Uptown Dallas is in the midst of multiple new high-rise construction projects.

The growth in real estate developments along Maple between Turtle Creek and McKinney Avenue is positive news for the City of Dallas. The area currently has more than $500 million worth of ongoing new construction projects, according to The Dallas Morning News.

These projects come in spite of Dallas’ notoriously slow permitting system, an obstacle that developers must overcome to build in the city, and one that has pushed many firms to put down roots in other parts of DFW than Dallas.

One of the residential developments to break ground recently is Crescent Real Estate’s project near the Stoneleigh Hotel. The $100 million, 170-unit luxury high-rise was designed by Dallas-based GFF architects and has a planned completion date of 2024.

“The major projects and major tenant activity on Maple further remind us — at least me — of a Midtown Manhattan explosion of density and activity,” said Robert Young, executive managing director of Weitzman, a Dallas-based real estate firm.

Across from Weitzman’s office building sits the Maple Terrace Project, a mixed-use residential high-rise with luxury office space and street-front retail, also set to open in 2023.

Houston-based developer Hines purchased the property for redevelopment in 2019 and broke ground on the site mid-2021, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Dallas-based GFF architects designed the high-rise project, which includes a 21-story apartment tower, a two-story restaurant building, and a separate landmark building constructed in the 1920s that is currently under renovation. The development’s investors include McNair Interest and Mitsui Fudosan America.

“Maple Avenue has become a unique gateway between Turtle Creek and Uptown,” said Ben Brewer, senior managing director at Hines. “With all the new mixed-use developments in north Uptown, there has been a significant focus on great architecture and the pedestrian experience, including wider sidewalks, intriguing open space, and thoughtful design for efficient vehicle navigation.

These projects will “help make Dallas a national hotspot for urban development,” Brewer said, adding that these improvements will allow the local community to enjoy this corridor of town for years to come.

A hotspot could be an understatement, given the sheer number of projects now underway on Maple. However, the potential for growth and development is challenged by the City’s ongoing crises of vagrancy and crime.

Other projects include Granite Properties’ 26-story, 626,000-square-foot office tower named 23Springs, San Antonio-based Kairoi Residential’s 12-story Selene apartment community, and Alamo Manhattan Corp.’s just-approved 25-story apartment tower, among many others.

Uptown Dallas is certainly experiencing the lion’s share of growth in terms of mixed-use high-rises, and that growth is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.

“I think we will see phenomenal projects along Maple and Fairmount in the coming years,” said Matt Segrest of Alamo Manhattan. “The center of the bull’s eye in Uptown has shifted to the north and west.”