Atlanta developer plans downtown Dallas towers

One of the Southeast’s largest and best-known real estate developers has quietly purchased a vacant block in downtown Dallas with plans to construct three towers.

Atlanta-based Portman Holdings acquired the block at 2500 Ross Avenue and Routh Street across from the Arts District.

Portman purchased the almost five-acre building site from Spire Realty, which had owned the property and adjoining blocks for more than a decade.

Spire Realty had planned a huge skyscraper complex on the 12 acres it owned along Routh and San Jacinto streets. And the block Portman purchased would have been the location for one of the largest towers.

But construction of the project never got off the ground.

Now Portman Holdings has big plans for the block.

The developer intends to build an office tower and two residential high-rises, according to the company’s marketing information.

The Dallas Gateway project will include 700 apartments, a 400,000-square-foot office building and 45,000 square feet of retail space, Portman Residential says in its plans.

The developer describes the just-purchased property as “one of the only large-scale developable sites in a location of this quality in Dallas.”

The deed for the land was sent to the managing director of Portman Holdings’ Portman Residential company.

Portman Residential is building mixed-use and residential buildings in nine states.

Company officials could not be reached for more detail about the development plan and the timetable.

The purchase was funded with a more than $20 million loan from Bank Ozk, county records show.

The Ross Avenue block is one of the largest vacant properties on the northeast side of downtown Dallas.

Its’ across the street from the Arts District’s Moody Performance Hall and the Wyly Theater.

Portman Residential currently has new projects in the works in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and other markets.

The developer’s plans for Dallas would build one of the largest new downtown mixed-use projects.

Other large tower developments are proposed in the downtown area but so far not under construction by Hunt Realty, Kaizen Development and Hoque Global.

Portman Holdings is no stranger to Dallas.

Founded in the 1950s, the developer has done projects around the world.

The real estate firm was founded by the famed architect John Portman.

Portman decades ago worked with Dallas developer Trammell Crow on projects in Dallas and other major markets.

And in the 1970s, Portman’s real estate development company proposed a Main Street shopping mall and towers in downtown Dallas.