Urban Reserve Dallas… A new look at the environment.
Over Spring Break Matthew and I took the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) train from Plano to the Dallas Zoo. Watching the Plano, Richardson, Dallas city scape fly past you see a less than impressive standard mix of suburban homes, attempts at urban living, small business and light industrial along the track that you see along any highway or train track in the DFW area. (I will save my rant about Dallas’ fake attempts at urban living for another day.)
But just south of the intersection of Highway 75 and 635 off to the east side of the train a unique neighborhood peaks out of the trees and thick brush. These are not your standard ranch house on a postage stamp. This was a neighborhood of uber modern homes in a community called Urban Reserve.
According to Urban Reserve website: This is the first community of its kind:
a neighborhood of modern, single-family homes, designed by a select group of regionally and nationally recognized architects. Our goal is to create a unique lifestyle founded on a synthesis of modern design, ready access to nature, a respect for the environment, and the good fortune of a rare and beautiful location just minutes from downtown Dallas.
I am not normally drawn to housing developments that pontificate about all the great things they are doing for the environment. I support green development where it reduces the cost to build and to live in the home long term, but green for the sake of green is not my thing. These homes are built in a community that is trying to change the approach to development in the area. Started in 2005 with great ideas, the website shows homes with edgy designs and fun names like “Like a Houseboat”, “CubeHouse”, “Fish tail”. The homes are designed using the landscape as the guide and the city as the background leading to a feel of a true urban residence.
The CubeHouse
Like a Houseboat
From a location perspective you can’t beat the Urban Reserve. It is inside the 635 loop, minutes from the DART, and has access to the White Rock Creek Hike and Bike trails. An added benefit is that it is within the well rated Richardson ISD.
What’s for sale in the area… Mostly land and ideas. There are a couple housing starts and with spring there seems to be a lot of activity. The homes have a broad range from $300,000 to $1.2M, making this neighborhood accessible to a broad range of people interested in being apart of this new concept.
This is a great video featuring Diane Cheatham and Bob Meckfessel discuss the Urban Reserve community, and show some great views of the homes and community.
2Clarks Real Estate 