Dallas developer Ray Washburne announced on Mar. 10 plans for an $800 million, 30-story hotel with about 1,000 rooms at the former Dallas Morning News campus in downtown Dallas. The proposed hotel would be located at 508 Young Street and serve as the centerpiece of an entertainment district that Washburne has envisioned since acquiring the property in 2019.
The project is significant because it aims to address a longstanding need for more hotel rooms near the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, which is undergoing a $3.7 billion expansion and renovation. Washburne said discussions with hotel operators led him to increase the room count from an earlier proposal of 250 rooms to approximately 1,000 rooms. “The city keeps saying they need about 5,000 rooms,” Washburne told the Dallas Morning News earlier this year. “I’m willing to do it.”
The planned tower would stand seven stories taller than the nearby Omni Dallas Hotel and would rise behind the historic Rock of Truth monument on the former newspaper campus. Both hotels are situated close to the convention center, positioning them as key assets for future events and visitors.
Washburne stated he is in talks with two major hotel brands but did not disclose their names. He also indicated plans to seek city participation covering roughly 20 percent to 25 percent of development costs—potentially between $160 million and $200 million—though formal discussions with city officials have not yet begun. “I just need the city to engage in conversations for it,” he said.
Washburne’s Charter DMN Holdings currently controls about 3.7 acres on the remaining portion of the campus where the hotel would be built, after selling more than four acres to Dallas last June and settling a condemnation dispute over another parcel last month. The surrounding entertainment district will be unveiled later, according to Washburne.
If construction began today, Washburne estimated that building the hotel would take about 30 months, targeting an opening around 2030—shortly after completion of the convention center overhaul.
