Addison develops an edgy side with new apartments

Prospective tenants who walk through the front doors of Addison's new Savoye apartments usually do a double take at the eye-popping design. A wall in the lobby is plastered with bright cushions and big-screen TVs. A metal staircase curves above the round leasing office. And at the top of the stairs is a residents' lounge with enough bling to fill a high-fashion hotel.

"The people who come in are pretty blown away by the place," said Carolyn Fredholm, senior community director for the project. "It's not what you expect to see in a community north of LBJ Freeway."

Addison city officials wanted a wow factor three years ago when they teamed up on the project with developer United Dominion Realty.

The Dallas suburb might not seem old enough for redevelopment, but that's exactly what the town is doing – replacing an aging apartment district on its western edge with new housing, retail and parks.

"The design of that project was very important to us," said Addison City Manager Ron Whitehead. "We need more urban residential in town to make everything else work."

The 120-acre development with the unwieldy name of Vitruvian Park is just south of Spring Valley Road near Brookhaven Collage.

The first phase of the $1 billion redevelopment – almost 400 luxury apartments – will open in two weeks.

"We already have 45 leases," said Tom Lamberth, vice president of development for Denver-based UDR, one of the country's biggest apartment builders. "We are off to a good start.

"We are primarily attracting people who are part of the North Dallasworkforce," he said.

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