Mansions Phase 1-CS 970412 Northeast Tarr ant
Serving Bedford, Colleyville, Euless, Grapevine, Haltom City, Hurst, Keller, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Roanoke, Southlake, Trophy
-.~,, .~,-.~:..,~::~T~~- ~...~_~-nt~___.~__,,~ ._~._ ~ ~~~:~~~~.~' ~ "" ' -:
Saturday, April 12, 1~7 e,~,~,~.o~..- ~~[~ ~~
Apartments on way up
Euless City Council puts moratorium on projects "-
til pg d b ildi I d pi d d ::" ·
un it u ra es u ng, an sca ng stan ar s -.. .... *-'
t By Laurie Wilson supplanted by projects such as the Mansions by .~}- e~..-<-~,.~- ' .....'i~ · i%~ '?~ t - ' -
Sta#$qg~ero[ ~eDallasMornlngNews the Vineyard, a new complex that will o~n in · *~ ,~A:o . - ; ~c.~i :< "¢" ~ ': I ~'~'~'
EUL~ ~ In its time, the Soto Grande apart- With its heavy landscaping, stucco and stone *~.~. '~ ~
ment complex was considered cream of the crop. exteriors and attached garages, the Mansions '.,," L' ;" · ~ ' .... ' .....
With its clubhouse and prestigious golf course, it represents what Euless officials hope will ~ the '~ '~ ~ ~ ~" ~' ...... ' ~'~ ~'': ' ~ '
t was one of the city's most premier locations, future of apartmen*s in ~he city. [',.~}~ ~ '¢¢m~a :'d'-'C ..... /
I Today the complex is called Westdale Hills,
and it's one of many apartment complexes in the The move toward higher, nd projec~ marks a ~e ~ ~o-.i~ ~:
city undergoing extensive facelif~. Built during change from the city's checkered past with The Mansions by the Vineyard apartment complex now
the city's growth spurt 30 years ago, these apart- apartments, Most were built for the burgeoning under constructio~ on State Highway 121 south of the
ments are victims of time and must be refur- population and hel~d house people who worked
bished, city officials say. at DallasWort Worth International Airpo~. Delaney Vineyards represents what Euless officials
The Soto Grande, once so majestic, has been Please see $UL~ on Page fiN. hope will be the future of apartments in the city.
Euless to rewrite standards for apartments
Continued from P~$e 1N. dot and other areas that have not already been Despite ~11 their malnten~nce efforts, cl~y
Clty Council members are working on new developed with apartments, offici~l~ say the7 will continue to allow
apartment standards deslgned lo ensure that M~rcus H~les, owaer of the Maas~ons proiect menB to be built after the moratorium, wRh t~e
more apartments look like the Mansions. The along 1~1 between Cheek~parg, r and Glade new standards. That's different from the stance
council passed a 120~ay moratorium thls week roads, s~d raising the standards for apartment t~ken by some northeast Tarrant County cit~,
to halt new apartment applications until the construction will ~enefit all developers, however.
city's standards can ~e upgraded. "No good citizen would be in favor of run- ~uthl~ke cry lead,rs have taken a strong
"we've raisod the bar more and more over t~e down, di!~p~d~to~ apartments." h~ sa~d. "By eh- antl-apartmenl stance. 8~ying multi-family
years, but now we're making the ultimate courag~ng the ~st pr~act possible, they'll raise plexes drive down ~opert7 values and
reach," said council member Bobby Baker. "We the t~x r~te and horn, and commercial values, m~ny f~mflles Into the school dlstr~ct. ' '
need time to sit back and look at our ordinances H~v~ng a hlgher bar to jump over can only ~e Apartments h~ve alto become an lss~.
Bedford, where residenB h~ve said they doubt
to fred ways to improve what we already have ~tter for ~11 of us." w~nt more ~p~rtments. ~veral City Council e~-
and make standards tougher m the future. The updated standards are part of a four.year dld~tes ~n that clty ~re campaigning on
"Through the years, we've overbuilt, ~Bd Bow effort to cle~n up the clty's apartment ~mage. forms c~lling for no more apartments.
we're paying the price," he sa~d. "The 1960s In 1~2, officials approved an ordinance that ~uless officlals said they see the apartment
apartments won't go away, but we can do some- set standards for maintenance of apartment issue differently.
thing about the new ones coming in.' units. The ordinance is the first of Rs kind in the "We re~llze that it takes ~11 aspects of de~10~
The roughly 1,500 apartment unRs that al- ~r~ to take an aggressive stance toward run- merit lo create a clX," Mr. Henn~g s~d. "We want
ready are under construction in the city will not down propertl,s. ~ m~n~ge~ble b~l~nce between ap~rtments'~nd-
be affected by the new standards. "The concerns we have are f~r more th~n ~ homes. But not everyone c~n Mford to l~v*
But future projects w~ll be exacted to h~ve fresh co~t of p~nt," sa~d Assistant CRy Man~ger $1~,~ hom~. It t~kes ~11 ty~s of l~v~g
higherqu~lity m~sonry, landscaping, fencing, loe Hennig. "~here are a couple of pockeB in ronments.'
security, parking and fewer units per complex, our clW that ri,ed s~gnfficant updates, and this ~s ~. Lib ~leh s~id upsc~le apartments llke'.the
"We've tended to look at commercial property th, tool that we use to enforc~ those upgrades." M~nstons ~nd the Villages at Bear qreek 0~fer
when we talked ~bout tougher standards, but we Ho cRed th, State Highway 10 corridor as ~n ~Itern~tives to those who don't wagt to ~uy
need to focus our effor~ on th~ stgnfflc~nt type ~r~ w~th ~p~mmenm that need ~mprovemenm. home.
of development now," s~id Mayor M~ry Lib ~- This ~ro~, he ~id, w~s once ~ major thorough- "There ~re ~ lot of ~ople with a lot of money
leh. She sam the c~ty's 9,000 apartment unRs fare bat has since becomo rundown, who ch~se to live m apartments," she said.
represent almost 50 percent of its housing. Most ~p~rtment complexes ~re working w~th "They m~ght not wahl to buy a house or ~ey
CRy officials said they'd like to encourage the cl~ to improve their properties as they can tr~vel. But they're certainly welcome to l~ve
developers to look at the State Highway 121 corri- afford to, he sa~d. here."