Fair Park, Dallas leaders say, should be making money.
City officials are welcoming ideas for 40 acres at Fair Park that could become a hotel, restaurants, a parking garage or something else entirely. They’re bringing on a real estate advisory firm to help kick off the search.
“We want to make sure we’re getting the best deal,” park department director John Jenkins said. “We’re throwing the net wide. Not just nationally but internationally.”
The city took over management of the 277-acre Fair Park last year after a tense split with the previous operator. Park leaders have been working to keep the city-owned fairgrounds active with events, looking into ways the site could make money and pay for hundreds of millions in fixes.
The opportunity “has the potential to generate significant long-term revenues to support Fair Park” and help preserve historic buildings, Jenkins wrote in a memo Friday.
The department is looking to utilize an existing city agreement with real estate firm CBRE. Depending on how much the deal costs, it may go before the City Council for approval, said Ryan O’Connor, the city’s senior deputy park department director.
The efforts to revitalize Fair Park come as the park department faces pressure to make millions in cuts across the city, which is dealing with budget woes.
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.