Neiman Marcus’ downsizing is putting office-to-residential conversion in play for an overlooked pocket near Uptown.
Dallas-based developer NexPoint is planning a $445 million overhaul of the Cityplace Tower and surrounding land as the firm looks to reposition the aging office building after a major tenant departure.
The firm is seeking a 10-year property tax abatement to support a two-phase redevelopment of the 42-story tower and 5.3 acres of largely vacant land around it, the Dallas Business Journal reported, citing documents filed with the city.
The first phase would bring 465 mixed-income apartment units to the surrounding land at 2711 North Haskell Avenue. Construction on that portion could begin as soon as the fourth quarter.
The second phase would involve converting Cityplace Tower, transforming vacant office floors into additional mixed-income residential units.
The tower, a prominent fixture along Central Expressway, was built in the 1980s and acquired by NexPoint in 2018. Neiman Marcus Group issued a notice of lease termination in February after opening its 85,000-square-foot headquarters in the tower in early 2023.
The luxury retailer, owned by Hudson Bay Company subsidiary Saks Global, touted the space as a “magnet” to pull employees back to the office but quickly reversed course.
The NexPoint project would be one of the most ambitious office-to-residential redevelopments in Dallas to date and a potential bellwether for repositioning legacy towers along key transit corridors.
It’s also another bump up for development prospects in Dallas’ “East Village,” the area on the opposing side of Central Expressway from the West Village, and where far fewer developers invested compared to Uptown. But that’s gradually changing.
De La Vega Development is building “The Central,” a 27-acre, $2.5 billion mixed-use project near Cityplace Tower. After years of delays, the East Dallas development is taking shape with multifamily towers and a planned retail component underway after construction started last fall.
NexPoint has not disclosed the number of units that would be created inside the tower or a timeline for the second phase.
The proposal reflects a growing trend in Dallas and other Sun Belt metros, where high office vacancy, housing demand and shifting work patterns have pushed developers to rethink legacy assets. NexPoint’s strategy follows similar repositioning plays across the country, including in Atlanta and Miami, as office landlords try to stay ahead of value erosion by diversifying into housing.
— Judah Duke
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