Mike Hoque

Mike Hoque is the founder of Hoque Global, an umbrella company that includes a real estate development arm with big ambitions stretching from downtown to the city’s oft-overlooked southern end. 

Hoque, who’s married to Compass agent Melissa Hoque, brushed up against the hospitality sector when he started a limo company in Dallas in 1999. That led to DRG Concepts, which developed restaurants such as Dallas Chop House, Dallas Fish Market, Wild Salsa and Chop House Burger. Hoque’s hospitality and transportation ventures bridged into commercial real estate, and he’s made a name for himself as a developer focused on redevelopment and urban infill. 

His most notable project is still in the works: Hoque partnered with Mike Ablon’s PegasusAblon to purchase the Bank of America Tower in Downtown Dallas. The pair received a $100 million incentives package from the City of Dallas to redevelop the massive office property. It’s expected to cost more than $400 million. 

In addition to Bank of America, Hoque is assembling parcels to develop a mixed-use project near City Hall, called Newpark. He’s also spearheading the development of University Hills, a mixed-use development in southern Dallas near the University of Texas at Dallas campus. Hoque Global has struggled to get some of its projects off the ground, and often gets more attention for plans than completed projects. He planned to spearhead the redevelopment of Rosedale in Fort Worth, but was dropped as the development partner due to delays, according to the city. 

— Jess Hardin