Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of Dallas, Texas, United States, located in the geographic center of the city. It is the second-largest business district in the state of Texas. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop, bounded on the east by I-345 (although known and signed as the northern terminus of I-45 and the southern terminus of US 75 (Central Expressway), on the west by I-35E, on the south by I-30, and on the north by Woodall Rodgers Freeway.
The strong organic growth of Downtown Dallas since the early 2000s and continuing into the present has now resulted in Downtown Dallas, Inc.'s expansion of the term "Downtown" to include the explosive growth occurring immediately north of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway in the Victory Park and Uptown/Turtle Creek Districts, as well as past Central Expressway to the east in the Deep Ellum and Bryan Place Districts, past Interstate 30 to the south with the Cedars District, and jumping over Interstate 35E to the west to include the Design District and Lower Oak Lawn. In total, 15 districts now form "Downtown".
Downtown Dallas is now viewed as an interconnected grouping of dense and urban center city districts, that while unique in their own right, also share strong urban linkages to each other and collectively participate in their role as Downtown Dallas.
History In 1910, Downtown Dallas was the location of a lynching of a black American man accused of raping a two-and-a-half-year-old white girl. A mob pulled him out of the Dallas County Courthouse and hanged him from a telephone pole.
On November 22, 1963, the assassination of John F. Kennedy occurred here. Both President Kennedy and Texas governor John Connally (who survived) were shot as their motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza in what is now the West End Historic District. Part of the former Texas School Book Depository is now the Sixth Floor Museum, with exhibits about Kennedy and the assassination. Nearby is the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial.
The building boom of the 1970s and 1980s produced a distinctive contemporary profile for the downtown skyline influenced by nationally prominent architects. At the same time, the establishment of the West End Historic District in the 1980s preserved a very large group of late 19th-century brick warehouses that have been adapted for use as restaurants and shops.
With the construction of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in the Arts District of Downtown, Dallas will be the only city in the world that has four buildings within one contiguous block designed by four separate and distinguished Pritzker Architecture Prize winners.
Downtown Dallas has also gained more recent national attention for the 2016 shooting of police officers and the 2019 courthouse shooting.
In July 2024, a historic church in Downtown Dallas, First Baptist Dallas Church, caught on fire. There were no injuries during this fire.
Expansion
The area has been undergoing a transition as dozens of residential conversions and new high-rise condominiums bringing more permanent residents to the downtown area. (See: North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG).Downtown Dallas Population Forecasts ) As of 2017, an estimated 10,766 residents lived within the area. Its redeveloped Main Street has recently become more of a place for Dallasites to play after several restaurants, hotels, and residential towers opened their doors along the strip. Downtown's growth can partially be attributed to Dallas Area Rapid Transit's four light rail lines and one commuter line Trinity Railway Express that run through Downtown and an aggressive stance taken by the city to drive development at all costs. The city has invested $160 million of public funds in Downtown Dallas for residential development that attracted $650 million of private investment.
In 2005, two major office developments broke ground in downtown Dallas: One Arts Plaza, a 24-story mixed-use office, retail and residential development in the Arts District that later became home to 7-Eleven's headquarters; and the 17-story Hunt Consolidated office building, which serves as the headquarters of Hunt Oil. The 42-story Museum Tower residential skyscraper in the Downtown Dallas Arts District was completed in 2013 at a reported cost of $200 million.
Importantly, the Trinity River Corridor is poised to undergo a significant transformation (the Trinity River Project) into a giant urban park. The park is expected to include an equestrian center, lakes, trails, and three bridges designed by Santiago Calatrava. Funding over the years, however, has been a constant problem, though serious work on the project now appears imminent, with the first two bridges having received significant private backing.
Central Business District Population, Household, and Employment Projections 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 Population 14,654 20,646 29,446 33,139 39,781 47,098 59,337 Households 1,122 3,318 6,015 7,029 7,868 8,611 9,340 Employment 130,473 135,148 138,224 140,961 149,936 155,966 160,733
Culture
Downtown Dallas has undergone a series of important changes that city officials believe will drastically improve the city's core. These changes are located in four downtown areas: Victory Park, the Arts District, the Trinity River, and the Convention Center corridor.
Victory Park, named one of the nation's most successful brownfield reclamation projects, is home to the American Airlines Center, built in 2001, and several new high-rise hotels, residential towers, and office buildings, including the 33-story "W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences" (2006), the 28-story "Cirque" residential tower (2007), the 29-story "The House" residential tower (2008), and the 20-story "One Victory Park" office tower (2009), and near Victory Park the new "Perot Museum of Nature and Science", a $185 million, 14-story, ultra-modern addition to Downtown Dallas that opened in late 2012.
The Dallas Arts District, already one of the world's largest, recently completed the final stages of a massive 10-year construction project that resulted in a 2,300-seat opera house, a series of theaters, residential space, retail, parks, and a gleaming, 42-story residential tower known as Museum Tower that opened in 2013. One of the prominent attractions in the Arts District is the Dallas Museum of Art.
Of all the changes in downtown Dallas, the Trinity River corridor is undergoing the most dramatic. Currently, the river runs in an artificially straight line a large distance from any part of downtown, but Dallas is in the process of returning the river to its natural course, creating two large lakes to border the downtown area, and has commissioned two large cable-stayed bridges to be built across the river and new lakes. Dubbed the Trinity River Project by local officials, plans are also in place for improved levees to protect downtown from possible flooding.
Separated from Victory Park and the Arts District by the Downtown CBD is the Convention Center corridor, which hosts the over 2 million-ft2 Dallas Convention Center. The Omni Dallas Hotel is a new, 23-story, convention-center hotel that opened in 2011. Dallas hopes these changes will bring more permanent residents into the downtown area; as of the 2010 Census the downtown population has grown to 5,291 from the 1,000 citizens who lived in downtown at the end of the 20th century.
The City of Dallas, along with several nonprofit organizations, constructed a $110 million urban deck park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway to create a physically seamless Uptown/Downtown District; the urban deck park opened in 2012. The 5.2-acre urban green space, named the Klyde Warren Park, further strengthens the existing synergy between the Uptown real estate market and the booming development occurring in the Downtown Dallas Arts District, which together help further the continuing growth and redevelopment of Downtown Dallas. The park is often called an "urban oasis" due to its unique location and features.
Major employers AT&T is headquartered at the Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas; AT&T moved to Dallas from San Antonio in 2008. Mayor of Dallas Tom Leppert said in 2008 that he hoped that AT&T would stay in the central city.Godinez, Victor and David McLemore. "AT&T moving headquarters to Dallas from San Antonio ." The Dallas Morning News. Saturday June 28, 2008. Retrieved on June 18, 2009. Comerica is headquartered in the Comerica Bank Tower."Contact Us ." Comerica. Retrieved on April 19, 2009. TM Advertising has its headquarters in the same building.Hethcock, Bill. "Large ad agency cites area's vibrancy in decision to return." Dallas Business Journal. December 9, 2007. p. 2. Retrieved October 17, 2010. Tenet Healthcare is headquartered in the Fountain Place building in Downtown Dallas. The company announced in 2008 that it was moving from the northern suburban areas of Dallas to Fountain Place due to high gasoline prices and the revitalization of Downtown Dallas.Brown, Steve. "Tenet Healthcare moving to downtown Dallas' Fountain Place." The Dallas Morning News. Friday August 8, 2008. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
Belo and A. H. Belo have their headquarters in the Belo Building."Contact Us ." Belo Corporation. Retrieved on November 21, 2009."Contact Us ." A. H. Belo. Retrieved on November 21, 2009. 7-Eleven has its corporate headquarters in the One Arts Plaza building."7-Eleven, Inc. Announces Aggressive Growth Plans Throughout SoCal ." 7-Eleven. Retrieved on November 15, 2009. Energy Future Holdings Corporation has its headquarters in the Energy Plaza complex."Contact ." Energy Future Holdings Corporation. Retrieved on November 13, 2009. Greyhound Lines is located at 350 North St. Paul Street."Route Map ." Greyhound Lines. Retrieved on May 4, 2009. The Dallas Morning News has its headquarters in Downtown."Contact Us." The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on November 21, 2009. Neiman Marcus has its headquarters in One Neiman Square in Downtown."Company Information." Neiman Marcus. Retrieved on December 7, 2009. The Trammell Crow Company has its headquarters in the Trammell Crow Center."Contact Us ." Trammell Crow. Retrieved on December 16, 2009. The KPMG Centre in Downtown Dallas has the Dallas offices of KPMG and Sidley Austin."Offices." KPMG. Retrieved on December 17, 2009."Dallas ." Sidley Austin. Retrieved on December 17, 2009. Which Wich? has its headquarters in Downtown Dallas."Which Wich? Headquarters." (Go to Contact) Which Wich? Retrieved on February 25, 2010. Deloitte has its offices in the JPMorgan Chase Tower."Deloitte LLP Corporate Office Consolidation & Expansion in Downtown Dallas ." City of Dallas. October 5, 2009. 6. Retrieved on January 15, 2010. Visitdallas, the 501(c)(6) contracted by the City of Dallas to increase tourism and attract conventions, is headquartered in downtown Dallas.
Neighborhoods
Within Loop Arts District City Center District Convention Center District Farmers Market District Government District Main Street District Reunion District West End Historic District
Outside Loop Trinity/Design District Victory Park (also considered part of the Stemmons Corridor or Oak Lawn) Uptown (also considered part of Oak Lawn) State Thomas (also considered part of Oak Lawn) Bryan Place (also considered part of East Dallas) Baylor-Meadows (also considered part of East Dallas) Deep Ellum (also considered part of East Dallas) Fair Park (also considered part of East Dallas) Cedars (also considered part of South Dallas)
Tallest structures
Bank of America Plaza - Renaissance Tower - Comerica Bank Tower - JPMorgan Chase Tower - Fountain Place - Trammell Crow Center 686 ft (209 m) 1700 Pacific 655 ft (200 m) Thanksgiving Tower 645 ft (197 m) Energy Plasa 629 ft (192 mt) The Drever 628 ft (191 mt)
Transportation