SKYE of TURTLE CREEK – INSIDER REVIEW

LOCATION

The Skye of Turtle Creek is extremely easy to arrive at because it is located right off the North Dallas Tollway. This location provides a quick connect to downtown and is about 20 to 25 minutes to West Plano. If you are looking at a map, you would think that the location is perhaps too close to the highway, but the high rise is actually set back just a bit from the tollway, and separated by a nice green patch of land, so noise isn’t a factor. There is a lot of greenery and a few private residences nearby.

I can appreciate so much about the location. It’s actually just a bit west of the border of the affluent Ritz/Crescent area by a couple of blocks, giving it a quieter feel. It would be a perfect location for runners that want to enjoy jogging around their property and through the neighborhood, but also to enjoy the amazing direct access to Katy Trail on the property. Only a handful of residences have this, and it’s a huge feature. Otherwise, access to the Katy trail can be difficult.

A rundown of the WALKING DISTANCE to key Uptown Dallas attractions:

• Uptown Trolley – It is about 15 minutes walking distance to the trolley on McKinney Avenue.
• Katy Trail – This location is DIRECTLY CONNECTED to the Katy Trail.
• Night Life in Mid-Section – This location is not walkable to the cluster of night clubs in mid McKinney, but about 5 minutes away driving.
• West Village – This location is not walkable to the West Village, but about 5 minutes away driving.

I wish there was a grocery store closer. The quickest access was to the Whole Foods on Lemmon Avenue (the next exit up on the tollway). However, the management of Skye of Turtle Creek was wise enough to help this out by installing an in the building convenience store. After walking in and seeing a rather large amount of items available, I would say that this is the best in building convenience store, without question.

SOCIAL SCENE

The building is a 14 story high rise. The location feels very secure without being overwhelming. The Skye of Turtle Creek has a very large circle drive in the front. It also has excellent and well cultured landscaping and tall windows, along with a huge lobby in the front of the building. I kept expecting a visiting reality show crew to pop out of the entrance into a limousine.

Walking into the Skye of Turtle Creek, you will notice the Windsor concierge at his or her desk directly by the door to the right, with TV monitors accessing the entire grounds of the lobby. Packages are also kept there. All parts of the lobby and concierge desk seemed incredibly clean and in proper shape.

The building was built in the 1980s and has a substantial and THICK concrete construction between floors that is not found in most other residences in the area. It has had a significant recent upgrade and improvement in many areas.

The feel of the Skye of Turtle Creek is that of a boutique hotel, not an Uptown Dallas residence. Things seemed more serene, yet structured and suited well for privacy. I also noticed a wide age range of clients getting in and out of the building or using the facilities, from a bright cheery blonde resident heading most probably to Uptown…a young professional exiting the Katy Trail with his dogs…to an older gentleman working out in the gym. As we walked the hallways, residents seemed to be pleasant and friendly.

There are definitely ample opportunities to get to know neighbors. Monthly socials with other Windsor properties in the area provide some of these opportunities, along with some catered in breakfasts. I loved the offering of the wonderful Thanksgiving meal for all guests in early November! Also, the building has a main elevator section at the front of the building and a single mailbox, which allows you to rub shoulders as well with other neighbors. I noticed several casually dressed young professionals people getting in and out of the elevators.

APARTMENT

Kari Adigan, assistant manager, was my Skye of Turtle Creek host to answer my questions and show me more about the property. I couldn’t help but smile around Kari. Kari had a continually cheerful and bright way about her and was extremely helpful in every detail. She made me feel at ease and at home quickly.

We took one of the elevators up to a 2 bedroom apartment. The hallways were carpeted and the hallways were secured and clean. We stepped in and immediately I loved the layout of the plan. It had a very open area that had a kitchen, the living room and a small computer desk area set to the side. The windows were pre-dominant in the layout, creating a lot of light.

The amount of space was very nice and the overall layout (including generous closets) of the floorplans definitely satisfied space needs. The apartment features itself were a mix of delightful and average. Overall, it worked well in combination, such as the elegant bathroom with marble tile, and the granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms. Appliances such as the refrigerator and stove seemed functional and very clean. The carpet in the living room was a good color and the overall feel was bright and pleasant. There were occasional features that I felt should be upgraded, such as occasional use of mirrors in the cabinet in the dining room, etc.

Overall, I felt this gave off a very warm feel, and it felt more like a home than an apartment. The concrete between the floors also would contribute to that. I do think that the age of the building occasionally shows, but the features that are now standard overcome these nicely.

There were a few shortcomings of note:

• Washer/dryer is not included (also, if you don’t include a washer/dryer, you should at least have a laundry room, and they didn’t)
• The standard option throughout the apartment is carpet, no hardwoods (although upgraded units are available that do include these)

The typical apartment does not include a stand up shower, but a tub/shower combination

AMENITIES

The Skye of Turtle Creek had some excellent features that are rarely included in the Uptown area.

The 24 hour concierge stands out as the biggest one of these. For those that are used to a more east coast or NYC feel, a 24 hour concierge is a must! Having a 24 hour concierge can make all of the difference to travelling professionals, making a perfect partner to take care of living things that come up and making life much more convenient. The Windsor at Turtle Creek is the only property in its class that has this incredible feature and price. The next lowest priced property in the Uptown area with a 24 hour concierge runs about $600 or more HIGHER a month for a one bedroom!

The very rare direct Katy Trail access opens many doors to a great life! To put this in perspective, there are only a few public access points in all of Uptown Dallas to the Katy Trail. Only a handful of apartments have this public access. The obvious value is the excellent exercise through this 5 mile semi private running trail. What is not as obvious is the social connections to be made on the trail. And, to add further to this, the Katy Trail can be used to quickly walk to parts of Uptown or downtown that are not easy to access using regular streets (such as the American Airlines center).

The in building amenities are operational but not as stellar as I have seen in other properties. The gym is a decent but not large size and has a passable amount of free weights, but could use perhaps a few more treadmills. I loved the elegant bath in the gym, though, it was more upscale.

The pool is pleasant and quiet with adequate amounts of chairs. It doesn’t stand out, but it isn’t low quality either. What I loved about it was that it is very secluded, with no properties around or street access to peer over while you are swimming, reading or tanning.

The parking garage is free for all residents. It is 4 levels and seems to be enough for residents. However, for guests, that could be more challenging because they don’t allow guests to park inside. There are some spots outside, but on a busy weekend, this might be a challenge.

The onsite convenience store was AMAZING. It had everything that you would need for the basics, including milk, canned goods, crackers, cereals, wine, refrigerated goods and more. This is the BEST convenience store ON SITE in the area, hands down!

SUMMARY

The Skye of Turtle Creek is a unique and more casual paced high rise alternative to some of the busier residences in Uptown Dallas. The special features such as the 24 hour concierge, excellent building construction, direct Katy Trail access and convenient tollway access form a powerful lifestyle value. They have some of the lower priced residences in the Uptown area and have the lowest priced 3 bedroom as well. The secluded feel may not work for some that want to walk to everything in Uptown in 5 minutes. But for those that that want an excellent value in a secure area with quick driving access to Uptown Dallas, this is a gem worth visiting.