Financing Locked in for Preston Center 8300 Douglas Development

Construction financing for a mixed-use Preston Center high-rise is now locked in.

Willow Bridge Property Company, Ramrock Real Estate, and Lincoln Property Company officially have the green light for their 12-story high-rise at 8300 Douglas Avenue in north Dallas. The equity and construction financing came from a sole, anonymous benefactor, according to the Dallas Business Journal. Dallas County documents note a company called 8300 Douglas Lender LLC, with an address tied to law firm Hogan Lovells, according to the outlet.

The project is set to be completed in 2028, and already has a key anchor tenant: When the project is complete, Fifth Third Bank will set up their regional headquarters across 6,300 square feet of the 300,000-square-foot building. Willow Bridge will take over management duties after completion.

Downtown Dallas has been taking a beating in recent months, and Fifth Third moving out of their old lease at Comerica Bank Tower for 8300 Douglas Avenue is one punch in a flurry of blows. Fifth Third formally merged with Comerica in February, and a few months later, the new company announced plans to move out.

Before Fifth Third moves into their new offices, they’ll operate out of the North Park location at 8850 Boedeker Street. The bank plans to open 150 new branches across Texas, according to the outlet. Fifth Third will operate out of 8300 Douglas’s seventh and eighth floors, and place a new financial center on the first floor of the building.

Downtown Dallas is experiencing a death-by-a-thousand-cuts bleed as more companies vacate their downtown office space. The wider public became acutely aware of the problem this week, as the NBA franchise Dallas Mavericks and NHL franchise Dallas Stars shared plans to move out of their longtime shared downtown home, the American Airlines Center. The area is also losing a longstanding flagship anchor retail business: The Neiman Marcus store at 1618 Main Street will be closed permanently later this year.

— Hunter Cooke