By: Josh Dickinson, Commercial Metals, YP Member
On June 15, Karl Zavitkovsky presented to about 30 YP members regarding the current economic state of the city of Dallas and the development plans and concerns the city will be focused on over the upcoming years.
Highlights from the breakfast
DFW Growth:
- Flat population growth, but with high movement
- Expanding outwards is the main way that cities grow, Dallas is land locked and density is a public issue
Basic needs:
- Safety, roads, utilities
Challenges:
- Workforce, jobs mismatched
- High skill jobs with a low skill work force
- High skill jobs being filled with people living in the suburbs
- High inventory of older homes and apartments
- Suburban competition
- Schools and better quality housing are the two main draws
Competitors
- Formerly Atlanta, but now it’s on a deal by deal basis
- Companies are more and more working closely with brokerage companies
- Brokers are educating companies, helping them consider education, quality of life, etc.
- This has helped Dallas since the DFW area is on a very short list of regions that meet many corporate needs and wants
Examples of Recent Success Stories
- Deloitte
- Real FX
Developments and existing infrastructure that will impact Texas and the DFW area
- The Wright Amendment of 1979 governing traffic at Dallas Love Field will expire in 2014
- Development around the Dart Rail and how areas can capitalize on its growth
- Future plans of a High Speed Rail connecting Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio
- Expansion of the Panama Canal that would double its capacity by 2014
- How to handle the increased cargo in Houston
- Rail at 250 miles is not attractive to rail road operators and significant truck traffic may not be well supported by our current interstate infrastructure
- Trinity River Development
- Lancaster Corridor – Southern Dallas
- Educational Corridor – UNT Dallas long term growth
- Southern Dallas – 50% of developable land but only accounts for 15% of the tax base
Important Existing Infrastructure:
- DFW airport is now the 4th largest airport in the U.S. and accounts for a significant amount of business and attraction
- Alliance Airport
- International Inland Port of Dallas
- DFW has a significant amount of Rail and Interstate intersections that make it a logistical hot spot
To learn more about the City of Dallas Economic Development work, visit http://www.dallas-ecodev.org/.
