DALLAS FORT WORTH | Urban + Suburban P & C

[DeepEllumAceLot4life]

Originally Posted by eburress

It's partly that there's a lack of office demand and partly that most of downtown Dallas has height restrictions, thanks to Love Field airport.

Edit → if you look at that aerial photo, there's only one lot that is zoned up to 100 stories, which is owned by a developer who's not great at developing high rises. (it's just below center, across the street from that huge parking lot)

Yes, this seems to be the 20-30 story elephant in the room. Even developments not in the flight path seem to stay in that range. I always assume DFW developers just got used to such projects because of the massive boom in Uptown. In the new office nodes up in Plano, Frisco, and Richardson that's were they are topping out, same with the older centers in Las Colinas, Galleria, Preston ect. That is one of the reasons the Knox MSD development is great, finally getting some more noticable height well outside of downtown that is not City Place.

Also, as someone who is from DFW and who has lived in Austin off and on for two decades, aside from the growth of the downtowns, I don't think Dallas and Austin are very comparable as cities or metros. The building boom in downtown Austin has been outright entertaining to watch. That being said, DFW is just on a scope or scale that so much bigger, more diverse, and has a plethora of urban nodes that allow for explosive growth, but also spread out the concentration of everything. It's so much more complicated as well because you have a zillion municipalities. Comparing the Houston and DFW metros are more productive, since they are about the same size in demography and geography.

For example, my home suburb of Carrollton is far from ideal, but I can take the train to Denton, Dallas, Plano, the airports, or Fort Worth. Same suburb has a Koreatown in a former Mervyns shopping center with the old Dallas Koreatown just down the road. I live in central South Austin, 10-15 minutes to downtown, and won't have train service anytime soon, if ever. We love it because of the parks and green space which is what Austin really excels at. Dallas proper does actually has some absurdly large forests and trails that so far have been underutilized (getting to the Great Trinity Forest used to be, um, interesting).

[Dtx_arch]

Ahhh... the Good ole Dallas vs. Houston discussion. Cannot believe this discussion still goes on for what 30 plus years now.... haha. As someone who does urban planning and projects in all cities a couple of things:

Like the picture of the transformation of Dallas's urban core neighborhoods (uptown/downtown/Oaklawn/etc.) from early 2000's to today significantly changed in 20 years. You see a similar change in downtown Austin along the river but the amount of change does not equate to the growth of Dallas's core neighborhoods. In Houston, yes they have quite a few high rises, however there has not been a super tall under construction in Texas with the exception of Austin.

Houston still has the most 'tallest' buildings (2 of them) in Texas (JPMorgan Chase Tower - 75 floors built 1982 & Wells Fargo - 71 floors built 1983) followed by Dallas's 72 floors Bank of America tower built 1985. All three have occupancy issues today 26% or higher. BOFA tower in Dallas is being slated for a major overhaul and new adjacent residential tower currently. The newest supertalls in Texas reside in Austin with Waterline (74 floors - open 2025 / tallest in Texas) and the Austonian (56 floors opened 2010)

How the cities develop plays in large part to zoning, transportation and market condition or 'perception'. Most restrictive zoning goes to Austin, followed by Dallas and as we know Houston does not have zoning.

Austin - Areas for growth have been restricted by its road infrastructure for decades that creates a fictious urban growth boundary. Today the state and the city have been investing in engineering and infrastructure to provide easier access to suburbs. Austin is playing catchup by rebuilding I-35, ring roads, new tollroads and new proposals to expand rail etc.... This in turn influences where people want to live, shop and work. Austin has been seeing significant growth and the most accessible part of the metro is still downtown and we are seeing the results in the projects because the market / demand has been there (however grossly over built office (empty Tech highrises...i.e. google towers and others) and a current over supply of residential that will be absorbed)

Dallas (DFW Metro) - has experienced years of substantial growth for decades. Today you are seeing the results in zoning that was put in place decades ago which includes building heights and creating livable / walkable neighborhoods with compatible uses. Today, due to the sheer amount of growth, the zoning is being modified. The neighborhoods around downtown proper are starting to merge as on big blob (as someone else said). Dallas is also a member of the North Texas Council of Governments (169 cities, towns and villages within 16 counties). The planning for road / water / electrical is currently in planning for 2080 (2050 plan is already being implemented). With that said the NTCOG does a hard analysis of growth projections that includes many sources of data and years of study. Currently DFW is projected to grow to 12.5 mil by 2040. City of Dallas proper growth will be slow compared to the past because of the city being landlocked by very strong / cash rich suburban cities. So the perception of Dallas Skyline being more horizontal from your car ride on I-45 holds true (zoning in action ya'll...lol), but walking the urban areas of Dallas are more dense than Houston and less dense than the South Congress District in Austin.

Houston - No zoning and lack of a unified development vision for the overall metro. The development community also approaches projects differently in H-town than DFW. However, H-town developers are starting to follow the trends more and more that the DFW development community does - Focus on hard market research and finding the right markets. Today in Houston some markets like the Energy Corridor still need time to absorb the speculative office buildings that were built several years ago. I have noticed the areas like Galleria are finally seeing developments fill in the parking lots that separate the tall buildings. In turn, that will create a really nice walkable area of Houston. Also, while there is no zoning in Houston, neighborhood organizations use the court room to battle against proposed developments. Houston also grows in large part by annexation and why today it is the '4th largest city' but is the 5th largest metro (for metro population the Houston metro is larger in land area to get to those numbers than the land area that qualifies as the DFW metro). To see evidence of the City of Houston (not metro) annexation, look up a map for the jurisdiction of Houston and you will see where the city has bought utility right-of-ways to connect areas with main Houston as the city leverages the next ETJ to annex. Houston also sometimes feels much bigger because of the road congestion. The metro tends to add more lanes of traffic to highways which opens land to development and only causes more traffic and not more density. On this thread it may appear more is going on there than DFW or Austin because you have a couple users that post a lot of construction photos.

But to the original subject, as someone that travels frequently to Houston and Austin from Dallas. I am always impressed by the shear size the skyline of Dallas has grown to today. Other than development along South Congress in Austin, I do not see that level of visual impact anywhere else in Texas.

[eburress]

Originally Posted by DeepEllumAceLot4life

Yes, this seems to be the 20-30 story elephant in the room. Even developments not in the flight path seem to stay in that range.

The Oak Lawn Committee has also had a hand in limiting building heights in Uptown.

[clubtokyo]

Originally Posted by Dtx_arch

Austin has been seeing significant growth and the most accessible part of the metro is still downtown and we are seeing the results in the projects because the market / demand has been there (however grossly over built office (empty Tech highrises...i.e. google towers and others) and a current over supply of residential that will be absorbed)

Actually Google did move into that tower finally....

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/google-finally-occupies-austins-sail-tower/

[Dtx_arch]

Originally Posted by clubtokyo

Actually Google did move into that tower finally....

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/google-finally-occupies-austins-sail-tower/

Thats great news. As of last fall the building was still visibly empty (only the emergency lighting was on at night showing empty floors). However, Google's Sail tower is just one of many recent office developments built speculating on the trend from a few years ago of IT companies investing big money next to major universities where young talent resides and lots of startup companies get going. The local market as noted in the '2026 State of Downtown Austin Report' and Alliance's 2026 report is recognizing a need to let downtown office market balance itself. Here is a video from Austin's KVUE news station regarding this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdphk7L-Zzo

With that said it will be a temporary slow down (can't predict timeline) same with the multi-family developments.

[Urbannizer]

Originally Posted by Dtx_arch

Houston still has the most 'tallest' buildings (2 of them) in Texas (JPMorgan Chase Tower - 75 floors built 1982 & Wells Fargo - 71 floors built 1983) followed by Dallas's 72 floors Bank of America tower built 1985. All three have occupancy issues today 26% or higher.

Please do a bit of research beforehand, as Bank of America Tower in Dallas is the only one experiencing vacancy issues that high.

https://shopcompanies.com/properties/600-travis-st

JPMorgan Chase Tower is the tallest building in Texas encompassing 1.7 million square feet over 75 floors, and at 86% occupancy, has over 4,000 workers in the building every weekday.

https://www.capcommercialrealestate.com/listings/1000-louisiana-street/

The Wells Fargo Plaza (1000 Louisiana Street) in Downtown Houston currently maintains an occupancy rate of approximately 97.1%. As the largest multi-tenant office building in the southwestern United States, this Class A skyscraper holds a resilient position against the broader Houston CBD's office vacancy trends.

Also Waterline is not actually completed yet. Internal work continues on. The Hotel component, 1 Hotel, opens first in August.

[drummer]

So, here's the obvious next step:

A DART line needs to be extended up DNT from downtown with stops at The Galleria / Mavericks Arena, the Silver Line (cutting off to the Addison stop), and then continuing north to the new Stars Arena, Riders Field, and then up Toyota Stadium.

While we're at it, down at downtown, go ahead and make a hard turn to the west toward Arlington to capture Globe Life Field and AT&T Stadium. Extend all the way to downtown Fort Worth and call it a day.

All pro stadiums/arenas and both major downtowns. We'll call it the ALL SPORTS LINE, and the color(s) of the line would obviously shift based on the team whose stop is closest. Cost would only be a few billion, and all of the municipalities would easily vote for it - no delays expected. And all of the residences and businesses along the line could use it for other purposes also, I suppose, so there's that.



Edit: But seriously, a line that follows this general path would be super cool and convenient to the metroplex. Just $$$$$.

[Urbannizer]

Mavs plan arena, entertainment complex at old Valley View Mall site, leaving Downtown Dallas

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks confirmed Monday they plan to leave Downtown Dallas and have entered into an "option agreement" for the potential purchase of 104 acres of land at the former Valley View Mall site near Preston Road and LBJ Freeway in North Dallas, a spokesperson told WFAA.

The move comes after months of debate over the future location of the franchise and heated discussions over whether Dallas should tear down its City Hall to make way for the team to build a new arena in its place. The Mavs have said they wanted to make a decision on a new arena location by July to have enough time to build it before 2031, the year their lease ends at the American Airlines Center.

The new location will likely face concerns over its traffic impact and criticism for its lack of public transportation access: while DART buses serve the area, there is no train service -- a distinction from the American Airlines Center.

The announcement from the Mavericks calls into question next steps for Dallas City Hall. The City Council is set to debate Wednesday possible costs for repairing the building -- and evaluating whether to stay or lease space for government offices in a office tower.

[Dtx_arch]

We (my company) are very well versed in the market place. My information comes from not only published information but also being heavily involved in the development industry. Research has been more than done, and I did a quick check before posting. And Shop company is only one publication and the vacancy rate 'reported' varies depending on the source. They issued their report shortly after the renovations on Chase Tower based on the verbiage they used. FYI - Shop's publication report does not list a date including the online pdf..... Some sources do not report the anticipated companies about to leave for another property, and their are more established companies we pull information from or coordinate with. My posting was in response to the perception of how the three major cities in Texas develop not to talk about success of office leases..... If you think Dallas is the only one experiencing vacancy issues, then I encourage to get involved with the building industry professional organizations. Austin is currently going through over supply in many areas including office and multifamily, and that will only be temporary when you look at the growth rates. This has been the subject at several ULI and Bisnow discussions over the past year as well as Austin's local media as headline news.

But thank you for your comment.

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Please do a bit of research beforehand, as Bank of America Tower in Dallas is the only one experiencing vacancy issues that high.

https://shopcompanies.com/properties/600-travis-st



https://www.capcommercialrealestate.com/listings/1000-louisiana-street/



Also Waterline is not actually completed yet. Internal work continues on. The Hotel component, 1 Hotel, opens first in August.

[Dtx_arch]

Tech Times
By: Allen Lee
June 02, 2026

https://www.techtimes.com/articles/31754...-relocation-under-year.htm#goog_rewarded

"Samsung Electronics America will relocate its US headquarters from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to Plano, Texas, by the end of 2026 — the second time in less than a year the South Korean electronics giant has uprooted its American nerve center. The company notified employees of the decision on May 29 and issued an official statement on June 1,...."

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by Dtx_arch

Tech Times
By: Allen Lee
June 02, 2026

https://www.techtimes.com/articles/31754...-relocation-under-year.htm#goog_rewarded

"Samsung Electronics America will relocate its US headquarters from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to Plano, Texas, by the end of 2026 — the second time in less than a year the South Korean electronics giant has uprooted its American nerve center. The company notified employees of the decision on May 29 and issued an official statement on June 1,...."

Not that surprising as the AI boom has pushed the value of Samsung and other chip producers up substantially (some would say exponentially!), Samsung is building billions of factories in central Texas, it already has a big base in Plano because of the cell phone industry. So' it's betting it future really on AI...