Skyscraper developments planned for the downtown area would remake the city and represent a switch from redevelopments to new construction.
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven no match for Dallas' real estate development ambitions.
New downtown Dallas projects unveiled in recent months would forever change the city’s skyline with new office towers, residential high-rises, hotels and retail.
Three major developments — two downtown and one just to the north in Uptown — will add billions of dollars in construction and millions of square feet of additional space.
Garrett said that until recently, the biggest real estate deals downtown have been redevelopments of existing buildings, including the First National Bank tower, Statler Hotel and other landmark buildings.
“Over the last 20 years, we’ve been focused on adaptive reuse of buildings,” Garrett said. “This is where downtown is headed next.”
Unlike many other major cities, Dallas' central business district has plenty of room for more construction, she said. “We have over 86 acres of development opportunity downtown, unlike any other market the country."
The three huge developments on the drawing board would gobble up almost 40 acres of land in the downtown area.
The projects include Hunt Realty’s 11-acre North End development, the Newpark district planned south of city hall and the Field St. District on the edge of downtown’s West End.
“We are leveraging all these projects together to make sure downtown comes out stronger,” Garrett said.
Here’s a look at those major developments:
North End
An 11-acre mixed-use project is planned by Hunt Realty on Field Street just north of Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The more than 3.5 million-square-foot mixed-use North End development would include towers as tall as 83 stories surrounding an urban park.
Almost 900 high-rise apartments and a 500-room luxury hotel are included in plans for the project, which was designed by New York architect Kohn Pedersen Fox.
The skyscraper project would replace an aging apartment community on the edge of Victory Park.
Newpark
Newpark is a 20-acre mixed-use development planned along Canton Street between Dallas City Hall and the Farmers Market.
Developers Hoque Global and Lanoha Real Estate of Omaha hope to start the five-block project with construction of a 38-story office, retail, hotel and residential tower. The building was designed by Merriman Anderson Architects and Pickard Chilton.
The Newpark “Smart District” would also have a 1 million-square-foot educational campus.
Field St. District
The Field St. District is a $1 billion, 6-acre mixed-use project on the northwest corner of downtown.
Located at Field Street and Woodall Rodgers Freeway, the proposed development is a project of Kaizen Development Partners, Woods Capital and Dundon Capital Partners.
Preliminary building plans for the site — which is zoned for up to 5 million square feet — include a combination of office space, retail space and apartment units.
A new DART commuter rail station is near the development, which was designed by Dallas architect HKS.