The two towers of Gables Park 17 combine office space with
luxurious green living at Dallas’ most sought-after address.
By Kim Singletary
Smack in the middle of, arguably,
the most prestigious area of
downtown Dallas, sits Gables
Park 17 — the city’s newest and
most resplendent apartment
community. It is here,
in two glittering towers, that everything
comes together — five-star amenities, prime
location and green living with pending LEEDcertification.
Gables Park 17 won a 2011 Pillars
of the Industry Award for “Best High-Rise
Apartment — nine-plus stories”
Co-developed by Gables Residential and
Granite Properties, Gables Park 17 is a mix of
office space, residential and parking. “Because of
the size of the parcel and the high cost, the only
possible development was high-rise towers,”
said Robert de Bruin, vice president of Gables
Residential. “We were approached by Granite
Properties to co-develop the site. They would
own the office component and Gables
would own the residential tower with a
shared parking arrangement so that we
could both benefit from the savings in
the parking structure.”
The result of this partnership is what
de Bruin acclaimed as “one of those
once-in-a-lifetime projects, where we
were able to build the cream-of-the-crop as far as
multifamily rentals in Dallas goes.” According to
de Bruin, the inspiration for Gables Park 17 was
the nearby, newly-developed Arts District and
Dallas’ new Woodall Rogers Park. “As you enter
Park 17, you will come across hundreds of original
art pieces by local artists displayed throughout
the common areas,” he said. “Each floor has been
dedicated to a different local artist.”
With 16 floor plans and living spaces that
range from one-bedroom, one bath apartments
to three-bedroom, three- and one-half bath
penthouses, Gables Park 17 is sure to offer a
space tailor-made for any discerning lessee.
“When developing this project, we really focused
on the interior design of the units, especially the
kitchens,” de Bruin said. “You will find custom
kitchen islands with glass top eating areas in
every unit. The glass backsplash tile and the
stainless steel upper cabinet doors offer detailing
only found in condos or high-end homes. We even
focused on the design of the dropped ceilings in
the bedrooms and living rooms to provide the
best possible rental unit in the market.”
And the individual units are only the beginning.
Those fortunate enough to dwell at Gables Park
17 are privy to a wide array of luxurious amenities
one would be hard-pressed to find duplicated at
even the most posh resorts including: an infinity
edge pool; private indoor cabanas that come
complete with iPod docking stations; fitness
center with floor-to-ceiling windows; a fully
equipped game room and Wii lounge; gourmet
kitchen with adjoining private dining room; and
even a 24-hour concierge. “You will not find a
nicer product and you probably will not see a
product such as Park 17 come online in quite a
few years,” de Bruin stated.
The primary architectural challenge for Gables
Park 17 lay in developing a large, multi-use project
that integrated widely different user groups, goals
and functions into one cohesive architectural
whole. Of course, there was also the fact that this
“architectural whole” had to fit on a relatively
small, trapezoidal-shaped city block.
Architectural firm, Good Fulton & Farrell, was
up to the challenge, and began by organizing the
project both horizontally and vertically. “This
meant taking advantage of the natural-sloped site topography
in order to provide both automobile and pedestrian access
points at varying levels along the perimeter of the building,”
explained Lance Braht, project designer for the residential
tower. “In addition, it was extremely important to have
unobstructed views from both the residential and office
buildings. This led to the opposing, curved facades, which
helped to open the space between the two buildings and
prevented parallel, long-facing facades from staring directly
into each other.”
Along with fine dining, boutique shopping and firstclass
entertainment options, residents of Gables Park 17
are also an easy walk to multiple transportation options,
including Dallas’ McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
(MATA) free trolley line and Dallas Area Rapid Transit
(DART). Location is just the beginning of the greening of
Gables. The community offers preferred parking to low-
emitting vehicles, carpools and fuel-efficient
vehicles, and for those that choose to bike to
work, changing rooms and bicycle storage is
available to occupants of both towers.
Green from the outside in, according to Thom
Powell, director of sustainability for Good Fulton
& Farrell, Gables Park 17 units include energyefficient
appliances and lighting and waterefficient
plumbing fixtures. “The finish materials
include rapidly renewable bamboo flooring and
FSC-certified wood; and all interior materials
were selected with low amounts of VOCs in order
to protect the indoor air quality.”
Powell also noted the use of separate airconditioning
units for each apartment. “The
separation of air conditioning units allows the
building to respond to the multitude of factors
regarding comfort,” he said. “Units on the north
side of the building will have different needs
than those on the south. Some units will be
shaded by nearby buildings when others are in
direct sun. The outside air temperature on the
twentieth floor may be different than it is on
the seventh floor.”
Gables Park 17 is currently awaiting LEED
certification, a process that Powell noted was a
true team effort between the builder, developer
and architectural team that included five LEED
accredited professionals. “When we started this
project, there were still only a few
LEED-certified buildings completed in
Dallas, none of which were high-rise
residential projects, and none were even
considering combining resources with an
office tower on the same block,” he said.
“The process to architecturally design
this project to reach LEED certification
goals required a commitment from
the entire team. Every member of the
team shared the client’s commitment to
achieve LEED certification.”
While Gables Park 17 may not have opened
under the ideal national economic conditions,
de Bruin noted that the quality of the project
has enabled it to succeed. “Although we opened
the doors in the middle of the depression, we
just stabilized the property last month, after
17 months of leasing,” he said. While noting
that things moved a little slower than the team
projected back in 2007, de Bruin added, “…The 17
leases per month was pretty solid considering the
status of the economy. The on-site leasing staff
did an incredible job, especially within the last six
months to get this project leased-up.”
Kim Singletary is editor-at-large of Builder
and Developer. She may be contacted at
ksingletary@penpubinc.com.
