“We’re very, very optimistic with the ability to be able to close a lot more business.”

Craig Davis
President and CEO
Visit Dallas
.…on Dallas’ redeveloped Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center already snagging 41 bookings years before the redevelopment is scheduled for completion, via Dallas Morning News.

Dallas’ Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center is poised for a mega-makeover via a redevelopment that’s been estimated to cost from nearly $2 billion to $3.5 billion, including adjacent sites. When completed, the expanded convention center will offer 170,000 square feet of ballroom space, 260,000 square feet of meeting rooms, and 800,000 square feet of exhibit space. Not to mention a new deck park over I-30 and attractions like a sprawling roof terrace with jaw-dropping views, 

But exhibitors aren’t cooling their heels waiting for construction to be completed. They’re already snapping up dates—with 41 events already booked for 2029 and later, after the redevelopment is scheduled to be completed.

Rendering of the main entrance to the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center [Image: Visit Dallas]

That’s according to Davis, who told city council members at a Monday economic development committee meeting that 96 other event bookings are on the table as well, the Dallas Morning News’ Everton Bailey Jr. reported.

According to the DMN, Dallas convention and event services director Rosa Fleming said part of the redevelopment’s footprint has been shifted northward a bit over the former Dallas Morning News property, to accommodate future I-30 widening and railway projects. (You can see a map of that revamping in the DMN piece).

Rendering of the exhibit hall concourse at the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center [Image: Visit Dallas]

Jennifer Scripps, CEO of Downtown Dallas Inc., said the renovated convention center “will elevate us as a sort of destination compared to all our competitors,” according to WFAA’s Cole Sullivan. “No other project in downtown Dallas has the promise to revitalize our southwest quadrant of all of downtown.”

In 2022, Dallas voters approved a master plan to redevelop the convention center along with $300 million in renovations and repairs to the Cotton Bowl and several iconic buildings across Fair Park, to be paid for via a 2% increase to the city’s hotel occupancy tax over 30 years to pay for bonds for the two projects.

More Looks at What’s Coming

Aerial rendering of the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, including deck park over I-30 [Image: Visit Dallas]

Aerial rendering of the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, including deck park over I-30 [Image: Visit Dallas]

Rendering of the exhibit hall concourse at the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center [Image: Visit Dallas]

Rendering of the central atrium at the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center [Image: Visit Dallas]

Rendering of the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center at Lamar Street [Image: Visit Dallas]

Rendering of meeting rooms at the redesigned Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center [Image: Visit Dallas]

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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