Behind closed doors and in small meetings at City Hall, plans are being developed for the future of downtown Dallas, with plans that will shape the city's physical character and economic viability for the next 50 years and beyond. I am. This may sound conspiratorial, but it's still true. With billions of dollars in public and private funding at stake, a small number of private developers and institutions are taking notice of the situation and seeking to advance their own interests.
Under normal circumstances, these benefits are difficult to manage. But this mess comes with the city being led by an interim city manager and a mayor who appears to be more interested in partisan politics than local governance. dallas morning news The editorial board pointed out.
The project driving these intrigues is the remaking of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, a multibillion-dollar undertaking that will dramatically transform the southwest part of downtown. The prospect of that transformation has already attracted the WNBA's Dallas Wings, who have agreed to move from Arlington to an upgraded convention center arena in 2026.
“I think it's a part of the city that's been overlooked and held back, and this is a real opportunity,” said Jack Matthews, who heads Inspire Dallas, a consortium developing the convention center. “I think this has the potential to be a piece that generates ongoing development in all directions.”
That process has already begun. Proposed or ongoing projects include: dallas morning news Headquarters moved to mixed-use development. A $5 billion plan by Hunt Realty Investments to develop the 20-acre Reunion site adjacent to Union Station. A $66.8 million tower and garage on the former WFAA Plaza site on Yonge Street. Cedars high-speed train station. Phase 2 of the bond-funded University of Dallas construction program. This involves reimagining the school's expansive downtown campus. and the potential sale and remake of the historic Greyhound Bus Terminal.
“Dallas has an opportunity to create a truly walkable downtown,” said developer Ray Washburn. morning news The same goes for this location and the nearby Founders Square building on Jackson Street. “All major components and land pieces are in place.”
That opportunity hinges on the design of the convention center, which has undergone significant changes since opening to the public in February 2022. Renderings presented at the time showed a giant boomerang-shaped structure extending from behind the Omni on the west side of Lamar Street. Interstate 30 bridge from hotel to Cedars. By rotating the center 90 degrees from its current orientation, the design promised to open space for a new mixed-use district on the other side of Lamar, between the convention center and City Hall.
In March, Inspire Dallas unveiled updated plans for the complex with significant changes. The Interstate 30 deck is gone, which would have been a very complex and expensive job. Instead, the center will bulge out to the west and take over space currently occupied by a garage and surface parking lot. The entrance is behind Omni along Lamar.
The deck connecting the convention center to the Cedars is slated to be replaced by an “expanded urban open space plan,” but that's very vague. A trolley running from Yonge Street to the Cedars has also been floated as a possible link.
What the convention center will actually look like is an open question that won't be answered until an architectural team is selected, a process currently underway. The city will be responsible for developing mixed-use buildings on the east side of the complex, but what they will look like and exactly when they will be built remains an open question.
In fact, the entire project raises more questions than it answers. Developers of adjacent properties are understandably concerned about the direction of the complex.
“I see this as a clean slate and a generational opportunity for the city,” said Colin Fitzgibbons, president of Hunt Realty.
Details are few, but they will help determine the success of the project and, by extension, the downtown core. how – that's right — Will the convention center and its attached development create connections to each other and to other parts of downtown? The danger is that the same pitfalls that plague the current convention center will be repeated. The result is a huge, isolated facility with little connection to the rest of downtown or the city beyond.
These concerns come at a moment when downtown cores are transitioning and facing challenges. Commercial occupancy has plummeted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses moving uptown (and to the suburbs). Conversely, the downtown population has grown from less than 7,000 in 2010 to about 15,000 by 2023, according to the advocacy group Downtown Dallas Inc.
New parks and expanded entertainment options make the area an attractive 24-hour destination. But it has a long way to go before it becomes the vibrant urban place of life and business it was in the first half of the 20th century, before the city was converted for automobile use. Improvements to roads, sidewalks and bike paths will help, and a recently approved bond program will pay for some of those improvements. Proposing electronic signage is only counterproductive. It creates more visual debris and obstructions for pedestrians.
“Dallas is on the cusp of greatness when you don't just sit back and watch it go by,” Washburn says. That's true, but the opposite is true as well. Wrong decisions will endanger cities for generations.
This makes the lack of clarity in the planning and design of the convention center and its attached facilities even more problematic. After more than two years and more than $1 billion in public funds, it's impossible to know whether the city is making a fuss or considering a bailout.
Which one is it, Dallas?
