Food truck park on Greenville Avenue is still a yes

by Teresa Gubbins

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New Trader Joe's won't usurp it.

Photo by Sarah Blaskovich

The mock-up reminds of us Torchy's Trailer Park in Austin.

DALLAS — The announcement of a Trader Joe's opening on Lower Greenville where the old Arcadia Theater was will not rule out the previously announced food truck park planned for that space, according to landlord Madison Partners.

"The food truck park is absolutely not dead," said Madison Partners' Jon Hetzel. "We left room in our plan for it, and we feel that it's only being enhanced by its new neighbor."

Hetzel said that the arrival of Trader Joe's gave them a chance to redesign the space and add some important features, including a covered, air-conditioned dining area.

"There'll be a restaurant building, a commissary kitchen, and a covered, air-conditioned space," he said. "Our original plan consisted of Airstream trailers, but the city of Dallas changed the ordinances to make it more flexible. Previously, foodtrucks could only sit on a space for an hour, but now they can sit on private property for a longer period of time. That allowed us to add in the dining space. People made it clear they wanted an air-conditioned dining space for their customers."

Trader Joe's has slated the opening date for the Greenville Avenue store as fall 2012, and Hetzel said they planned the opening of the foodtruck park to occur "hopefully at around the same time."

As for parking, he said that the parking lot plans officially fall within the purview of Trader Joe's. "But there will be more than sufficient parking," he said.

"We will be demolishing the building at 5631 Sears and expanding the existing parking lot at 5623 Sears. In addition, we will have two overflow parking lots. One is an existing parking lot at 5614 Sears and the other overflow lot will be at 5610 Bell (both approximately half a block off Greenville). Our total parking will be more than ample to handle the Trader Joe's as well as the Food Park."