such a highly sought after city. A March RentCafe housing cost analysis predicted Gen Z adults living in Dallas are likely to spend over $149,000 on rent by the time they are 30 years old.

While Dallas saw big gains in its Gen Z population last year, many other big cities saw a mass exodus. Plano, for example — which gained 1,295 Gen Z residents in 2022 — lost 4,028 Gen Zers in 2023, the report discovered.

The biggest Gen-Z exodus was in El Paso, with a drop of 5,607 — "a sharp turn from 2022 when the city saw an increase," the report said. "Other cities, including Plano, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; McKinney, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, are seeing similar declines."

"Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation are also moving away from major cities, particularly New York City and Washington, D.C.," the report said. "They’re heading to some of the same cities as Gen Z, including Houston and Jacksonville, Florida."

The top 10 cities that gained the most Gen Z residents in 2023 are:

No. 1 – New York City, New York
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. 5 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 6 – San Diego, California
No. 7 – Seattle, Washington
No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas
No. 10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

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