New complex across from original development won’t include retail but will bring total number of residential units in the ilume Village to 556
‘AMENITIES ON STEROIDS’ | The ilume Park development, shown in an artist’s rendering, is being described by the developer as ‘ilume with amenities on steroids.’ (Courtesy of the Crosland Group)
The new ilume Park development, which sits diagonally across from the original ilume on Cedar Springs Road, should begin leasing next fall.
According to developer Luke Crosland, this will be the second of about 16 ilumes planned across the country. The next to be announced will probably be a property in the heavily LGBT Montrose area of Houston, he said.
Crosland said while the design of the new Oak Lawn complex complements the original ilume, ilume Park will have no retail.
When ilume Park opens, the combined complexes will be known as ilume Village and include a total of 556 residential units.
Crosland described the new complex as “ilume with amenities on steroids.”
When Crosland acquired the property, he said the previous buildings had already been torn down, and the property came with plans the previous owner was going to use. That gave Crosland Group a jump on development.
In addition to an exterior that now mimics without duplicating the original ilume, the biggest upgrades will be to the amenities. Crosland described a “great room” that will be the centerpiece of the property.
“Like a large hotel lobby — with shuffleboard, pool table, theater with 90-inch TVs, a lounge that divides into small areas,” he said.
The new ilume will include a 4,000-square-foot fitness facility plus a stand-alone free-weight room.
SAFETY CONCERNS | The ilume Park property is shown in this photograph taken from the original ilume. Pedestrian safety improvements are planned along Cedar Springs Road in the area before the new complex opens. (Courtesy of the Crosland Group)
A pet lounge will include a full-service pet washing and grooming salon with puppy showers, drying tables and dryers. That area will even have a pet vending area.
The property will contain a large, secure dog-walk area and a dog fountain pets can play in.
“Residents can cross-use facilities,” Crosland said.
Like the residents at the original property, those living at ilume Park will get discounts at restaurants and shops in the ilume.
Crosland said he has met with city officials twice about traffic near his new property. His concern is improved sidewalks and landscaping along Cedar Springs Road.
“Light up all of Cedar Springs like Main Street downtown during Christmas,” he said.
As part of the plan to make Cedar Springs safer for pedestrians, three upgrades are scheduled for the street near ilume. One is a traffic light at the intersection at Knight Street.
Cedar Springs Merchants Association Executive Director Scott Whittall said the traffic light is funded and it’s a work backlog that has delayed installation of the signal. Several of the pedestrian accidents that occurred on the street last winter happened near that intersection.
Some reconstruction will be needed on the corner of Cedar Springs and Douglas Avenue for planned changes there. A right turn lane and small island will be removed at that intersection so that cars will have to slow to make the turn.
Crosland said that change will make it safer for residents of ilume Park to walk to Kroger. At a meeting earlier in the summer, Dallas traffic department project manager Steve Cherryholmes said that the light system at that corner was more than 30 years old and changing any part of it would require replacing all of the lights at the intersection. One of the signals stands on the island that will be removed or rebuilt.
Those plans are on hold. The traffic department has more than a year before pedestrian traffic will increase on that corner due to the opening of ilume Park.
The last change in that block would be at the entrance to the Kroger parking lot. Traffic buttons are supposed to prevent a left turn into the lot from Cedar Springs Road. Drivers regularly ignore them, driving over the bumps and into the parking lot.
Whittall said there were several solutions for that including installing removable stakes where the buttons are now or building a center median.
A permanent median is unlikely to be approved because it would interfere with events on Cedar Springs like the Pride parade.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 24, 2012.