The New York Times

BOSTON “Samurai! Armor From the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection.” More than 140 objects, including armored horses carrying combat-ready samurai in full regalia, reveal the culture of these Japanese warriors, who date to the 12th century. April 14 to Aug. 4. Museum of Fine Arts.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/03/20/arts/artsspecial/21listings_ss.html

It’s springtime, which means that we’ve got a few months of patio drinking and dining under splendiferous sunshine and casual breezes before the mosquitos arrive — at which time we will be forced to fight small children for shaded tables.

With that in mind, as part of our Best of Everything series, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best patios in Dallas. These are the places we are most drawn to when it’s 80 degrees outside, with nary a cloud in the sky. In fact, in a few cases, the quality of the patio is enough to beckon us even if the food and interior do not.

Saint Ann Restaurant and Bar
Quite possibly the prettiest outdoor space of any restaurant in Dallas, the garden patio at Saint Ann is sophisticated yet unpretentious. That doesn’t mean you should come in flip-flops and board shorts; there’s definitely a style to sitting and drinking all afternoon here. Enjoy the great views of Uptown and soak in the classiness.

To access the complete article, please click here: http://dallas.culturemap.com/newsdetail/03-20-13-food-drink-10-best-patios-in-dallas/

Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry made a quick tour of California to remind business owners that life’s a whole lot easier in the Lone Star State. Perry’s California critics called him “Governor Oops” for his miscues during the presidential debates, and Gov. Jerry Brown dismissed the Texan’s recruiting drive as “not a burp,” and barely even a certain bodily release of gas.

Laugh away, Californians. But Perry is playing the stronger hand here. Texas trounced the rest of the country our latest survey of the Best Cities for Good Jobs, with five metropolitan areas in the Top Ten, including the four best cities to find jobs in the next few years.

This year’s winner is Dallas, which shrugged off the Nov. 2011 bankruptcy of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. to rack up 2.1% job growth last year and is projected to continue adding jobs at a 2.8% rate through 2019 – more than 300,000 on top of the 2.1 million already in Dallas and its Plano and Irving suburbs.

For the complete article, please visit:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/02/25/texas-dominates-the-best-cities-for-good-jobs/

The Dallas Morning News

By STEVE BROWN

Real Estate Editor

Dallas’ hot Design District is getting another major development — this time with a large chunk of retail space.

Developer Harwood International, one of the biggest builders in Uptown, is about to break ground on the mixed-use project at Oak Lawn Avenue and Dragon Street.

The five-story urban-style development will replace an old showroom building along the east side of Dragon.

Harwood plans to build 46,000 square feet of restaurant and shopping space on the ground level, with 224 apartments on top in the project it calls District 1444.

“We see this as an extension of what Uptown has to offer,” said Alexis Barbier-Mueller, director at Harwood International. “The Design District is an area of Dallas that in the last five to 10 years has transformed into an environment that deserves this type of quality.”

Developed mostly in the 1950s, the area northwest of downtown Dallas started out as a gritty industrial district. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, the neighborhood between the Trinity River and Stemmons Freeway began attracting large numbers of design firms.

About six years ago, builders and investors who had seen property prices jump in Uptown started looking at redevelopment opportunities in the Design District.

Since then, developers have constructed three major apartment projects with almost 1,500 high-end rental units.

Michael Ablon, who’s been marketing properties in the Design District since 2007, said most of the large apartment development sites are gone in the area.

“Any remaining apartments in the district will be built closer to Riverfront Boulevard,” Ablon said. “Everything that has been built has leased extremely well.”

Knocking down all the low-rise design industry buildings to construct residential or office space would be a bad idea, he said.

“If you tear everything down, you lose it,” Ablon said. “You want to keep the designers and what made it special in the first place.”

The newest Design District apartment building, the 1400 Hi Line tower, opened last summer and is almost half full.

“The project is going good,” said Bryant Nail, PM Realty’s senior development officer. “We did a focus group with the residents and heard overwhelmingly that they loved the fact they were close to Uptown but not in the middle of it.”

Harwood International’s project a few blocks away will bring more residents to the neighborhood and add to the retail and restaurant base.

“We’ve already pre-leased three out of five restaurant spaces, which shows that the demand is strong,” said Jihane A. Boury, Harwood’s director of leasing and vice president.

She said the developers hope to attract a small grocer to their project.

“We would love to do an urban-size grocery,” Boury said. “We want to bring a 24/7 environment to all the people who live in the neighborhood.”

Harwood International has owned the Design District property since 1996. The tract is now occupied by two large showroom buildings, which have been occupied by design and commercial businesses.

The developer will demolish the west side of the complex to make way for the new buildings. A remaining showroom will be used for a second phase.

“We’ve had this property for a very long time and played with the idea of building several times, but we feel now is the right time,” said Barbier-Mueller. “We will break ground in the spring, and it will take about 18 months to construct.”

Harwood International is one of the biggest players in Dallas’ booming Uptown market.

The developer has constructed five office buildings in its Harwood project along McKinnon Street. It’s preparing to start work on the 22-story Frost Bank Tower on Wolf Street.

Harwood International also built the 31-story Azure condo tower near the entrance to the Dallas North Tollway.

Barbier-Mueller said the firm is using its experience with the luxury Azure project on the Design District apartments and similar developments.
The apartments will feature a pool deck lounge with cabanas overlooking the city skyline, a fitness center, game room and gardens.

“It’s part of a new wave of products we want to bring to the market,” he said. “We’d like to build more of these and have started looking for more locations in Dallas and the state.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/commercial-real-estate/20130131-new-dallas-design-district-project-will-bring-more-retail-and-residential-space-to-growing-neighborhood.ece?ssimg=876585&action=reregister#ssStory876587