Friday’s big DMN story about all of the retail action going on at Lakewood Shopping Village, Abrams and Gaston, didn’t tread much new ground from what we’ve been writing, although a neighborhood story on the front page of the newspaper certainly ranks some attention.
The interesting tidbit about the soon-to-be-former Matt’s space that DMN real estate editor Steve Brown dug out from MiCocina owner Ray Washburne is worth checking out, though (the story is behind the DMN paywall). Washburne told Brown the renovated Matt’s space will be “a very unique neighborhood restaurant” that is “more along the lines of an Austin hangout rather than a Park Cities cafe.” Washburne should know, since he’s a Park Cities guy himself.
“I think Lakewood is behind the curve compared to what has happened in the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff,” Washburne told Brown.
If you haven’t been to Bishop Arts, it’s worth a drive if you want to see what I believe could be the future of Dallas retail and restaurants — lots of small shops and eateries packed together in a neighborhood-centric area that doesn’t have enough parking.
The people in Oak Cliff are looking for solutions to their parking woes right now; we suggested that maybe they should contact our new mayor, Mike Rawlings, who told us during pre-election video interviews that perhaps the city should look into helping build city-owned parking garages in areas like the Henderson entertainment area and Bishop Arts.
Given what’s going on around here, maybe Lakewood should give him a call, too?
