Dallas council hears updated convention‑center design, tighter budget and construction progress
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Summary
City staff and the master‑plan team presented a refined schematic for the replacement Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center — keeping 750,000 sq ft contiguous exhibit space, 180,000 sq ft of meeting rooms and a 105,000‑sq‑ft ballroom — and reported construction staging for FIFA IBC, DART cocooning, early demolition and finance updates including a $1.0B bridge loan and revised long‑term financing plans.
City staff and design and construction consultants presented a design-development update and construction-progress report for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center replacement project.
The design team said the revised plan keeps the marketable program areas previously promised: 750,000 contiguous square feet of exhibit space, roughly 180,000 square feet of meeting rooms and a 105,000‑square‑foot rooftop ballroom. Populous and Perkins&Will noted the design has been refined for efficiency — the team reduced the vertical building profile by roughly 16 feet and simplified vertical circulation — while preserving sellable square footage. “What you see before you today…is a more efficient, better building than we presented in May,” said Tom Reisenbichler of the design team.
Construction sequencing and current activity: Trinity Alliance and the city reported that enabling work required for FIFA was delivered on schedule. FIFA moved into the IBC and technical yard on Jan. 14; the DART station beneath the building was closed and prepared for demolition with a protective "cocoon," temporary power systems and chilled‑water bypasses installed to keep remaining convention operations running. Trinity Alliance said the team met the January handover date for FIFA operations and that interior decommissioning and material recycling are underway.
Budget and financing: Staff described refinements that have reduced the previously forecast construction range (previously $3.1–$3.5B in earlier briefings) to a working construction range of roughly $3.1–$3.3B while retaining program. The city has been drawing against a $1.0B bridge loan to fund construction cash flow; project‑financing‑charge (PFC) receipts have outperformed early forecasts (staff reported roughly $167M collected to date versus an $87M earlier forecast). Staff said they plan to extend the bridge-loan timing, draw additional GMP (guaranteed maximum price) funds to cover immediate construction phases, and return to the council in 2026 for long‑term revenue bonding to repay the bridge loan.
Parking, mobility and legacy: Consultants showed a multimodal mobility hub concept with consolidated access for ride‑share, coach buses, hotel shuttles and DART integration; a flexible parking approach is planned (day‑one on‑site parking ~1,900 spaces with capacity to grow to ~4,000 over time through shared downtown lots and targeted garage upgrades). The team also outlined legacy programming (mini pitches, tree planting, public art) and said a developer RFP for the developable acres freed by the rebuild is targeted for 2026.
Council follow‑ups and next steps: Council members asked for more frequent briefings, a public CPM schedule for construction tracking, a detailed list of design changes and their cost implications, district‑specific transportation maps and a clearer schedule for when different on‑site parking assets will be back in service. Staff committed to monthly schedule updates, additional public engagement materials (including VR and model demos already shown), and returning with GMP‑2 and other procurement actions as the project advances.
