Miami developer plans its first Dallas deal in North Oak Cliff
Related Group will build apartments next to the former Oak Farms Dairy site.
The Related Cos. purchased 8 acres in North Oak Cliff for a new apartment project.(Cienda Partners )
By Steve Brown
9:03 AM on May 25, 2022
A Miami real estate company that’s expanding to North Texas has purchased a site near downtown Dallas for an apartment project.
Related Group has built and managed close to 100,000 residences in the last 40 years. The firm is especially known for its luxury condominiums in Florida.
Related Group just acquired a tract next to the former Oak Farms Dairy property, across the Trinity River from downtown.
The vacant site at East Jefferson Boulevard and Colorado was one of the Dallas locations Amazon considered when it was looking for a second headquarters site.
The apartment site, which is next to Interstate 35E, was once the site of the Burnett Field baseball park.
Starting in 2014, Dallas’ Cienda Partners acquired more than 30 acres in the area, including the old Oak Farms Dairy that it has been marketing to apartment and office developers.
“We couldn’t be more excited for having a firm as well regarded as Related Group come to Dallas and pick Oak Farms for their first project,” said Cienda Partners’ co-founder Philip Wise. “It’s been in the works for over a year, and they continue to be impressed with the site.
“They have never really been in Dallas and needed a project that was exciting.”
Related Group is eyeing a more than 400-unit rental community to kick off construction on the high-profile site. Construction will start on the project next year.
It’s one of several new apartment developments on the way in North Oak Cliff, with other projects in the works by Kairoi Residential, Mintwood Real Estate and Banyan Residential.
In March, Cienda Partners obtained $25 million in financing for the entire property from Pegasus Bank of Dallas and announced that a first-phase apartment project was in the works.
“Cienda’s Oak Farms development is one of the highest-profile sites from downtown towards North Oak Cliff,” Barry Hancock, one of Cienda’s founding partners, said in a statement.
With Related Group getting on board at Oak Farms, Wise said interest in the property is accelerating.
“We are fielding a lot of different inquires,” he said. “With Related coming, it opens up a lot of possibilities. We’ve got 20-story mixed-use zoning for the whole site, and it gives us complete flexibility.”
Related Group has developed more than 65,000 units of luxury real estate valued at over $20 billion.
Until recently, Related Group was a close affiliate of New York-based Related Cos., the developer of Manhattan’s massive Hudson Yards project.
“We’ve had our eye on the Texas market for some time now,” Jon Paul Perez, Related Group president, said in a statement. “Through the acquisition of this incredible site, we are one step closer to delivering a trophy project all of Dallas can be proud of.
“With its high visibility, proximity to downtown and access to the Dallas park system, Oak Farms is the perfect location for us to showcase Related’s unique approach to development.”
Related Group is expanding its operations outside Florida, to locations in Texas, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Virginia and Colorado. The company plans to build almost 25,000 residential units in the U.S. and Latin America.
Cienda Partners bought the old Oak Farms Dairy in 2014.( Staff Photo )