BIZ BUZZ

WHAT’S UP WITH NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES

Residential Revamps

Davy Crockett School will soon be a new residential development in the heart of Old East Dallas. Fittingly named The Principal, this project turns the 103-yearold school’s classrooms, basement and gymnasium into 52 apartments and gathering spaces. The National Historic Landmark served as an elementary school and then a Dallas ISD administration building until 1989, the last time it was regularly used. The structure will retain much of the original design, including its wide hallways and 18-foot ceilings. The original lockers, water fountains and many of the light fixtures will be incorporated into the final design as well. The school’s cafetorium and gymnasium also have been converted into apartments, which range from 500-square-foot studio lofts to 1,150-square-foot two-bedroom units, and will start at $1,000 per month. Some even have their own entrances, utilizing exit doors in the original building. Further north, the Village Apartments, which is North Texas’ largest rental community, has some major changes in store. The new development plan focuses on the property at Southwestern and Caruth Haven, and includes 300 new luxury apartments, a small hotel, retail and new tenant amenities. There will be an event space, a baseball and soccer field, executive suites, several dining options and a new fitness center as well. No tenants have been named yet but look for updates at lakewood.advocatemag.com.

FOOD BLUES

San Francisco Rose, our neighborhood’s last fern bar, will be shutting its doors sometime in the next 30 to 90 days, ac- cording to owner Boo Bradberry . For 40 years, it has been an outpost of the now-defunct fern bar concept, which was designed to attract a younger bar crowd in the 1970s with sugary drinks, plants and bright patios, all novelties at the time. Though the fern bar trend went out of style in the 1980s, the Rose has held on as a neighborhood bar and karaoke hangout for Lower Greenville. There aren’t many ferns left, minus one houseplant near the door, but this closing is one the neighborhood will mourn.

New To Town

A new brewpubis opening just off the Santa Fe Trail called the White Rock Alehouse and Brewery, which will be brewing its own beer and offering an elevated American menu adjacent to the Santa Fe trailhead at the Arboretum Village Shopping Center next to Ace Hardware and Tom Thumb. Lake Highlands neighbors Dave Kirk and Greg Nixon founded the new alehouse and want to serve the active lake community. The pub wants to be family-friendly but hopes to be a place that has fewer children running between the tables than other area restaurants. It will have a large patio and beer garden, and plans to open in November. Another new opening is headed to Lakewood. With Mexican restaurants on three of the four corners of the Abrams and Mockingbird intersection, Poke Bop will offer something new in the old Zuzu’s space. The East Dallas location will feature raw fish salad bowls and a “poke donut,” a circular sushi roll, and a “poke ritto,” a giant, unsliced sushi roll. Poke Bop hopes to open in December.

Familiar Faces

Five years after Velvet Taco opened on Henderson, the restaurant will add another East Dallas location in the former Pollo Tropical at 4622 Greenville Ave. Down on Lower Greenville, pizza by the slice experts Greencille Avenue Pizza Co. opened their second location on the east side of the lake. GAPCo has arrived on Peavy Road, in the shopping center with Cultivar Coffee and Goodfriend Package. Greenville avenue bar and restaurant LG Taps is under new management and hopes to be a neighborhood bar that lasts. Jason Caswell, a longtime restaurateur, has added TVs to the front and rear patios, along with oversized board games and Jenga. There will be fire pits in the back where patrons can cook s’mores, and all cocktails will be under $8.

Question:

I have noticed my parents need more support. Where do I begin?

Answer:

You can begin right in your neighborhood! Conveniently located in the heart of East Dallas, Fowler offers all phases of senior living. We will work alongside you to find the best answers for your family. You are not alone and we welcome you! For further information, go to www.fowlercommunities.org or call 214.827.0813.

By GEORGE MASON