De La Vega Development is kicking The Central into its next gear, moving ahead with a full-service hotel and new restaurant leases that will ring the project’s central park. The 27-acre mixed-use site, on the east side of North Central Expressway, is steadily shifting from the former viral “Leaning Tower of Dallas” demolition meme into a walkable neighborhood that nudges up against Uptown and the Knox-Henderson corridor.
Developer Outlines Hotel And Restaurant Plan
According to the Dallas Business Journal, CEO Artemio De La Vega said this next phase will bring a full-service hotel to the property, along with three restaurant spaces that will encircle the park. The move is being positioned as a way to pull more hospitality and evening activity into the literal and figurative heart of the development.
Phase I Built The Park And Retail Base
Phase I created The Central’s Pavilions, an activated collection of retail and restaurant buildings that front the park and together total about 110,000 square feet of food and beverage space, according to The Central’s project site. The park and its surrounding pavilions were targeted for completion in summer 2025, a timeline the Texas Real Estate Research Center noted as central to the project’s leasing strategy for retailers that want a built-in green space and steady foot traffic.
A Big Bet On East Dallas
At full build-out, The Central has been pitched as roughly a $2.5 billion investment that could approach 4 million square feet of office, residential and retail space, with about 2,000 multifamily units in the mix. That scale would make it one of the largest developments north of downtown. The Real Deal has profiled the project as part of developer Artemio De La Vega’s broader strategy to go head-to-head with Uptown for residents, employers and destination retail.
Timeline And Next Steps
The hotel and restaurant phase is now being advanced, Dallas Business Journal reports, although the initial coverage did not specify a construction start date or name a hotel operator. Earlier reporting identified the property as the former Affiliated Computer Services site at 2828 N. Haskell Ave., a reminder that the same parcel that once drew crowds for a half-demolished “Leaning Tower of Dallas” has turned into a long-term development play.
If De La Vega follows through as planned, a hotel and a ring of park-side restaurants could anchor evening foot traffic and layer in new amenities for residents and workers in nearby neighborhoods. Industry observers have pointed out that combining curated retail, hospitality and a central green space has become a favored formula for reviving underused corridors, a trend REBusiness Online has highlighted in its recent coverage of Texas mixed-use projects.
