Dallas Sees Progress In Vacant Buildings

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The sale and planned rennovation of a big downtown Dallas eyesore is sparking optimism that investors will now take a hard look at other empty buildings.

Now that a developer has purchased and will renovate the long-empty Statler Hilton on Commerce Street, John Crawford with Downtown Dallas Incorporated says city leaders can focus on spurring along the purchase of other vacant buildings like the historic black with white vertical stripes 1401 Elm street building.

"That is probably the biggest unsolved opportunity that we have downtown right now. When you talk about other empty buildings downtown, there's not that many left," Crawford told KRLD.

He says there aren't that many completely vacant buildings because we're on the other side of the recession and city leaders recently passed a tougher ordinance that pressures building owners to either keep them up and keep them occupied, or sell them.