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[TALLJOSH]

Club Blue developer tangles with city


Fate of tower projects linked with violence at troubled nightspot

09:16 AM CDT on Sunday, October 1, 2006


By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News

Under way on the streets of downtown Dallas is a multimillion dollar game of chicken the likes of which the center city has never seen.
Rita Sweeney envisions a gleaming condominium tower soaring higher than many of Dallas' tallest buildings in a section of downtown still reeling from last decade's real estate bust.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...01clubblue.jpg MATT NAGER/DMN
Clubgoers gather outside Blue in downtown Dallas, a destination as well-known to police as it is to young revelers.



And the Dallas investor wants $12 million in public tax incentives to help develop the proposed 52-story high-rise and renovate the adjacent Tower Petroleum Building into a hotel.
But despite City Hall's seemingly insatiable appetite for downtown development – and its willingness to provide tax incentives to most anyone willing to gamble on the center city – some City Council members say they're not yet interested in Ms. Sweeney's proposal.
Her most recent redevelopment project, the Hart Furniture Building on Elm Street that houses mega-nightclub Blue, is a dangerous blight on an otherwise rebounding downtown, some council members say. The city gave Ms. Sweeney more than $1 million in tax increment financing funds to rehabilitate the deteriorating structure.
So until Ms. Sweeney orders tenant Blue to satisfy a list of conditions – banning cellphones, installing metal detectors, increasing security, outlawing glass containers and requiring all patrons to be at least 21 – she can build her new Tower Residences and hotel project herself, without taxpayers' help, the council members say.
Mayor Laura Miller goes further.
"They didn't perform. They promised a fine dining restaurant and didn't deliver. They created the worst crime-generating project in downtown right now," Ms. Miller said. "I don't think the Sweeneys should get one red cent for anything they do now or in the future."
And if that means risking the construction of a $116 million project, as Ms. Sweeney says it will?
"So be it," Ms. Miller said.

Crime issues

Ms. Sweeney says city officials have unfairly vilified Blue when, if anything, the club each year draws tens of thousands of revelers to downtown who wouldn't otherwise visit.
She said any large nightclub will invariably experience crime issues, but Blue has taken "extraordinary measures" to mitigate them, from hiring off-duty Dallas police officers to searching club patrons upon entry. Most crimes the city attributes to Blue actually occur blocks away from the club, either on public streets or in parking lots Blue doesn't own, she contended.
Besides, Ms. Sweeney added, the city knew from the start that a large nightclub would be operating within the Hart Furniture Building on Harwood Street and Pacific Avenue when it offered public tax increment financing incentives to help rehabilitate the building.
Now, the fate of potentially the tallest building to be built downtown in a generation should not hinge on false perceptions of an unrelated development, she said.
"If they didn't want a nightclub in this building, that's all they had to say, and it would have been toast," Ms. Sweeney argued. "Now the city wants us to patrol lots we don't own – something we can't legally do. And if something happens in parking lots, even if it's blocks away, they attribute it to this club.
"The city is taking a very short-sighted approach to this," she added. "They're holding back a $100 million development – for what?"
Blue owner Keith Black said the city's displeasure with Blue, which opened three years ago, goes beyond perceptions of crime.
"Because our clientele is predominantly African-American, Hispanic and Asian, that doesn't fit in the model they have for downtown Dallas," Mr. Black said. "They should look at us as a success story in downtown Dallas. You're safer in club Blue than you are walking on the street in the city of Dallas."
Ms. Miller says race is not a factor in city officials' opinion of Blue.
"Bottom line, club Blue is clearly the most problematic club I have in my division," Dallas Deputy Police Chief Brian Harvey said.
Between 80 percent and 85 percent of his division officers will be directed to the area around Blue during early mornings that the club is operating, he said.
The most significant problem, said Chief Harvey: Blue allowing patrons 18- to 20-years old into the club. Numerous incidents in and around Blue involve underage patrons of the club, he said.
"They end up drinking, and they don't have the emotional maturity to handle the social situation," Chief Harvey said.

Hotel-condo project

Built in 1931, the Tower Petroleum Building is a monument to prewar, art deco architecture. While it once was a focal point of downtown, it now sits amid a cluster of half-empty and empty buildings whose heyday passed long ago.
Renovating the Tower Petroleum Building into a 140-unit luxury hotel would cost $18.1 million in private investments, Ms. Sweeney estimated. A hotel operator must be announced within six months of the council authorizing a development agreement for the project, and the building must contain retail space, according to terms the city and the Sweeneys have already negotiated.
The proposed condominium tower at 1900 Pacific Ave. would cost $86.2 million in private funds to build, according to project figures.
Ms. Sweeney estimated that it would take 12 months from the date of the council approving tax subsidies to design and develop the two buildings and another 24 to 36 months to construct them.
As is stands today, the council's economic development and housing committee has declined to recommend offering $12 million in public tax increment financing funds to Ms. Sweeney and her business partner and husband, Lawrence, until they meet the crime-abatement conditions the city has set forth for Blue.
In February, the council also approved a historic tax abatement estimated at $2.88 million for the Tower Petroleum Building, contingent on Ms. Sweeney negotiating with city staff an operating plan for the Hart Furniture Building. Such a plan has not been established.
Despite their misgivings about Blue, some city officials are working privately to broker a resolution that at once addresses concerns at the club and saves the hotel and condominium project.
"The Sweeneys are good developers, and at the end of the day, we will have a great new development and a safe nightclub that doesn't cause public safety problems for downtown," said council member Angela Hunt, whose District 14 includes Blue and the land on which the proposed hotel/condominium project would be built.

'Dynamic' project

Calling the hotel/condominium project "dynamic and worthwhile," Dallas Office of Economic Development director Karl Zavitkovsky said continuing negotiations with the developers are proving fruitful.
"I'm sure not going to declare victory yet. But I feel optimistic. I don't see this as an either/or proposition. All interests can be served," Mr. Zavitkovsky said.
Asked if the council has ever tied the past performance of one developer's publicly subsidized project to providing tax incentives for another, unrelated project, Mr. Zavitkovsky said he did not believe so.
"Both sides have merit, but the city's interests always trump," said Larry Hamilton, a Dallas developer who's received city money to convert old office buildings into residential space. "The City Council isn't obligated to give subsidies, so if I had a tenant who the city considered a nuisance, I'd do everything I can to clean it up."
There's no easy solution to this situation, said Peter Armato, president and chief executive officer of Downtown Dallas, which represents center city business interests. But it's worth it to the health of downtown commerce for both the city and the Sweeneys to reach a compromise.
"The City Council is using appropriate leverage. The Sweeneys have a very good point," Mr. Armato said. "I hope they'll work it out."

'A nightmare'

As far as Ms. Miller is concerned, "I want nothing better than to see that club go away. It's just been a nightmare."
The mayor says she's particularly disturbed that the Sweeneys told the council they'd house a top-flight restaurant alongside Blue in the Hart Furniture Building. But no such restaurant materialized. Ms. Sweeney says market conditions downtown would cause a fine dining restaurant to fail.
In part because of the Hart Furniture Building experience, the mayor said she doubts Ms. Sweeney is even qualified to complete a hotel/condominium project of the magnitude planned.
Ms. Sweeney says she's qualified and plans to continue working with city officials. But she says she's unwilling to tell Blue operator Mr. Black, her tenant, how to run his operation. That includes telling him to ban people under 21, she said.
"They're trying to put him out of business, and they're trying to force me to put him out of business," Ms. Sweeney said. "When people haven't done anything wrong, I, in principle, won't put him out of business, even if it means not doing Tower Petroleum."

[Funkenstein]

http://www.dallasdancemusic.com/foru...inst-city.html

Sorry, bud, but you are a little bit late.

[Fluffy~Kush]

Well I missed the first time this was posted so thanks again.

Yet another reason someone on DDM needs to run for City Council.
Dallas needs young blood with a true love for this city and all it has to offer.

The current city council would not know a good thing if it fell on their laps.
They have no real concern with the urban development that needs to take place as most of them do not have constituent's who live Down Town.
Also the fact that they are all over the Age of 40 and have not and do not have a need for any type of down town late nite life makes this problem that much more worse, sad to say but most see more going on down town with higher crime rates rather than higher tax revenue.

[SOA Child]

We've all heard about the violence that goes on at Blue. It's been posted on here several times. I haven't seen it first hand, but I've heard about it from patrons and employees of Blue.

It's pretty irritating. The uptight city council FINALLY starts to come around to the benefits of an exciting nightlife, allows a large-scale club to be opened downtown, and the club's management turns it into a crime disaster. Great. What do you think will happen the next time a developer asks the city council to give it's approval/tax incentives for a new club? They aren't going to be as trusting as they were the last time. The #1 problem with the dallas nightlife and EDM community is a lack of good venues (IMO) and Blue is making the problem even worse.

It is already extremely difficult for clubs to get after-hours permits and dancehall permits, and this isn't going to make it any easier.

I think Blue needs to get it's shit together. No sympathy from me

[Fluffy~Kush]

Not so much sympathy more empathy for all clubs down town.

I can remember back in the daze when it took you over an hour to get from Commerce to Main in Deep Ellum it was so packed, now even on a busy weekend night it's not that bad at all.

Not saying that I miss that kinda traffic, but I know the shop& club/bar owners do.

Down town is slowly dieing and it has nothing to with what clubs are there it's the city's lack of growth management and stupid code enforcement to blame.

[david austin]

ZERO sympathy from me as well.

Blue's managements visions were much to large for its own good. Instead of building a foundation for a block of commerce/residential activity, Blue tried to be a superclub that everyone in Dallas knew wouldn't succeed. When the writing was on the wall that failure was immenent, Blue switched gears to the only crowd that would come. Unfortunately... creating the largest crime epicenter downtown has probably ever seen.

Blue will lose thier case... it's in the best interest of the Sweeney's to comply fully or forget thier own visions of the future dallas skyline. Its a tough situation to be in becuase you have contractual lease agreements with a ghetto club standing in the way of your future development.

The city and the developer will win every time... and in this case hopefully rid dallas of Blue... or any other pending superclub that will only turn into the same.

[david austin]

Originally Posted by Fluffy~Kush

Down town is slowly dieing and it has nothing to with what clubs are there it's the city's lack of growth management and stupid code enforcement to blame.

You are so far off base its not even funny...

Have you even paid attention to all of the projects going on downtown??

Blue is an unfortunate byproduct of overzelous prospect owners... it not only creates a major crime problem during its hours of operation, but now it hinders the desire from big corp. $$$ to be spent in the close surrounding area. You think a company like Starbucks wants to open a 24hr. place anywhere in vicinity of Harwood & Pacific?? Thats a TINY example of what this club has done to the proposed redevelopment of that particular area.

[SOA Child]

Originally Posted by david austin

The city and the developer will win every time... and in this case hopefully rid dallas of Blue... or any other pending superclub that will only turn into the same.

I agree with most of what you've said, but would just like to point out that there are plenty of superclubs all over the country that are successful, safe, and add quite a lot to the tourism and nightlife in those cities. Mega clubs do not always have to end up as total disasters...even in dallas. You just need someone who knows how to run one.

[david austin]

Originally Posted by SOA Child

I agree with most of what you've said, but would just like to point out that there are plenty of superclubs all over the country that are successful, safe, and add quite a lot to the tourism and nightlife in those cities. Mega clubs do not always have to end up as total disasters...even in dallas. You just need someone who knows how to run one.

They work for a reason. Population/Transportation within a particular mile radius.

Just about every superclub in america (I'm sticking to the US since electronic is the vast minority here) is in a very highly populated area. Big cities like Chicago, LA, NYC, Miami are vastly more urbanized than Dallas. Public transportation via subway/rail are also more widely available and cover a much greater area in more established downtown areas of larger cities.

The problem with the superclub in dallas isnt that it will never suceed. Its that we dont have the foundations for it yet. Blue is WAY to much club for an area that doesn't have A) People and B) A way for people to get there.

If Blue had been half its size I think it probably would have fared much better and even if the EDM scene hadn't worked it wouldn't have fallen into the trouble it has now.

[Fluffy~Kush]

In the end it does boil down to poor city management.
Look, you are talking about the city's lack of public transportation, and lack of peeps down town.
Little confused with you saying that DALLAS is not DIEING, and all the down town development and then saying that no one would want to open any business in certain parts of town, but perhaps I missing something.
But that has to do with the city planners office, and management.

I have seen a hundred places come and go down town in the past 5 years, and no matter where they are at they have to deal with the crime, because the crime causes peeps not to want to go down town, even the ones who live there.
Dallas is dead at 5 in the morning on a Saturday nite, thats not the case in 85% of large metropolitan city's like you mentioned, is lack of public transportation, or the fact that 75% of this city's population live in the suburbs, and have a fear of being down town in the wee hours?

Me I could care less, walked from the DMC to Deep Ellum before after a party and did not think twice, but I grew up being down town, and have no real fear of any thing bad happing to any more then in the little town I live in now.

I have only been to BLUE once to see Cadillac Don, and that was a hell of a show, 95% of the crowd was black or Hispanic for the most part, and the nite went well till the club closed and peeps started to congregate in the parking lots.
Then things got a little crazy, but the 5-0 was there and broke shit up real quick.

Who's problem is that the citys and the 5-0 or the clubs, I think it's a little of both.

[david austin]

Originally Posted by Fluffy~Kush

In the end it does boil down to poor city management.
Look, you are talking about the city's lack of public transportation, and lack of peeps down town.
Little confused with you saying that DALLAS is not DIEING, and all the down town development and then saying that no one would want to open any business in certain parts of town, but perhaps I missing something.
But that has to do with the city planners office, and management.

its not that easy.

History is your friend.

You have to look back to the 80's when over 70% of downtown real estate was vacant and had little to no promise of any immediate help.

It's taken 20 years for downtown to get back on its feet. Even still there are numerous buildings of 10+ floors that sit almost completely empty. The one thing the city planners and developers realized was that they needed people first. The reason cities rise within themselves is because the people are allready there. Dallas doesn't have that luxury. You can't have commercial development without foot traffic. Interesting thing is that there are plenty of people nearby, but unfortunately Uptown is separated by Woodall Rodgers.

Dart rail now runs through the heart of downtown. Not a complete blanket answer, but a good start to a city that doesn't have the ability nor funds to develop a multi-tier subway system that would/could cris-cross the downtown area and surrounding DE/Uptown/SouthLamar area.

Of course you can't just plan based on a one dimensional timeline. There are multidimensional arenas that need to be filled within close proximity to oneanother. The current problem now is that with all of the residential development the commercial is lagging behind.

You have to remember that the city doesn't run gas stations, grocery stores, dry cleaners, etc. You have to promote and sell yourself via kickbacks and tax incentives to entice private development.

This is where Blue comes into play. With the city in a critical time period to promote itself to privitized commercial development they can ill afford to have such a large stain on thier so called 'downtown revitalization'. During a 2 year period Blue has turned from a up-and-coming place to be to a crime haven. No city in the world could have acted any faster to cut thier loss. Remember that this club will not be the last club to open in dallas. It was just a model that failed in multiple directions during a time period when the city least needed it.

[ronin]

Originally Posted by Fluffy~Kush

I have only been to BLUE once to see Cadillac Don, and that was a hell of a show, and the nite went well till the club closed and peeps started to congregate in the parking lots.
Then things got a little crazy, but the 5-0 was there and broke shit up real quick.

Who's problem is that the citys and the 5-0 or the clubs, I think it's a little of both.

Hmmmm......i don't know what city management has to do with peeps congregating in the parking lot and getting a little crazy. ONLY to the point that the cops had to send them on thier way?

i'm not standing up for the mayor and her bullshit, but how can city management be responsible for the crime a PERSON(S) does or doesn't commit?

[transplant]

Originally Posted by david austin

ZERO sympathy from me as well.

Blue's managements visions were much to large for its own good. Instead of building a foundation for a block of commerce/residential activity, Blue tried to be a superclub that everyone in Dallas knew wouldn't succeed. When the writing was on the wall that failure was immenent, Blue switched gears to the only crowd that would come. Unfortunately... creating the largest crime epicenter downtown has probably ever seen.

Blue will lose thier case... it's in the best interest of the Sweeney's to comply fully or forget thier own visions of the future dallas skyline. Its a tough situation to be in becuase you have contractual lease agreements with a ghetto club standing in the way of your future development.

The city and the developer will win every time... and in this case hopefully rid dallas of Blue... or any other pending superclub that will only turn into the same.

Ditto. The restaurant attached to Blue serves great food and did you catch Lenny Kravitz when he played upstairs?

[Hubb]

i hope they close that shit hole down

[DREX]

Originally Posted by Hubb

i hope they close that shit hole down

amen...and about five or six other clubs down there as well