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A long-term mixed-use transformation is underway in Dallas' Southwestern Medical District, starting with a recently launched streetscape and park project.
Texas Trees Foundation and the folks behind the district recently completed 30% of the design for the multi-year project aiming to increase green space, reduce heat and ease mobility in the area northwest of downtown. Other partners on the project include the City of Dallas, Dallas County and the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
The SWMD Urban Streetscape and Park Project calls for the redesign of Harry Hines Boulevard into a tree-lined corridor with wider sidewalks and 2 miles of trails and protected bike lanes. It will convert the district’s concrete cloverleaf area into a 10-acre park with the addition of about 4,000 trees.
Before and after the redesign of the Medical District.
Detailed design work of phase one, which focuses on Harry Hines from Butler Street to about Medical District Drive, should begin later this summer with the goal of completing the first phase in late 2026 or early 2027, said Megan Born, associate partner at Field Operations, the landscaping architect for the project. Construction of the entire project is anticipated to be completed in 2029.
“Obviously, it's a health care initiative [focused] on how the patients and employees feel when they're walking around the district [and] how it treats them,” said David Biegler, chairman of the Southwestern Medical District board and a former CEO of Dallas-based Southcross Energy.
The Medical District "is one of the major economic development areas in the city and an economic center," Biegler said. "The people who go there, who work there, deserve to have an environment that is equal to the world-class level of health care that is provided there."
Bordered by Maple Avenue, Stemmons Freeway, Medical District Drive and West Mockingbird Lane, the Southwestern Medical District covers more than 1,000 acres and is anchored by three founding healthcare institutions, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Parkland Health and Children’s Health.
The transformation of Harry Hines is the critical first step in the land use strategy that aims to set the Medical District up to become a mixed-use area over the next 10 to 20 years.
Biegler compared the transformation of the Medical District to the rejuvenation of downtown: a long-term change that will take years to be realized. Unlike downtown, which is largely built up, the Medical District is more of a blank slate that needs additional infrastructure and density to enable development.
The SWMD board last year approved phase one of its general land use plan that looks to form five multi-use hubs combining health care with retail, residential and commercial space. Phase one of the strategy sets up the framework including utility planning and stormwater planning, and work studying the second phase, focused on implementation, is now underway.
“Things such as water, stormwater or electricity can be planned for and taken care of,” Biegler said. “But until you create the street grid, the access and the amenity of the access into the area, you don't create nearly the same impetus for development."
What makes the Medical District a natural location for a mixed-use neighborhood is its foot traffic. More than 42,000 employees work in the district, and roughly 3.4 million patients visit the area annually. The focus for the SWMD board is how to take advantage of that traffic so visitors aren’t just driving in and out.
The logical initial steps that Biegler sees to drive multi-use development are ground-floor retail and service options and anything health care or health care services related. This nexus of development could generate tax revenue and help Dallas stand out in corporate relocation, he said.
"Anybody in the relocation business can tell you access to health care and nationally recognized health care is a factor in economic development choices," Biegler said. "It’s just natural. Having [the Medical District] exist and be supportive of the entire economic development equation of Dallas is absolutely critical. You can't have a world-class city without world-class health care. It’s pretty much that simple."
Dallas City Council Member Jesse Moreno noted many of the current dining options in the district have drive-thrus and said he wants to see more restaurants with patios or dine-in options as a result of the streetscape project. As the initiative works to ease movement within the district, Moreno hopes people will have better access to nearby trails and green space and that the project prioritizes pedestrian safety and well-being.
That is inherently challenging, especially in a car-centric city like Dallas. Born said architects have to think about how to design high-function streets that remain open for ambulances carrying patients — and also cool one of the largest heat islands in the city. She hopes their work can serve as a model for Dallas and other cities on how to design pedestrian-friendly spaces.
"We're using software to model these things, and we looked at that and said, 'That's not working very well. It’s not providing enough shade and isn’t cooling,'" Born said. "Eventually we came to a strategy of planting many trees close together in what we're calling tree grove, similar to how trees would grow in a forest or out in the wild. Many different trees, sizes and species, really clustered together more closely than what you see on a typical street. That ended up being the solution that worked."
The streetscape and park initiative is just one of several big changes happening in the Medical District. UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Health plan a $5 billion pediatric health campus at Harry Hines and Mockingbird Lane. Two 12-story buildings, an eight-story tower and a 2 million-square-foot hospital with 552 beds are planned on a 33-acre site. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year and be completed in 2031.
UT Southwestern is also building a mental health hospital on the corner of Medical District Drive and Harry Hines. Work on the Texas Behavioral Health Center at UT Southwestern is currently underway, and the 200-bed adult facility and 96-bed pediatric wing are anticipated to be delivered in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Dallas County is also working on a $52 million laboratory facility in the district. Located at 1410 W. Mockingbird Lane, the 65,040-square-foot property is scheduled to be delivered in August 2025 and will serve as the new home for Health and Human Services.
From the private sector, construction on a 215-room dual-branded hotel by Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott at 1807 W. Mockingbird Lane recently started and is anticipated to take about 18 months.
Last year, Irving-based Sava Holdings Ltd. purchased a four-building office complex at 2700 N. Stemmons Freeway with plans to convert them into apartments.
Earlier this year, Larkspur Capital LP acquired a 9.3-acre site at 1545 W. Mockingbird Lane, west of the planned $5 billion pediatric campus. The Dallas-based firm plans to develop the property into a mixed-use development with apartment units and ground-floor retail, Larkspur Capital President Carl Anderson previously said. He called this area of Dallas overlooked and said ongoing investments in the Medical District will drive demand for multifamily living.
All of the upcoming healthcare and private-sector developments represent what the board aims to attract more of in the district.
"The idea is over the term of the new 10-year plan to show and prove that multi-use development [is possible]," Biegler said. "And you see it in the area. You see a lot more residential facilities going up around the district. What you would like to do is bring that residential development, ground-floor retail and amenities for the employees, residents and patients closer into the district."