Time capsule home in Lakewood leads this week's 5 hottest Dallas headlines

This week's hot headlines

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Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that listhere.

1. Time capsule home with wild tiled bathrooms for sale in Dallas' Lakewood. A rare Dallas real estate find is on the market: A beautiful home designed by famed architect Cliff Hutsell and built in 1932 that's in nearly original condition. Located at 7226 Lakewood Blvd., it's an original Spanish Eclectic time capsule, on a rare double lot on stately Lakewood Boulevard, less than a block west of (and walking distance to) White Rock Lake.

2. New restaurant Nick the Greek with cute backstory makes Dallas-area debut. A new Greek restaurant made its Dallas-area debut August 11 with gyros, souvlaki, and pita sandwiches: Called Nick the Greek, it's a fast-casual chain from California and opened its first DFW-area location in Irving.

3. Celeb Dallas chef invents unique Italian restaurant with authentic pasta. An acclaimed chef is debuting a new Italian restaurant with a truly original approach. Called Miss Pasta, it's from chef Giuliano Matarese and his wife Tiziana Cosentino, and will open in the Shire complex at 3613 Shire Blvd. #100 in Richardson.

4. Sushi restaurant starring ex-Nobu chef to open near Dallas' Knox Street. A promising new sushi restaurant is opening near the Knox Street District this summer: Called Pearl, it's from Chef Shine Tamaoki, and will open at 4640 McKinney Ave. #130.

5. Dallas buyers must earn this much more to afford a starter home in 2023. A new income analysis by online real estate brokerage Redfin has revealed just how much more a potential homeowner needs to make this year to afford a "starter home" in Dallas, a concept that's becoming seemingly less attainable with rising mortgage rates and increased competition among buyers.

Photo by Sean Pavone/iStock

Dallas deemed the No. 8 U.S. housing market for growth and stability in 2023

HOUSING MARKET REPORT

Despite concerns about housing prices and availability in the state, a new study deemed six major Texas metropolitan areas some of the best housing markets in the nation for their growth and stability. And Dallas took the No. 8 spot.

In SmartAsset’s 2023 report, Dallas-Plano-Irving earned its eighth best housing market ranking due to its massive 213 percent home price increase since 1998. Dallas ranked seventh in the same report last year.

The report looked at home value data from 400 nationwide metro areas between 1998 and 2022. Overall, home prices have grown an average of 154 percent since 1998.

Considering Dallas is the third largest city in the state based on its population, the housing market’s skyrocketing growth was inevitable. Plano was recently named one of the best suburbs to buy a house in. The area is also home to some of the nation's best large employers.

Interestingly, the neighboring Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine market ranked No. 14 in the SmartAsset study. Home prices there have shot up 202 percent since 1998, the study says. It ranked 15th in last year's survey.

Five other Texas metro areas earned spots in the top 10 best housing markets, making it pretty clear why the Lone Star State has the sixth highest property tax rate in the U.S.

Austin-Round Rock earned the No. 1 spot with an eye-popping 354 percent growth rate, which is vastly greater than any other area in the country.

Two West Texas markets, Midland and Odessa, ranked No. 2 and No. 7, respectively, with similar growth rates of 256 percent and 226 percent.

Home prices in San Antonio-New Braunfels have tripled since 1998, a 204 percent increase, earning them the No. 9 spot. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land rounded out the top 10 with a 204 percent growth rate.

The top 10 best housing markets for growth and stability are:

No. 1 – Austin-Round Rock
No. 2 – Midland, Texas
No. 3 – Boulder, Colorado
No. 4 – Fort Collins, Colorado
No. 5 – Kennewick-Richland, Washington
No. 6 – Rapid City, South Dakota
No. 7 – Odessa, Texas
No. 8 – Dallas-Plano-Irving
No. 9 – San Antonio-New Braunfels
No. 10 – Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land

Other Texas housing markets that earned spots in the report include Waco (No. 13), San Angelo (No. 15), College Station-Bryan (No. 18), Sherman-Denison (No. 19), and Abilene (No. 20).

In a similar analysis of the worst housing markets for growth and stability, 13 out of 20 on the list are located in Michigan and Ohio. No Texas cities appear on the list.

The full report can be found on smartasset.com.

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Property Showcase

Okla. favorite Hideaway Pizza tiptoes into Texas with first shop in Plano

Pizza News

A new pizza purveyor is coming to Texas where it will bravely enter the Dallas-Fort Worth market: Hideaway Pizza an Oklahoma-based chain serving pizza, craft beer, and cocktails, is making its DFW debut with a location in Plano, at 5410 SH-121.

According to a spokesperson, the restaurant will open in mid-October.

Based in Tulsa, Hideaway was founded in 1957 by Richard "The Big Kahuna" Dermer and his wife Marti in 1957 near the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater. They became known for making deliveries via a fleet of Volkswagen Beetles.

In 2006, the company was purchased by Brett Murphy and Darren Lister who've successfully retained the anti-chain irreverent spirit and laid-back atmosphere, with employees wearing tie-dye shirts. Their help-wanted ad, for example, says, "We're looking for Weirdoughs and Fungi's to join our team!"

There are now 23 locations across Oklahoma and Arkansas, and they recently made a list of the "10 Established Casual-Dining Restaurant Chains Consumers Love" by Nation's Restaurant News.

Expanding to North Texas made sense because the area has many OSU alumni as well as Oklahoma transpants. The owners also observed that many pizza concepts have moved to to-go only.

"The pizza casual dining space has been vacated by competitors chasing delivery and quick dining," Murphy said in a December 2022 interview. "Hideaway offers premium pizza and a fantastic dine-in experience you can’t find anywhere else."

For pizza, they have two crust options: thin and hand-tossed, slightly thicker and puffier. There are also two alternative crusts: GF and cauliflower.

Signature pies include 17 options, from chicken Florentine with alfredo sauce to the Capone, with sausage, pepperoni, Genoa salami, bacon, red onion, black olives, garlic, and their "Parmesan-herb shake."

There are sandwiches, pastas, salads, meatballs, and garlic cheese bread. Their fried mushrooms are a big customer favorite, and beer is served in frosty cold mugs. Their Sweetza cookies dessert are big boys baked in a six-inch pizza pan and topped with vanilla ice cream. They also have a full bar.

Following Plano, they'll open a location in McKinney at 2101 N. Hardin Blvd. in early 2024, and have Fort Worth penciled in next.

Famed Seattle piroshky bakery makes stop in Dallas on Texas-wide tour

Meat Pie News

A Seattle bakery is coming to Dallas for a special pop-up: Piroshky Piroshky Bakery, which specializes in handmade piroshki, AKA Russian hand pies, will stop in Dallas on a national tour.

The bakery will be at Outfit Brewing, 135 John W. Carpenter Fwy, on October 5 from 5-7 pm, with luscious offerings, both savory and sweet.

Piroshkis are small pies of Russian origin, made from an enriched yeast dough, with savory fillings like meat, vegetables, or cheese, the most traditional being meat and rice or potato and onion.

Piroshky Piroshky Bakery was founded in Seattle in 1992, and offer their pastries in all sorts of delectable fillings: from beef & cheese to cabbage & onion to vegan-friendly mushroom & potato. They make authentic pastries, as well.

Their piroshky are individually made from scratch and hand-formed into unique shapes that help differentiate the flavors and fillings inside.

The company has five locations across Seattle, and also sells their products online. Their original location at Seattle's Pike Place Market serves more than 20 varieties.

But they also make annual tours, just like a rock band, to bring their goods to towns across the U.S. They last came through Dallas in November 2022.

The tour features options such as:

Smoked salmon pate piroshky
Beef & onion piroshy
Impossible beef & onion piroshky
Ham, spinach, & cheese piroshky
Potato & cheese piroshky
Veggie chipotle piroshky
Chocolate cream hazelnut roll
Cinnamon cardamom braid
Pumpkin toffee braid
Caraway cheddar cheese stick
Poppyseed cinnamon roll

The full menu is online, and pre-ordering is required. The cutoff order date for Dallas is October 3 at 4 pm. There's a minimum of $50; individual items run between $5.25 to $7.25.

In addition to Dallas, they're also making three other stops in Texas:

Fort Worth at Martin House Brewing, 220 S Sylvania Ave. on October 4, from 5-7 pm. You must order by October 2; pre-order here.
Austin at Twin Creeks Park, 2303 Dervingham Drive, Cedar Park, on October 6, from 5-7 pm; pre-order here.
Houston at Elks Lodge, 10150 W Airport Blvd, Stafford, on October 7, from 5-7 pm; pre-order here.

Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas initiates action to save birds from dying

Bird News

Reunion Tower, the little ball on the Western edge of downtown Dallas, is famous for its sassy light shows illuminating the Dallas skyline. But in recent years, the building has followed a bird-friendly policy of dimming its lights, and that dimming is about to get underway.

From October 1 through October 21, Reunion Tower will observe the following lighting schedule:

Sundown to 11 pm: lower its lights
11 pm-6 am: go completely dark
6 am-sunrise back to dim

The building enacts these changes to protect birds that are migrating through Texas.

Dallas is on the path of the Central Migratory Flyway, which extends from the Northwest and heads diagonally southeast through Mexico.

Every fall and spring, nearly two billion birds travel through Texas. The bird migration is one of the largest on the planet, and takes place at night. Light attracts migrating birds, making them vulnerable to collisions with buildings and causing them to become disoriented and distracted.

Birds get pulled into urban areas, collide into buildings, and die. Volunteer surveys - in which people go out and count actual dead bodies - in cities such as Dallas, Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth, finds hundreds of dead birds every night. It adds up to nearly a billion birds killed in the U.S. each year.

Dallas-Fort Worth is the third most dangerous area in the U.S. for migratory birds to travel through; Chicago is No. 1, followed by Houston which is No. 2.

As this map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows, Dallas and Houston are both massively lit, representing major obstacles to the success and survival of the birds' migration.

Lights Out Texas was initiated as a statewide effort in Spring 2020 to protect birds from light pollution by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and BirdCast, with the essential support of founding Texas partners Houston Audubon, the Dallas Zoo, and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

According to Audubon, the actual critical migration period through Dallas is September 6 through October 29. A glittery skyline is surely pretty, but downtown should just shut it down during those times.

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