Caven Enterprises has entered into an agreement with developer PegasusAblon to develop two residential-mixed use buildings on land now owned by the the company that operates several bars on Cedar Springs Road.
Caven, which owns TMC–The Mining Company, Sue Ellen’s, JR.’s Bar & Grill and Station 4, will sell its properties to PegasusAblon but continue to own and operate its bars. The sale involves property on the west side of Cedar Springs Road, from Reagan to Throckmorton Street, and at 4001 Cedar Springs Road.
PegasusAblon’s principal is Mike Ablon, who ran for mayor in 2019 and is best known for developing property in the Design District, changing the area from industrial to residential, restaurants and retail.
Development will be done in two phases, with the building behind S4 going up first. The possibly 20-story building will feature a waterfall and add parking to the neighborhood. The building will be separated from the bars by a covered “pocket park” that Ablon said he hopes will become a meeting place for the community. Several new retail or restaurant spaces will add to the ambiance of the space.
Caven CEO Gregg Kilhoffer said over the years many developers have come to him with offers, and each involved buying out the property and tearing down the buildings along Cedar Springs. He said Ablon’s offer was entirely different because, as a condition of the sale to PegasusAblon, the bars must remain to become an integral part of the new development.
Ablon said the property has more value to him with the neighborhood being kept intact.
Caven board member Ed Oakley said, “This will take Caven property to the next level.”
More information about the development in Friday’s Dallas Voice.
— David Taffet
It was bound to happen one day
With the gay climate changing most young LGBT ppl are able to stay anywhere in the city and no longer need an area out of fear of acceptance. Cedar springs has had its run… Dallas has sold to big investors an million dollar corporations. Most of tew apartments are mostly straight residents. This high rise will bring even more. Eventually the clubs will be mixed or turn straight to accommodate the influx of straights. Rent will go up as well..
I have read several articles in D magazine, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Voice none have mentioned parling spaces for the 4 Caven gay bars. The bars are history, no parking, no permit.
I personally think this will ruin the “neighborhood” feel of the area. It’s already becoming unrecognizable with the new high-rise apartments in the area. At least they are keeping the original building that houses JR’s (for now). It’s over a 100 years old. Dallas just loves to tear down it’s historic buildings. I truly hate developers.
And you thought parking was bad now.
Did you read it? lol it said its going to ADD parking
How MUCH parking will be added? Enough to replace the parking spaces that will be lost to the buildings, PLUS the spaces needed to accommodate the tenants in the high-rise buildings being erected, WITH additional parking spaces for the neighborhood? Good luck with that. It’s a good exit strategy for Caven Enterprises, allowing them to cash out before their business peters out, but it’s just another nail in the coffin for a once-vibrant , human scale neighborhood (not to mention the cultural loss to the community). In 20 years, the rainbow crosswalks will be gone and the rainbow crossroads will be a historical footnote.
And you thought the traffic was bad now.
And you thought the air quality was bad now.
And you thought the roads were torn up now.
And you thought the line at the grocery store was bad now.
And you thought the wait for gas was bad now.
And you thought the Internet was slow and the water pressure low now.
And you thought property taxes were high now.
And you thought the displacement of native born and long-time locals was bad now.
And you thought public transportation was crowded now.
And you thought rent prices and mortgages were high now.
And you thought the countless strays and lost pets was bad now.
And you thought construction was bad now.
And you thought crime was bad now.
And you thought the sound pollution was bad now.
And you thought the schools were too crowded and education resources already spread too thin now.
And you thought the stress of living on top of each other was bad now.
And you thought the roar of jets was constant now.
And you thought the cost-of-living was high now.
And you thought the heart and character of Cedar Springs was vanishing now.
And you thought the homelessness was bad now.
And you thought the wait for shipping, delivery food and ride share was bad now.
And you thought the shortage of health and public resources was bad now.
And you thought the once vibrant, welcoming community felt cold now.
Gentrification is only good for those who can afford it. For all else it’s a plague.
do we see this as a good thing or a phase out? I am hoping for good things!
Breeders alert BREEDERS ALERT!!! What would FRANK think????
Driving and parking is already a mess in them at area. I can’t help but think that this is going to make it so much worse.
I think this is a good compromise. Many of us suspected that the block would be sold at some point. This appears to be a good compromise of retaining much of the neighborhood and moving forward. There is just one important aspect I can’t emphasize enough: PARKING PARKING PARKING! The neighborhood has already lost plenty of parking over the years due to new development. With this huge addition I just hope they overplan for parking, then it will be a big win for everyone.
Use public transport. It’s 2020. The days of owning a car are numbered. It’s simply not realistic to drive everywhere anymore. There is too much traffic. Stop advocating for parking and start advocating for better public transport.
If Dallas would give us usable public transport, I would love to use it. So in other words, for the foreseeable future I will drive my car.
The first and last time I rode public transportation (the rail when I was in Deep Ellum), I caught COVID-19. It was the most disgusting experience I’ve ever had.
Dallas public transportation isn’t effective as other cities like Chicago or New York, where a car is no needed.
I agree Jason. People whine about parking way too much. How often do you see DART riders going on news articles to whine about the lack of bus stops or something similar? Nobody is forcing you to use a car. You can walk/bike/drive/DART/taxi if you want to. There’s tons of underutilized parking spaces all over the metroplex. Subsidized free parking is destroying the places we love.
You can’t want acceptance and demand exclusion. Gay white men are okay with gentrification of black neighborhoods but all the while bitching because their precious Cedar Springs will soon be over run with breaders. Get over yourselves cuz this is happening! 🤣🤣😂😅🥲🤨
I have been living in oaklawn over 36 years and looks like the the gay historical Gay Cedar springs is going away with big Corp $$$ buying out the located .
Long Overdue.
I really hate to hear this. I live in Waco and use to go there to my favorite club which was S4 Before Covid hit and closed all bars for a time.I agree with everyone that has concerns about parking problems as well as a developer taking over the existing bars and clubs.Always know that the developer is going to tell you what he thinks everyone wants to hear until everyone signs the paperwork and then it is game on.I know the people in Dallas are smarter than that.Brace yourselves….lots of changes coming for CEDAR SPRINGS area as we know it.Hope I’m wrong,but if its happening in WACO, It can happen in Dallas.
If done correctly, and I believe it shall be, this could be a great compromise to what would eventually happen. Ive been part of this area wince 1985 and while saddened deeply by the brownstones disappearance, knew the handwriting was being written. I think Mr Frank would be laughing in his shoes right now. ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK. And looking for another area to develop as he did before.
Seems like a reasonable compromise. The gayborhood is severely underdeveloped compared to major metro areas, and this will definitely give us a competitive advantage to attracting more out-of-towners to the city. More visitors = an increase in tax revenue for the city. This appears to be a big win for our LGBTQIA community!
Another nail leading to the end of the gayborhood. It was only a matter of time for them to sell out. Really, I don’t believe the developers when they say how important the bars are to their plan.
I moved to Oak Lawn in 1969 from college to Douglas Avenue. I don’t think anything exists still from those days. Cedar Springs today bears no resemblance to what it did in those days, and it hasn’t for decades. That happens everywhere though. I lived in Manhattan in 1977 for a year and in LA the following year. When I went back to New York in the 1990s I couldn’t find my old apartment building at 28th and Third Avenue, and in LA in the early 2000s I couldn’t even find Orchid Lane and the old two-story house that had been broken up into apartments. It’s called growing old. Nothing stands still around you.
All this naysaying. The guy who’s developing this is largely credited with completely revitalizing the Design District. This looks great to me! I can’t wait for the pre-sale.
Okay so it is going to help the parking . I do not see that it is probably going to cost more to park than it will to go in the bars. I that is going to be bad on people coming from out of town or from other neighboring cities it will discourage them.
With the gay climate changing most young LGBT ppl are able to stay anywhere in the city and no longer need an area out of fear of acceptance. Cedar springs has had its run… Dallas has sold to big investors an million dollar corporations. Most of tew apartments are mostly straight residents. This high rise will bring even more. Eventually the clubs will be mixed or turn straight to accommodate the influx of straights. Rent will go up as well..
Dallas used to be 3rd or second largest gay populous and United States But we’ve lost so many Wonderful people over the years ,and the upcoming generation Does it really seem to understand What was Fought for to make it what it is today unfortunately it will to go away Just like everything else you can only stand for so long, if you are lucky to be here in the early 80s Hi really got to experience Dallas K. bars at it’s best.
This is so sad! This will completely make the historic gayborhood dissapear for sure. Please don’t do this!!!!!
Absolutely. Places need to always evolve. The gay community isn’t poor or struggling, it needs posh developments to live in so they come back, like me. I live in WV but if there was something great, id live back. the LGBT community and the ones arriving from likes of nyc and LA need and demand the best,….Dallas’s gay area hasn’t evolved in 20 years and theres not one bar that is even close to the plethora of gay bars in nyc that actually are cool and intimate. Let the current crop of primo gays influence the new evolution….they agreed to keep all bars and this will be great. Ihope for massive land value increases. And it happens with all great cities….WV in nyc then became Chelsea then HK….theyve planted in HK now with more bars than ever….the only way you get to influence is with $$ so I implore gays to make $$ and invest and then u get to influence.
The most accurate comment here and best advice too, everyone should take note:
“ the only way you get to influence is with $$ so I implore gays to make $$ and invest and then u get to influence.”
Grrrr.
Where did my comment go?
Chris: Check again and see if it is there. Comments do not appear until we moderate them. We do that to eliminate tons of spam
Oaklawn is a dump. Hopefully this development brings in some high quality gays and prices out the current residents
Sadly the neighborhood will merge with the parkland development and will become the new uptown with gays moving to plano.
It’s about time they did something to the Gayborhood. It looks trashy and very rundown. I think it’s awesome