Harold Simmons Park Moves Forward With High Stakes Project

26 March 2025

A massive park project is nearing construction in Dallas’ urban core, with backers hoping it becomes the next centerpiece of civic life — and a catalyst for billions in real estate development.

Harold Simmons Park, a long-planned $325 million green space along the Trinity River led by the Trinity Park Conservancy and the Trinity River Corridor Local Government Corp., is expected to begin construction April 8 after decades of planning, the Dallas Business Journal reported, citing a project presentation during a city meeting Tuesday.

The 250-acre site will stretch between the Margaret McDermott and Ronald Kirk bridges, with initial construction focused on the 22-acre West Overlook, which will include filter gardens, a water-play area and a skate and bike park.

Once completed, the park is projected to generate $2.7 billion in adjacent development over the next 30 years, according to a recent city presentation. Backers also anticipate 4 million annual visitors and an estimated $7 billion economic impact, while creating 600 construction jobs and more than 260 permanent positions.

The project’s scale and ambition evoke Klyde Warren Park, the 5.4-acre deck park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway that has become one of Dallas’ most transformative urban spaces.

But unlike Klyde Warren, which stitched together downtown and Uptown on a sliver of capped freeway, Harold Simmons Park occupies open riverfront land long seen as underutilized. Its size and programming could rival other metros’ parks nationwide, with sport courts, a roller skate rink and new public buildings designed by Lake Flato and Wernerfield, and landscape architecture by New York-based Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

Klyde Warren Park helped trigger over $1 billion in adjacent development and has become a case study in leveraging green space for real estate and community investment. Simmons Park aims to replicate that success at five times the size, and in a part of Dallas still awaiting reinvention.

The park is named after the late billionaire Harold Simmons, a Dallas businessman known for his leveraged buyouts. It’s one of several major green space initiatives planned throughout the city, including Halperin Park, The Loop Dallas and the Five Mile Greenbelt.

— Judah Duke