Developers are ramping up construction on one of north Oak Cliff's most anticipated real estate projects.
The 11-acre Bishop Arts mixed-use project at Bishop Avenue and Ninth Street has been in the works for years and is just south of the historic Bishop Arts commercial district.
Now longtime property owner Exxir Capital is pushing ahead with residential, retail and public spaces in the second phase of the project.
"Everything is in place, and it breaks ground next week," said developer Michael Nazerian. "It's been over a decade in the making, and we are very proud of it."
Construction will include 246 apartments on a public plaza with 12,000 square feet of retail. It will join the 42,000 square feet of retail and office space that Exxir Capital is already building across the street.
Most of the buildings will be between two and four floors. Two-story arched entryways to the development will face the street. The project will have more than 500 spaces of public parking.
The project will use only 60 percent of the square footage permitted for the site, so there is more open space available, Nazerian said.
"We hope the overall project will serve as a place for all the people of Dallas to be able to enjoy and connect in a beautiful, charming outdoor environment, populated by graceful housing and creative entrepreneurs," he said. "We have put design and human-scale experience first, working with artists and craftsmen."
Exxir Capital's Bishop Arts project replaces small homes and older apartment buildings that once occupied the site between Davis Street and Jefferson Boulevard. The project is in an area seeing huge redevelopment with several new apartment communities and additional retail.
Nazerian said his firm plans to be a long-term player in Bishop Arts.
"This is a family legacy project, funded without outside equity, so we are able to make decisions for the coming decades, not a three- to four-year time horizon," he said. "I think this, coupled with the fact we have spent 10-plus years in the Bishop Arts neighborhood to gain a true understanding of it, will result in a special project that can help serve as the core of a great urban neighborhood."
