Washburne Proposes $800M Hotel at Former Dallas Morning News

Dallas developer Ray Washburne is reviving long simmering plans for a convention-scale hotel on the former Dallas Morning News campus with a much bigger proposal.

Washburne said he intends to build an $800 million, 30-story hotel with about 1,000 rooms on land he owns at 508 Young Street in downtown Dallas, the Dallas Morning News reported. It would form the centerpiece of an entertainment district he has envisioned since buying the site in 2019.

The project’s room count ballooned from an earlier 250-key proposal after discussions with hotel operators about what the market needs, Washburne told the Dallas Morning News earlier this year.

“The city keeps saying they need about 5,000 rooms,” Washburne told the outlet. “I’m willing to do it.”

The tower would rise behind the historic Rock of Truth monument on the former newspaper campus and stand seven stories taller than the nearby Omni Dallas Hotel, which has 1,001 rooms. Both properties sit near the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, which is slated for a $3.7 billion expansion and renovation expected to reshape the southern edge of downtown.

Washburne said he is in talks with two major hotel brands, but declined to identify them. He plans to seek city participation covering roughly 20 percent to 25 percent of the development cost — potentially $160 million to $200 million — though discussions with Dallas officials have yet to formally begin.

“I just need the city to engage in conversations for it,” he said.

The developer acquired the former Dallas Morning News headquarters property for $28 million in 2019 and has spent years pitching redevelopment concepts for the site. At one point he threatened to sell the land to a data center operator, escalating pressure on city leaders to intervene.

Dallas ultimately purchased more than 4 acres on the southern portion of the campus for $45 million in June 2025, according to deed records. The city also paid $11.3 million last month to settle a condemnation dispute and acquire a nearby 36,000-square-foot parcel from WFAA-TV.

Washburne’s Charter DMN Holdings still controls roughly 3.7 acres on the remaining portion of the campus, according to appraisal records, where the hotel would be built.

He said the surrounding entertainment district will be unveiled later. If the project moved forward today, Washburne estimated the hotel would take about 30 months to complete — putting an opening at about 2030, just after the convention center overhaul is expected to be completed.

— Eric Weilbacher