Dallas Keynote Sees Continued Movement to Urban Living

Demographic factors, rising gas prices and changes in Dallas zoning laws have all combined to create a movement toward revitalizing Dallas Fort Worth’s urban core, according to Ted Hamilton (pictured), president of Hamilton Properties, who keynoted this morning’s CPN-sponsored Dallas-Fort Worth Property Opportunities Conference.Hamilton, whose company specializes in converting historic, vacant buildings into modern multi-family and hotel projects, said that Dallas is following a nationwide trend of migration back into urban centers. He noted that this in-migration has proved truly revolutionary in Dallas, which as recently as 1997 had but a single Downtown multi-family property. In 2007 and 2008, Hamilton noted, Downtown saw over 1,500 multi-family units delivered, and another 1,000 will be delivered this year and in 2009. “Downtown is livelier on a Friday night at 10 P.M than it is on 10 A.M. on a Friday morning,” Hamilton said. A strengthened Downtown is important in the Dallas effort to compete with other major cities to attract corporate relocations, he noted, highlighting some recent successes on that front. These include Comerica’s move from Detroit, and AT&T’s relocation from San Antonio. He concluded by saying that higher-density uses and infill development will be critical as the Metroplex continues to grow.