Dallas City Council Awards Convention Center Project Management Contract to Inspire Dallas

Dallas City News
September 13, 2023

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, the Dallas City Council awarded a $71 million project management services contract to Inspire Dallas for Component One of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas Master Plan. Component One includes the convention center expansion, a deck park over Interstate 30, and demolition of the existing structure. The Inspire Dallas team, led by Matthews Southwest, Kaizen Development, and Azteca Enterprises, includes 28 subcontractors of which 75% are local Dallas businesses and more than half are a Minority, Women, Business Enterprise (M/WBE).

In 2022, the Dallas City Council approved plans for an expanded 2.5-million-square-foot convention center that was later placed as a ballot measure on the November 2022 ballot. Voters overwhelmingly approved the Proposition A ballot initiative, which authorized a 2% increase in the city’s portion of the hotel occupancy tax to be used to fund the expansion and designated improvements at Fair Park. In addition to the 2% hotel occupancy tax increase, the Master Plan will be funded with a project financing zone.