A local developer wants to bring a vintage video game arcade and bar to Typo.
FlashBack Retropub, which opened five years ago in Oklahoma City, is considering taking over the former Dallas Bike Works space, but that would require a zoning change.
If you don’t know, Typo is the brand that developer David Spence bestowed on the vintage retail “campus” he owns on West Davis at Tyler. The name comes from Tyler and Polk streets, which will soon intersect with Sylvan at a planned roundabout about a block away, and the brand is catching on. Larkspur Capital currently is building Typo Towns nearby.
Spence also wants to put a neon sign on top of his building as a way to add interest and bring identity to the neighborhood.
To accommodate the video-game arcade and Cliff House, the wedding venue in an old church just behind the Typo building, he’s asking the city to create a new category of building use called “private event and entertainment venue.”
The closest category of use currently on the books is “Commercial Amusement (Inside),” which Spence says is too outdated for the reality of modern retail.
For example, Cliff House currently is on the record as a restaurant. That’s because the rules for “Commercial Amusement (Inside)” prohibit holding a wedding ceremony and reception at the same location, and it prohibits dancing without a dancehall permit. As a reminder of Dallas’ Baptist roots, a dancehall permit has to be obtained from the Dallas Police Department’s vice unit. But weddings, receptions and dancing are allowed at restaurants.
The proposed “private event and entertainment venue” use would only be allowed in “legacy buildings,” certain old buildings that contribute to the architectural integrity of West Davis and Bishop Arts. Rooftop patios and outdoor speakers would not be allowed. And specific-use permits would be required if the business was over 4,250 square feet or open after midnight.
The changes would also require parking concessions for Typo, which has 39 parking spaces.
To pull all of that together — permission for the sign, the new use category and the parking — he wants to create a zoning subdistrict for the building.
Spence invites neighbors to a presentation of the proposal at 7 p.m. Monday, March 9 at Cliff House.
City Plan Commission will hear his case March 26.
