Fry Street project in Denton approved by city council

by Josh Pherigo of North Texas Daily

The property value for the 4.3 acres is expected to increase from $10 million to $30 million and generate close to $750,000 in property tax revenue for the city.

Photo by Brandon Nichols

The Denton City Council approved Dinerstein's plans for a mixed-use building. The development will have apartments, restaurants, a parking garage and other retail spaces along Hickory and Fry streets.

The Denton City Council voted Tuesday to approve plans to build a mixed-use development of apartments, retail shops, restaurants and a parking garage in the Fry Street area.

The 7 to 0 vote aligned with recommendations from city staff and the Planning and Zoning commission and came more than eight hours into a marathon meeting that lasted into the early morning.

“This is exactly what we’ve been looking for,” Mayor Mark Burroughs said. “This is a true sustainable development initiative. I’m very enthusiastic about this project moving forward.”

The proposal

The project, proposed by the Dinerstein Company of Houston, would redevelop a 4.3-acre section of the Fry Street Overlay District bordering Fry, Hickory, Welch and Oak streets.

Denton Planning Manager Chuck Russell presented the city staff’s recommendation for approval. He highlighted the developer’s willingness to design the project based on community input given at three public meetings.

He said Dinerstein had incorporated architectural elements that drew on the 1920’s-era buildings that were raised as part of the failed United Equities development in 2008.

Russell said the property value for the 4.3 acres is expected to increase from $10 million to $30 million and generate close to $750,000 in property tax revenue for the city. United Equities still owns much of the land, which is expected to be purchased by Dinerstein.

Taking the podium to address the Council just after 1:30 a.m., Josh Vasbinder, a Dinerstein partner, said the facility would offer at least 9,800 square feet of retail space for shops and restaurants on the Fry and Hickory street-fronts. He said an additional 2,700 square feet would be available based on market demands.

Construction of Sterling Fry Street is expected to begin early next year and could be completed by summer 2012, Vasbinder said.

The four-story residential buildings would house up to 620 residents in 194 apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms. Vasbinder said a five-story parking garage would be designed to aesthetically blend into the rest of the exterior and support retail parking on the ground level.

Vasbinder said the project would be built with the intention of gaining LEED Silver certification and place a high emphasis on environmental responsibility. A no-cost “bum a bike” program will encourage residents to leave their cars parked and reduce traffic in the area.

Mixed-blessing for local business owners

Mike Sutton, owner of Big Mike’s Coffee shop, said he is skeptical about the promises of a reduction in traffic, both during and after construction.

Sutton said he believes the construction will bottleneck traffic on the bordering streets, making a bad traffic problem worse. He also voiced concerns about the retail and visitor parking offered in the parking garage, saying it would be difficult to enforce.

“Who’s to say who can park there or not,” Sutton said. “Is it considered retail parking if a kid buys a pack of gum on his way to a full day of classes?”

A 15-year business owner in the Fry area, Sutton said he has concerns about the longevity of the development, citing other areas near campus that he said were at one time economically vibrant but quickly diminished.

To a nearby coffee shop owner, the prospect of hundreds of new potential customers means big bucks, Sutton said, but not necessarily in a positive way. He said an increase in property value will drastically raise property taxes and might force him out of business. When asked if those increased costs will dive up prices, Sutton left little doubt.

“It has to,” he said. “There’s no way around it.”

Gene Hartman owns the Campus Barber Shop, which sits on a portion of the Fry Street front property included in Dinerstein’s proposal.

He said he believes the development will be a positive addition to the area even though it will force him out of the shop he was been in for the past 50 years.

“[Dinerstein] has been real receptive to the community,” Hartman said. “I think it’s a real good project.”

Hartman, now in his seventies, said that while he has always enjoyed his spot on the iconic street, a change of location wouldn’t put him in retirement just yet.

He said the shop will likely relocate to a place in the area that will accommodate him and the other two barbers in the shop. Hartman said he hasn’t ruled out moving into the new retail space, but that relocating twice — once temporarily, then back after construction — might not be feasible.

“Things like this have a tendency to work out,” Hartman said. “It’s been a good 50 years, but I’m not ready to retire. I’d miss seeing my customers.”

If the project goes forward, Hartman has until March 1 to relocate.

Opposition

That “if” might hinge on the fate of a circulating petition.

Speaking before the Council, unsuccessful mayoral candidate Bob Clifton held what he said was a signed petition with more than 900 signatures that sought to force the city to turn the area into a public park. Clifton previously appeared before the Planning and Zoning Commission with the same document in June.

After making accusations to the Council of inappropriate connections between members’ municipal and professional responsibilities, Clifton said he would be turning in the petition in the coming weeks.

Clifton’s assertion that the Council members have “too much inbreeding” with city business came after Mayor Pro Tempore Pete Kamp issued a short statement at the beginning of the Fry Street portion of the meeting.

Kamp said that, as a director of the 1st Access Bank, she sought a legal opinion regarding potential “associations” the bank might have with the proposed development. She said it was determined there was no conflict of interest.

As of Wednesday the city secretary had received no petition.

Unanimous approval

Several residents spoke in favor of the project. Most praised the developer’s approach to incorporating neighborhood input.

Before motioning for an approval vote, Kamp thanked the developer for working with the community. She said she had been one of the Council members most opposed to the failed United Equities development and was impressed by the new development.

“Thank you for coming in, thank you for working with our staff, thank you for listening to them, thank you for listening to neighbors and their suggestions and incorporating it into your project,” Kamp said. “I like the project and I want to move to approve.”

Council member Chris Watts echoed Kamp’s sentiment about opposing the 2008 development and said he was pleased with the final product.

“This is a great example of what can happen if you wait for the right project,” Watts said. “This is what needs to go there.”