Local developer gives $25,000 to friends group for Santa Fe Trail upgrades

From left: Carl Anderson (Larkspur Capital, president), John Jenkins (Dallas Park and Recreation, director), Cole Wade (Larkspur Capital, development associate), Art Ferriss (Larkspur Capital, vice president of development), Amanda Schulz (Friends of Santa Fe Trail, fundraising chair), Samuel Mortimer (Friends of Santa Fe Trail, vice president/president-elect), Fonya Mondell (Dallas Park and Recreation Board, District 2), Stephanie Hudiburg (Deep Ellum Foundation, executive director). Photo by Renee Umsted.

Developer Larkspur Capital donated $25,000 to Friends of Santa Fe Trail to be used toward improvements laid out in the trail’s master plan.

Larkspur has four residential developments underground or planned for the area around the Santa Fe Trail’s “T” intersection in Deep Ellum. The Willow, which is under construction, is directly adjacent to the trail and will have 190 units. Groundbreaking is expected to happen this summer on another project, which will bring more than 230 units. Two others are on the other side of Interstate 30. In total, about 900 units within the four developments will house around 1,500 residents, who will all have easy access to the Santa Fe Trail.

“We think it’s a huge amenity for the city, for the neighborhood,” says Carl Anderson, the president of Larkspur Capital. “We’re in the neighborhood. We invest in the neighborhood. We want to be a good partner.”

Larkspur Capital is also behind the pocket neighborhood planned for the Garland Road Thrift Store site.

Samuel Mortimer, president-elect of Friends of Santa Fe Trail, says they hope to “make a tangible improvement” to the trail in the next 12 months.

That starts with the reimagining of a currently empty grassy area near the “T” intersection. The plan is to make it an “artifacts park” complete with architectural pieces and other items from the boneyard, which was started by former Dallas Park and Recreation Director Willis Winters.

“I’ve been calling this a flag-planting effort because it’s just a small portion of what we see as the larger capital improvement that’s going to take significantly more effort, but we think we can do a tangible but also accessible version in the short -term,” he says.

The Santa Fe Trail master plan was approved by the Dallas Park and Recreation Board earlier this year, after a thorough public input-gathering effort. The plan calls for safety improvements, lighting, branding and art, water stations, seating and gathering places, planting of vegetation, wayfinding and education.

Mortimer tells The Dallas Morning News that it would take between $17 million and $20 million to check off all the boxes on the master plan; but even if that much funding isn’t available, many significant improvements could be made.

“Being able to get these types of partnerships, this is how we aim to improve our park system, keep it sustainable,” says Dallas Park and Recreation Director John Jenkins. He also says projects like these bring communities together.

The Santa Fe Trail connects White Rock Lake to Deep Ellum and Fair Park. It passes through four City Council districts and several neighborhoods, including many in East Dallas.

Eventually, the Santa Fe Trail will be one component of The Loop, the 50 miles of continuous trails around Dallas.

“The partnership with people like Larkspur contributing to Santa Fe Trail, it’s not just for this area, but it’s for the whole entire community of the Dallas metroplex,” says District 2 park board member Fonya Mondell.