Kelem Butts, the new director of Uptown Dallas Inc., isn’t just a neighborhood fixture. He’s a businessman with strong ties to Texas Instruments, Frito-Lay and other prominent Dallas companies.
Butts assumed his position at UDI, the neighborhood’s powerful public improvement district, after two years as vice president of corporate social responsibility strategy for United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. Before that, Butts “was 100 percent corporate,” as he described his career in a United Way interview. Butts logged 22 years at AT&T, most of which were spent leading the company’s charitable and philanthropic operations.
During that time, Butts directed AT&T Aspire, a $100 million job shadow program, and the Connected Learning Centers initiative, which provides free internet and computers to nonprofit community centers. Butts helped initiate a similar program at United Way called Digital Bridges, through which AT&T, Texas Instruments and United Way collaborated to distribute hotspots and laptops in rural areas of North Texas.
His work at United Way also included collaborations with Frito-Lay and Hilti, both headquartered in Plano.
Butts has lived in Uptown for 24 years. He’s been on the UDI board for the past nine, and he’s chaired the public safety committee for five. As head of the public safety committee, Butts helped establish UDI’s Safety Headquarters, unveiled on June 3.
When asked about Uptown development from his new vantage at the helm, Butts recalled his own experience of making a life in one of Dallas’ most burgeoning neighborhoods.
While it’s become a popular destination for young people, Uptown attracts all age groups, he said.
“We have people like me; you know, my girlfriend and I bought a high-rise condo when we were 32 or 33, and we’ve been there ever since,” Butts said. “But we see a lot of people in our condo come in who are downsizing from a large house out in the suburbs. The kids leave, and they want something smaller and more urban.”
Butts replaced Jamee Jolly, who left UDI last year to lead The Real Estate Council, where she also briefly worked in 2007. Before UDI, Jolly also worked at the Collin County Association of Realtors, the Plano Chamber of Commerce and the Plano ISD Education Foundation.
Uptown is the hottest office submarket in the Metroplex. Almost 280,000 square feet of office space were under construction in the first quarter; just under 200,000 square feet of those projects were in Uptown and Turtle Creek, according to Partners Real Estate. The Uptown/Turtle Creek office submarket also had the highest asking rent in the first quarter at $56 per square foot. Recent relocations to Uptown include Deloitte, Wingstop and Bank of America.
Uptown’s residential development pipeline includes Chalk Hill, a mixed-use development by Kaizen and HN Capital, slated for 61 luxury condos, a 217-key hotel and ground-floor retail. Alamo Manhattan Companies is planning a pair of apartment towers in Uptown as well.
PIDs are taxing areas designated for public enhancement projects, with managing bodies authorized by local governments. Uptown property owners petitioned the City of Dallas to create the Uptown PID in 1993 and to authorize UDI, a nonprofit, to manage it. UDI is funded by a property tax of 4.5 cents per $100 of appraised value in Uptown.
UDI’s budget is $4.9 million this year, with over $3.8 million in property tax assessments. UDI also receives interest payments from the city.
Butts also serves on the boards of Educate Dallas, the Klyde Warren Park PID and the Region 10 Education Service Center.
The newest executive director of Uptown Dallas Inc. said he’s ready for development that’s “right for the area.”
Kelem Butts, a former AT&T executive who’s lived in Uptown for 24 years, recently took the reins of the neighborhood’s public improvement district. He’s served on the UDI board for over nine years, and he’s been head of the public safety committee for the last five.
“I think what’s right for the area is a great mix of offerings, be they condominiums, standalone homes, townhomes — I think all of it makes for a great environment,” Butts said.
Butts replaced Jamee Jolly, who sandwiched a brief tenure at UDI between a 2022 Texas House campaign and a 2024 move to The Real Estate Council, which she now leads as president and CEO. Butts left AT&T as director of charitable operations.
Uptown is the hottest office submarket in the Metroplex. Almost 280,000 square feet of office space were under construction in the first quarter of 2025; just under 200,000 square feet of these projects were in Uptown and Turtle Creek, according to Partners Real Estate. The Uptown/Turtle Creek office submarket also had the highest asking rent in the first quarter at $56 per square foot. Recent relocations to Uptown include Deloitte, Wingstop and Bank of America.
Uptown enjoys a full pipeline of residential development. Chalk Hill, an upcoming mixed-use development by Kaizen and HN Capital, will include 61 luxury condos, a 217-key hotel and ground-floor retail. Alamo Manhattan Companies is planning a pair of apartment towers in Uptown as well.
As head of the public safety committee, Butts helped establish UDI’s Safety Headquarters, unveiled on June 3. The Safety Headquarters houses a UDI security team, a live dispatcher and a neighborhood video security system.