Highland Park Village Owner Wants To Keep Theater

By Sarah Scott / People Newspapers
5/21/2009

Ray Washburne wants Park Cities residents to know that the new Highland Park Village is going to look a lot like the old one.

The real estate investor and restaurateur said he wrapped up negotiations to buy the Village this week. As this article went to press Wednesday, Washburne said he was hammering out final details at a title company.

Washburne had a lot to say about the future of the Dallas’ oldest and most valuable shopping center. Its taxable value has been reported as being $80 million.

Washburne — who bought the center along with his wife, Heather; her sister, Elise Summers; and her husband, Stephen — emphasized that all four are lifelong residents of Highland Park and graduates of Highland Park High School.

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Dallas' historic Highland Park Village changes hands

By MARIA HALKIAS / The Dallas Morning News

Like an expensive heirloom, Henry S. Miller Interests has sold Highland Park Village to another extended family that hails from the wealthy neighborhoods surrounding it.

Two sisters and their husbands, all 1970s and 1980s graduates of Highland Park High School, formed a partnership that is paying $170 million for the 250,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style center built in 1931.

Ray and Heather Washburne and Stephen and Elisa Summers, daughters and sons-in-law of Dallas oilman Al Hill Jr., have acquired the center from the families of Henry S. Miller Jr., his sister Carmen Miller Michael and husband Ludwig Michael and the Miller's longtime investment partners, the Polchow family of New Orleans.

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Judge declines Larry North's attempt to block Highland Park Village sale

A deal to sell the venerable Highland Park Village is scheduled to close Wednesday, despite a last-minute challenge from one of the center's high-profile tenants.

At a court hearing late Friday afternoon, a judge declined to grant a request for a temporary restraining order filed by fitness guru Larry North, a longtime tenant. He was trying to block investor Ray Washburne from purchasing the complex.

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Dallas designer's Sartel label building its repertoire

The first time we visited Dallasite Matthew Earnest's store, SARTEL, there wasn't a piece of the label's clothing in sight – save for the crisp, navy organza blouse worn by his co-designer, Lily Atherton Hanbury. But chic things come to those who wait. The Shops at Highland Park boutique now holds a small, tightly edited collection of the duo's highly refined wardrobe staples.

"We're establishing who Sartel is," says Earnest, noting that London-based Hanbury serves not just as co-designer, but as the prototypical Sartel woman, a highly polished someone who "goes to work, goes out, has a kid."

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Dallas luxury hotels reduce rates, focus on service

By SOPHIA DEMBLING / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Luxury? In this economic climate? Are we nuts?

No, really. Everyday luxury is a thing of the past for most of us, but even so, if you have a special occasion warranting a luxury break, now is a great time because luxury hotels are feeling the pinch, too, and they want you.

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Real Estate Agencies Are Friending Facebook

How can social networking benefit your business?

By Josh Hixson
Real Estate Editor / People Newspapers

Facebook has officially invaded the world of North Dallas real estate.

Firms such as Ebby Halliday and Virginia Cook found it hard to ignore the allure of Facebook’s hundreds of millions of active users and recently took the plunge into the world of online social networking, while Rogers Healy and his 2,000-plus members have been veterans of the scene for quite some time.

None of the agents we talked to could say they sold a home soley because of Facebook, but they did indicate the website’s ability to reach potential clients is what drew them and their companies to the social networking site in the first place.

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Highland Park Yoga Studio Boasts New Kind of Flexibility

By Sarah Scott / People Newspapers

Audrey Woods is what you might call a yoga sampler.

During her eight years of practicing yoga, she’s been to a number of studios and learned from even more teachers.

“I found myself driving from studio to studio trying to find teachers I like,” she said.

But after taking her love of the art with her on the road to Los Angeles and practicing at Bryan Kest’s studio in Santa Monica, Calif., she got an idea.

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Family to dedicate sculpture in daughter's memory in Highland Park

Nearly four years ago, as they were mourning the death of his daughter, Sean Royall's friends and family had a suggestion: Why not commission a sculpture to remember her by?

The idea grew from there to establishing the Grace Royall Foundation, and his vision continues to expand.

Today, Royall and his wife, Jennifer, will formally dedicate the sculpture, Grace Eternal, at Prather Park in Highland Park. And this week, Children's Medical Center Dallas announced a $50,000 gift from the foundation for improving treatment of septic shock.

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University Park

Appraisers for University Park and Southern Methodist University are close to choosing properties to use in determining the value of city land the school is seeking to buy.

Once homes to be used as comparable sales have been picked, the appraisal should be relatively simple, City Manager Bob Livingston said.

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Pending Sale of HP Village Confirmed

By Sarah Scott / People Newspapers

The current and future owners of Highland Park Village confirmed the shopping center’s pending sale after being named as co-defendants in a lawsuit this week.

The deal, which has been rumored for months, is at the heart of a 13-page petition filed Monday with Dallas’ 116th Civil District Court by fitness guru Larry North. Highland Park Village owner Henry S. Miller III and buyer Ray Washburne confirmed their negotiations in phone interviews Wednesday.

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A look inside Dallas designer James McInroe's home

James McInroe opens the door of his apartment wearing a T-shirt that declares, "Black is the new black." His trademark rectangular frames are accented with gold, his belt is vintage Gucci, and his sneakers, yes sneakers, are Puma, trimmed in black patent and yellow.

Get ready to rumble.

The designer's wardrobe echoes his envied portfolio of Dallas interiors. A McInroe room is an amalgam of disparate furnishings that would quietly sing on their own, but shout at top decibel under his orchestration.

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Episcopal School of Dallas Seniors Earn Applause For Art

By Michael Hines / People Newspapers

2 students get honorable mention in Advanced Placement exhibition

Steele Burrow may not be planning on focusing on art in college, but his high school work has already proven to be noteworthy.Burrow and fellow Episcopal School of Dallas senior Natalie Maxted both earned honorable mentions Monday in the 11th annual “Young Masters” exhibition, an event honoring Dallas-area Advanced Placement art students. Burrow said just making it into the field was an accomplishment.

“It’s a big honor,” he said. “Students from all across Dallas submit their single best piece of art.”

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Image on right: Natalie Maxted’s Autumn which earned honorable mention.

Dallas-area home prices fall nearly 5%

A few years ago, news of a 5 percent drop in Dallas home prices would have caused blood to run cold in the local real estate market.

But in the current national housing market depression, Dallas’ price decline is being hailed as the best in the country.

Dallas had the smallest home price decline among 20 cities in the January Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

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