Dallas’ Deep Ellum district has city’s hottest subleases

Neighborhood has come a long way from its entertainment roots

(iStock/Photo Illustration by Steven Dilakian for The Real Deal)
(iStock/Photo Illustration by Steven Dilakian for The Real Deal)

Dallas’ Deep Ellum district, once dominated by restaurants, nightclubs and loft-style apartments, is riding a wave of commercial tenants and corporate developments.

The neighborhood, long been considered more risky than Uptown, Knox/Henderson, or the fast-growing Design District,is now known for its pace of office leasing, according to the Dallas Morning News.

One example: Dallas advertising firm TRG, formerly The Richards Group, snapped up more than 100,000 square feet in The Stack office and retail building on Commerce Street. TRG’s neighbors in the 16-story, 215,000-square-foot project include Worldwide Express, insurance company Bestow and influential Houston developer Hines.

Hines developed The Stack with Westdale Real Estate Investment and Management in January 2020, just before Covid hit.

“Landing these marquee office tenants in The Stack while competing against the other urban neighborhoods of Dallas further substantiates Deep Ellum as a highly desirable office location,” said Westdale CEO Joe Beard. “Deep Ellum continues to evolve from its entertainment district roots.”

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Next door, Chicago developer Sterling Bay is planning to break ground on a 450,000-square-foot office building at Malcolm X Boulevard and Indiana Street called The Assembly. The $100 million office building designed by Dallas’ HKS is slated to open in late 2024, according to planning documents filed with the state.

Rents for new Central Dallas office buildings are up 8 percent this year, said Andrew Matheny, research manager for commercial property firm Transwestern.

“Tenants are snapping up lower-cost space constructed before and during the pandemic,” says Matheny. “The Stack was fully leased nine months after delivery.”

Nearby on Pacific Avenue, which connects Deep Ellum to Dallas’ Historic Downtown District, commercial property firm CBRE Group is marketing 450,000 square feet of office space in the Epic II tower. The 23-story building was built for transportation firm Uber before the ride-share app cut back operations during the pandemic. Now, the new offices on the edge of downtown are being offered for sublease.

[Dallas Morning News] – Maddy Sperling