In their annual CEO's Commercial Real Estate Awards, D Magazine named the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas (KBHCCD) Master Plan their 2023 "Deal of the Year".

The convention center, the focus of a City of Dallas economic development initiative since 2019, was launched due to the staggering $700mm of deferred maintenance that had accrued on the asset.

The massive convention center will serve as the foundation of new developments around it.Source: https://www.dallasccmasterplan.com/

In 2022, the Dallas City Council voted to leverage the convention center into a much larger development by drastically expanding the building and creating a neighborhood around it. The plan is to create a world class convention center to help ensure Dallas continues to be a top city for businesses.

The full plan (as of January 2023) is available in a 418 page PDF on the Dallas CC Master Plan website. Luckily, for the less masochistic of us, the website also provides summaries for each key part of the plan.

Below are the main highlights of each wing of the plan (I made attempts to translate buzzwords):

Multimodal Station Center:

  • A public transit hub servicing both rail and bus transit to ensure accessibility
  • Built with future-proof flexibility to accommodate future means of transit
    • This includes high-speed rail
  • Cut down on traffic during major events (we can only hope)

 

Transportation Master Plan:

Complementing the station center, the hope is to allow for convenient access to individuals coming from all areas (and tax brackets)
  • Future high speed rail lines, with one possibly connecting Dallas and Fort Worth

  • Local, express, and intercity bus routes

  • Amtrak and TRE rail lines

  • (Potential) streetcar lines

  • Vertiport -- a heliport for your friendly neighborhood billionaires (visible on the left side of the above rendering)

    • The "vertiport" nomenclature is likely to imply accommodations for future forms of air transport, but it is far more fun to think that Lockheed Martin will travel to the convention center in their VTOL F-35Bs

 

Mixed Use Neighborhood ("Area Master Plan"):

  • Embrace the "live-work-play" school of development to create a full-service neighborhood around the convention center with office, retail, entertainment, and multifamily developments
  • Ideally, the neighborhood and convention center will thrive off each other in a symbiotic relationship (terribly sorry about the buzzword, but it is the best way to describe it)

The neighborhood around the convention center should be a walkable, bikeable area that refreshes the Dallas CBD.Source: https://www.dallasccmasterplan.com/

 Dallas Deputy mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez of District 6 shared his thoughts on the project: "The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas redevelopment will be the most transformational infrastructure project in Dallas since the opening of DFW Airport."

Any and all Stakeholders are encouraged to share questions, comments, and concerns at https://www.dallasccmasterplan.com/contact.

As per VisitDallas.com, the convention center expansion is projected to be completed by 2028. CRE investors should be intrigued by the substantial opportunities in the area that has been, for the most part, overlooked as Dallas' growth has focused on urban sprawl rather than CBD development.

 

Sources not linked:

https://www.visitdallas.com/blog/convention-center-expansion/

https://www.dallasconventioncenter.com/

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/TXDALLAS/bulletins/351ca48