Proposed Development to Bring Multifamily Units to HPISD

A proposed redevelopment for the southern side of Preston Center West would bring 180 units of multifamily housing zoned to Highland Park ISD.

The project’s developer, Ramrock Real Estate, aims to create a walkable, mixed-use community with retail, office space, and housing.

“I think we would all like to see (Preston Center) come a little more to its potential than what it is now,” Dallas City Councilmember Gay Donnell Willis said during an April 10 community meeting.

A rezoning request to accommodate these changes is planned to go before the City Plan Commission on May 2.

Robert Dozier with Ramrock shared that the plan calls for 280,000 square feet of residential, 350,000 square feet of office space, and 25,000 square feet of retail. Developers are planning for street-activating restaurants and retail, two floors of parking, an 11-story office building, and 13 stories of residential.

The existing 125,000-square-foot office building would come down to make way for the new development.

Some neighbors have raised concerns about traffic that would come with the development, which Willis and Dallas director of transportation Gus Khankarli said could be addressed with crosswalks, roadway improvements, traffic signal improvements, sidewalks, pavement markings, and signal replacement.

Douglas Avenue improvements are to come, and Khankarli emphasized that it takes two to three years for cities to get their hands on federal funds.

“We applied for that cash three years ago, and now it’s just materializing,” he said. “This is the reason why at that time when we applied, looking at and making adjustments to the median and the movements on Douglas was a key component to that work.”

The northern half of Preston Center West with Target and Marshalls will remain in its current condition, Dozier said.