Dallas’ biggest civic project in decades is keeping local developer Jack Matthews in motion.
The Matthews president, whose firm is handling the project as Inspire Dallas, is steering the multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center at 650 South Griffin Street, a project he’s likened to “herding 26 cats,” the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The city’s plan — a $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion first phase of a seven-part master plan — will flip the existing convention center 90 degrees, reorienting it north-south and extending it toward Interstate 30.
The project calls for a downtown-facing “Great Hall” entry, a rooftop ballroom and condensed meeting space spanning two city blocks instead of six. The facility will boast 1 million square feet of sellable space, with expanded ballrooms and exhibition areas designed to keep Dallas competitive for global events.
Progress has been mostly invisible. Inspire Dallas crews have been handling testing, zoning and underground surprises, from buried pipes to aging gas lines.
“Our job is to look at all of those things, oversee it, control it, massage, push and threaten whatever it takes to get the right answer,” Matthews told city leaders.
The project arrives with complications.
FIFA will use the existing convention halls as its International Broadcast Center during the World Cup next year, forcing Matthews’ team to phase demolition and construction around 485,000 square feet of broadcast operations.
City officials expect the convention center to spark an estimated $1.6 billion in economic impact, backed by 64 conventions already booked. The City Council approved a $1 billion bridge loan in June with JPMorgan to fund early work, including upgrades to Dallas Memorial Arena and Pioneer Plaza.
For Matthews, who began assembling land in the Cedars back in 1997 and has since invested more than $300 million there, the convention center is the next step in knitting the southwest corner of downtown into a connected, mixed-use hub.
“The southwest corner of the city is one of the last pieces to come to life,” he said. “The convention center helps that opportunity happen.”
— Eric Weilbacher
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