Dallas to provide up to $96 million in incentives for downtown skyscraper

The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to provide $96 million in incentives for a mixed-use project on the south side of downtown Dallas.

The council voted to approve up to $96.1 million in economic support for the proposed Newpark development by developer Hoque Global, according to the Dallas Morning News. Located just south of City Hall, plans have been in the works for years for the almost 20-acre project, the centerpiece of which would be a 38-story office, residential and hotel tower built in partnership with Omaha-based Lanoha Real Estate Co.

Some members of the council expressed enthusiastic support for the development, saying it would help fill one of the largest vacant sections of downtown and be part of the massive investment being put into the development of the downtown sector.

“This is the beginning of what will be a transformation south of City Hall into the Cedars,” said council member Omar Narvaez. “We are going to have eventually billions of dollars in building and investment into this area. This is what catapults everything to go into the southern part of the city.”

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The council this week also gave its approval to a similar development for Goldman Sachs, providing $18 million in tax incentives to build an office tower in downtown. This development would bring 5,000 jobs to the city by the end of 2028 – with an average base salary of $90,000 – and a minimum of 800,000 square feet of office space.

While some council members questioned the need to invest in the tower, it was generally accepted that the tower would serve as a catalyst for economic development in the city with the tax revenue it would bring in as well as the number of jobs it would create.

This Newpark development would be another part of the city’s plan to develop downtown.

“This project will transform acres of current surface parking lots providing amenities, residential, office space and mixed-use development tying downtown to the Cedars and our new Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center,” said Dustin Bullard, executive vice president of economic development group Downtown Dallas Inc.

“It will add new density and life to an area just south of City Hall,” he continued.

The property was among the Dallas sites pitched to Amazon in 2017 when the company was looking for a location for its second headquarters, according to the publication. The city funding for the $400 million Newpark project will come from economic development grants and money from expansion of a tax increment finance district, but the developers will have to build the project first to receive the funding.

When Hoque Global first proposed the project, it was expected to add 225,000 square feet of offices to the city, along with a 245-room hotel and 268 apartments and ground-level retail. Hoque Global began buying up vacant lots along Canton and Cadiz Streets near the Dallas Farmers Market almost a decade ago, which will be one of the largest of its kind in the DFW area.

“It’s an exciting project — transformative and neighborhood-creating,” said Mayor Pro Tem Chad West. “It’s 100 times greater than a parking lot.”

[Dallas Morning News] — James Bell