Uptown Dallas is about to get a serious skyline shakeup. A $445 million overhaul of Cityplace Tower is set to kick off soon, turning much of the 42-story office tower and the surrounding vacant land into nearly 1,000 apartments, a new hotel, and fresh ground-floor retail.
The plan calls for 970 rental units across a new low-rise complex called The Apron and several phases of tower conversions, with 194 of those homes set aside as income-restricted housing. The project will also modernize the underground Cityplace/Uptown DART entry, revamp existing parking garages, and add about 22,000 square feet of new retail at street level. NexPoint, which bought the property in 2018, is leading the multi-phase effort after negotiating a package of city tax incentives tied to specific delivery milestones.
Plan and phasing
The redevelopment is split into four phases. Phase 1, branded as "The Apron," would bring eight six-story buildings to roughly 5.3 acres and deliver 465 mixed-income apartments plus about 22,300 gross square feet of ground-floor retail, according to the City of Dallas documents.
The filings carve up the tower work into conversion blocks that together would turn roughly 27 floors into housing, while reserving other portions for hotel and office use. The Apron scope also covers structural work on six underground parking garages and streetscape upgrades along Haskell and Weldon streets, so the changes will not be limited to what is happening above ground.
Inside the tower
City filings show the residential conversions are grouped so Phase 2A delivers about 240 units, Phase 2B roughly 115 units, and Phase 2C around 150 units. Added to The Apron, those phases bring the total to 970 homes. A NexPoint spokesperson and local reporting indicate that five floors will remain office, while eight floors are reserved for a hotel and related event space, as reported by D CEO.
Developers are pitching the hotel and the tower's top-floor event spaces as high-end perks meant to anchor the residential side of the project. A handful of lower floors that are still occupied by corporate tenants will stay in place for now, with NexPoint planning to market those spaces for lease or potentially repurpose them later.
Money and permits
The Dallas City Council signed off on a tax abatement package that staff estimates will forgo about $13.85 million in city tax revenue over a 10-year period to help close financing gaps, according to The Dallas Morning News reporting. The council vote and the city's underwriting review are wrapped into a Letter of Intent executed in April 2025, which requires the Phase 1 incentive to be earned before any tower-specific abatements can kick in.
City staff said the underwriting and structure of the deal make the abatement a reasonable tool to help close the project's gap financing. The incentives are not a blank check. The framework ties the release of those tax breaks to the delivery of affordable units and public improvements, so NexPoint has to hit key benchmarks to collect.
Who's behind it
NexPoint Diversified Real Estate Trust, which owns Cityplace Tower, bought the building in August 2018 for about $195.75 million, according to the company's investor materials. Since then, NexPoint has been walking investors through its financing and design strategy, and Marriott has floated lifestyle hotel brands that would sit alongside the planned upscale apartments, as reported by The Real Deal.
Public NexPoint presentations describe a plan where hotel event space, improved retail, and renovated parking work together to lift leasing across the new apartments. The developer has said it expects to lock in a lender for The Apron before putting shovels in the ground.
Timeline and what to watch
Early city filings pointed to a Phase 1 construction start in the fourth quarter of 2025. NexPoint's more recent updates, along with newer local coverage, suggest the team is still finalizing financing and now expects to break ground soon, according to The Dallas Morning News.
A City of Dallas budget packet and memo put the overall build-out window running through roughly 2030, with The Apron scheduled first and the tower conversions following behind it. For anyone tracking progress, the main signals to watch will be permit filings, a lender announcement for The Apron, and NexPoint investor updates that lock in a firm start date. City officials say that if financing falls into place quickly, nearby residents could see staging and site prep along Haskell within months.
What neighbors will notice
People living or working around the site should brace for the usual big-project side effects. Expect construction staging, lane adjustments, and heavy equipment as crews tackle the underground garages, build The Apron, and roll out streetscape improvements near Haskell and Weldon.
DART's station modernization program, which includes escalator replacement and platform upgrades, is being coordinated with the redevelopment and will affect access points during construction, according to DART. The Apron is also slated to bring lively ground-floor retail and a central water feature that is meant to serve as a pedestrian-friendly hub and better connect the tower to nearby shops. NexPoint has said construction teams will coordinate staging in an effort to limit disruptions for transit riders and neighboring businesses.
Legal note
Each phase of the project has a performance-based tax abatement that must be earned by meeting construction, affordability, and public-improvement milestones spelled out in the city's redevelopment agreement. City staff and an independent underwriter reviewed the project's financials and recommended the abatement as a reasonable way to support delivery while still protecting the public interest, according to the City of Dallas documents.
That setup gives the city contractual tools to enforce the 20 percent affordable-unit minimum and the infrastructure promises in the Letter of Intent. If NexPoint falls short of those milestones, the city can withhold or even recapture incentives under the agreed terms.
