Design District News

New Airbnb-style rental concept leases vintage building in Dallas' Cedars

It's halfway between an Airbnb and a hotel.

Photo courtesy of Bradford

A new lodgings option is expanding its footprint in Dallas: Sonder USA, a San Francisco company that offers short-term rentals — kind of halfway between an Airbnb and a hotel — has signed a lease for a full floor in a cool vintage building in Dallas' Cedars District.

According to a release, Sonder has signed a long-term lease for the second floor of Cedars Corner, at 1108 S. Akard St. The units will be available in February.

Sonder designs and outfits each space — referred to as a "Sonder" — and provides 24/7 staff support to guests.

Each Sonder is individually designed and outfitted with the amenities of home and comes with a 24/7 support staff for renters. The apartments range from studios to six bedrooms.

"Sonder is very selective about its locations and finish-out," says Josh Meraz, a broker associate at Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services who's working with Sonder to find sites in Dallas. "Property owners are now chasing them."

The company launched in 2012 and now have a portfolio of more than 9,500 short-term rental units in 30 cities, which are also the most popular travel and business locations globally.

Unlike Airbnb rentals, Sonder holds the lease on each property. This hybrid experience is meant to be similar to staying in a hotel, but in a private home in a neighborhood.

This new deal adds 14 more units to Sonder's rapidly expanding portfolio of short-term rentals in Dallas. The most recent count shows 52 Sonder units available in Dallas.

Prior to the Design District signing, Sonder secured leasing and management rights to a 26-story, 270-unit apartment building currently under construction in the Dallas Arts District. The project, 1899 McKinney, is being built in partnership with Austin-based Rastegar Property. It is slated to open before 2023. It is Sonder's largest single site in the portfolio to date.

Meraz is working with Michael A. Merryman, Sonder's head of real estate in Dallas, to find more sites, focusing on Uptown, downtown, and Knox-Henderson for office or multifamily units that can be converted into short-term residential rental spaces.

hotels

Million-dollar homes

Multi-million-dollar gated home community The Preserve rises in Frisco

Preserve

A palace on the prairie of The Preserve in Frisco

Construction has begun on a multi-million-dollar custom home community in Frisco. Called The Preserve, it's situated among PGA Frisco’s championship golf courses and near the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, with multiple phases that will roll out over the next few years.

The Preserve is part of Fields, a 2,500-acre development in North Frisco off the Dallas North Tollway. Fields is co-developed and owned in partnership with The Karahan Companies, Hunt Realty Investments alongside investors Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital.

The development will feature retail, dining, entertainment, hotels, corporate offices, native Texas plants, flowers, trees, and 250 acres of park space. It's designed by the same team responsible for Plano’s Legacy West, led by Fehmi Karahan.

Phase 1 of The Preserve will feature 233 homes crafted by 10 North Texas luxury homebuilders: Alford Homes, Coats Homes, and Starside Builders have all begun home construction. The other seven are The Preserve Bella Custom Homes, Endurance Homes, Faulkner Perrin Custom Homes, Hawkins-Welwood Homes, Shaddock Custom Builders & Developers, Sharif & Munir Custom Homes, and Ventura Custom Homes, for whom construction will start soon.

The Preserve Frisco The Preserve in Frisco, soon to be covered with homes.The Preserve

Lot sizes range from 6,800 square feet to more than an acre. Home design options will incorporate high ceilings, open floor plans, glass walls, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor such as patios, infinity pools, and landscaped exteriors.

The surrounding area will have more than 2,000 new trees plus views delivered via design elements such as floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive outdoor living areas.

Many of the homes will address sustainability, health, and wellness with green architecture, energy efficiency, water conservation, and recycled building materials.

It will combine the privacy of a gated community with resort-style living, featuring amenities such as the PGA golf courses, 20+ miles of hike and bike trails, and the exclusive Brookside Club with an expansive swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, tennis and pickleball courts and a playground.

Prices will start at $3,500,000.

Hunt Realty SVP Todd Watson calls it one of the most anticipated mixed-use projects in the area -- æa perfect location for discerning buyers seeking their forever home or a secondary residence" — although he's involved with the project so he's probably biased.

“As part of the Fields development, with prominent neighbors like PGA of America and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, we know The Preserve will be one of the most sought-after addresses in North Texas," Watson says.

According to the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, Frisco’s population has increased by 500 percent in two decades and was recently recognized as the fastest growing city in Texas and third across the U.S.

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