The August Super Blue Moon rises over the Bank of America Plaza building and downtown Dallas, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
Elías Valverde II/Staff Photographer
Developers behind a planned $409 million evolution of Dallas’ tallest building now have more time to purchase the skyscraper.
Mike Hoque and Mike Ablon have signed a 10-month extension with city officials to purchase the 72-story Bank of America Plaza, both groups told The Dallas Morning News Monday. The extension means the duo is still eligible to receive more than $100 million in incentives approved by the Dallas City Council last year to fund their planned redevelopment.
The previous deadline to purchase the building was Sept. 30, and Ablon said their team hopes to close on the building well before the new cutoff. Ablon said the developers and Dallas officials are working to complete the development agreement.
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Under the extension, Hoque and Ablon must purchase the tower by July 30, 2027.
“It’s a very complex, large project. It’s not specifically just buying a building,” Ablon said. “The city has a lot going on. For them to get the document put together the proper way and to work through the details, the city needs a little more time.”
The real estate duo, under 901 Main PAHG Partners LLC, announced plans in 2024 to purchase the light-trimmed, 72-story tower from current owner Metropolis Investment Holdings, a Chicago-based real estate firm that manages assets for a German family investment group. Hoque and Ablon also plan to purchase four city blocks as part of the deal.
Updated renderings of the planned Bank of America Plaza redevelopment
Courtesy of Hoefer Welker
“The redevelopment of 901 Main Street is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to completely reimagine a multi-block sector of downtown Dallas,” Robin Bentley, Dallas assistant city manager, said in a statement. “This is a very important project to the city, and we have been diligently working with the development team on this complicated transaction that is taking a little longer due to the nature of its complexity.”
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Minor design tweaks have been made to the project, but the big-picture plans for the skyscraper remain largely the same as those presented to City Council last October. The plans include:
Reducing office space from 1.8 million square feet to 1.5 million square feet. The office space will be fully renovated
Converting and adding 275 new four-star or higher hotel rooms and hotel amenity space
Building a new adjacent glass-and-steel structure to house a hotel lobby and ballroom
A new 1,115-space parking garage on what is now a surface lot across the street
Connecting the new structures with a skybridge across Main Street
New street-level retail and additional restaurants, including a 69th-floor restaurant with an outside lounge/observation deck
City Council approved a $103 million payment from the Downtown Connection Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District during a late October meeting.
Hoque and Ablon have said they are making progress. The developers have spent about $4 million on design elements. A capital partner and financing for the project has been secured, but Ablon declined to provide additional details about the deal.
The duo estimated it will cost $409 million to buy and redesign the high-rise. To purchase the tower, the duo expects to spend more than $165 million. The project could be finished by September 2032, previous city documents show.
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The name of the tower is almost certain to change. Anchor tenant Bank of America is leaving downtown Dallas in the next couple years for the new Bank of America Tower at Parkside overlooking Klyde Warren Park.
The makeover of Dallas’ tallest tower would be the most ambitious project for either man. Hoque’s firm, Hoque Global, is behind the University Hills development in southern Dallas, where it has delivered key residential infrastructure for the mixed-use project 18 months ahead of schedule. Officials in Fort Worth and Mansfield ended agreements with Hoque as the developer on other projects, citing missed deadlines and delays, the Dallas Business Journal previously reported.
The extension comes as downtown Dallas is in the midst of change. Large development projects are planned or underway, while other major departures loom.
Two big exits are on the horizon. Iconic retailer Neiman Marcus is closing its century-old store at 1618 Main St. later this week. AT&T is moving its headquarters to Plano in the coming years. It aims to partially occupy the suburban campus by 2028, and AT&T’s downtown lease at One Whitacre Tower runs through Dec. 31, 2031.
These are renderings for the planned $350M redevelopment of Bank of America Plaza and the surrounding city blocks.
Courtesy of Hoefer Welker
However, new tenants are coming. Financial services giant Morgan Stanley announced it will temporarily occupy space in the Fountain Place skyscraper on Ross Avenue. The five-year lease gives the company a home while it waits for a new $1.2 billion tower to be built on McKinney Avenue in Uptown.
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The Bank of America Plaza skyscraper is just down the road from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center redevelopment, estimated to cost $3.5 billion to $3.8 billion.
“The west side of downtown continues to see really positive work,” Ablon said. “We’re very excited to be part of it.”