Downtown Dallas has had a very successful turnaround the past 20 years with abandoned doffice buildings transformed into apartments. City leaders got an update on what’s next for other empty spaces, and NBC 5’s Ken Kalthoff reports some want to keep building up the population.
Downtown Dallas has more than doubled in full-time residents over the past 20 years and changed from a primarily daytime work destination.
Downtown boosters now seek city hall support to keep the progress going.
The business group Downtown Dallas Inc presented an update Monday for the Dallas City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the Downtown 360 Plan that was first formulated in 2011 to help guide improvements.
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“There’s been a tremendous amount of progress. Really it’s been so steady over the last couple of decades,” Downtown Dallas Inc. President Jennifer Scripps said. “But now, start to look forward which is great after the pandemic and the last couple of years and be able to say 'what’s next.'”
Apartments in what were once vacant office buildings helped boost the central business district population to more than 14,500 in 2023.
Visitor Rick Nacca from Fort Myers, Florida was downtown Monday considering a move to Dallas.
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“I was here a couple of days ago and I really liked it. So, I went down and looked around Houston but I like Dallas much better. So, I came back to walk around, look for some apartments and things like that,” Nacca said.
In the Farmers Market neighborhood that was mostly parking lots a few years ago, residents Kayla Daniels and Anthony Keith said they moved in from North Carolina four years ago.
“It’s a lot of things to do, a lot of food places and shopping, so it’s a great place to be,” Keith said.
The couple said they endorse Dallas as a destination for the guy from Florida.
“I love Dallas. I have no desire to go back to the East Coast, so I think it would be a great move for him,” Daniels said.
New downtown projects on the horizon include a new convention center. Dallas voters last year approved a financing plan to build the replacement meeting hall.
The Newpark development is planned on empty parking lots south of City Hall.
And the long-planned Field Street development near Woodall Rodgers Freeway may finally break ground this year.
“The property has changed hands and we’re really lucky to have developers who want to do it right,” Scripps said.
The business groups want city support on transportation improvements and connections between neighborhoods in and around downtown.
Dallas City Council Member Jesse Moreno represents a portion of the downtown area.
“I trust their judgment and I know they are doing their homework. And I have the same vision in seeing that downtown is multi-modal, and we have different ways for transportation and we’re no longer relying solely on our car,” Moreno said. “We are working tirelessly to make Dallas a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly city.”
The business group wants a portion of the 2024 Dallas Public Improvement Bond Referendum being formulated now to go before voters.
It will compete with other neighborhoods and civic groups for a share of what could be a $1 billion borrowing package for city needs.
