A $3 billion mixed-use project on the outskirts of downtown Dallas will include the region’s first Mandarin Oriental Hotel, in a deal expected to be announced today, providing the development with a big boost. Victory Park, a 75-acre project spearheaded by Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood, is one of a few ambitious U.S. developments that seek to create large-scale urban neighborhoods from scratch. Another particularly notable example, with almost twice the acreage of Victory Park, is Atlantic Station, in Atlanta; it was co-developed by AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp. and Jacoby Development Inc. The Mandarin Oriental Dallas would be Victory Park’s second major luxury hotel. A W Hotel and residences are set to open June 15. Construction on the Mandarin is expected to begin early next year. It is scheduled to open in 2009, with 120 rooms occupying the first 11 floors of the project’s signature high-rise, a 43-floor building to be known as Victory Tower. An additional 90 residences on floors 23 to 43 will range in price from $850,000 to $6 million. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, a unit of Mandarin Oriental International Ltd., is incorporated in Bermuda and owned in part by Jardine Matheson Group. Mr. Perot said the Mandarin deal would mark a major milestone “in our endeavor to create Dallas’ premier neighborhood.” Though welcomed by Dallas’s nearby central business district, Victory Park is nonetheless likely to compete with the city’s traditional downtown. The son of the former presidential candidate, Mr. Perot is building his project in the shadow of a new $420 million basketball and hockey arena. In addition to the W Hotel, owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., two midrise residential buildings are to open in the fall, plus a retail and office plaza. The master plan calls for 12 million square feet of retail, residential and office space.
News Article | 5/10/2006