01/07/07    HAMILTON PARK

It does not surprise me that Hamilton park (North Dallas area is at a crossroads, Dallas Morning News, 01/07/07 Metro Section) is hot property.  It is near the DART train line from Plano to downtown Dallas, which makes it an ideal site for yet another one of those retail/condo developments that are being produced at such an alarming rate.

You have seen them all over the place from around Haskell Blvd. in Dallas to downtown Plano.  If you have seen one, you have seen them all, as they look all the same.

Don’t know what the occupancy is in these rail line “developments”.  Is there actually a demand for them?  Are they full or are they speculation waiting for an upturn that will never come.   They seem to be quite the rage.

I have a few questions:

1)   Wonder what took them so long to realize that Hamilton Park was a prime site?

2)  Wonder how long these new developments will last before they become the
slums of tomorrow?  The raised apartments along Manderville Lane lasted less than 25 years before they were a blight on the community.

3)  Wonder if City Hall will get involved to remove the Hamilton Park residents
from their homes like the city did with the Timber Creek Apartments and the
Ash Creek Mobile Home Park?  Maybe the Appraisal District can jack up the valuations in Hamilton Park to tax the residents out of their homes like they are doing in the rest of the city.  This will occur once the first sales are made to this developer.

4)  Wonder if the developers have to pay royalties on the use of the design
on their projects, as one project seems to look the same as the others?

The conduct of the real estate agents toward the residents of Hamilton Park is not surprising.   Not giving straight answers to questions unless they sign a listing agreement!   It reminds me of author Patrick O’Brien’s Captain Aubrey when he was asked if his crew was going to take shore leave:  “Oh, yes, yes! The rest of them are certainly coming ashore – they are lining the rail in their shore-going rig, with money in their pockets, their eyes staring out of their head and their ***** a yard long.”

David W. Tuthill