Dallas' once-grungy Deep Ellum entertainment district will now offer what is surely an unanticipated new amenity: valet parking.

The valet service will be open on Thursdays-Sundays beginning May 11, and is not connected with any one business, ergo, it's open to anyone visiting Deep Ellum who doesn't want to park their own car.

The service is one in a series of new measures introduced by the Deep Ellum Foundation (DEF) to ease access and walkability for visitors to the area's 100-plus restaurants, bars, breweries, nightclubs, shops, apartments, offices, and hotels.

The valet stand will be located at 2625 Commerce St., between Twisted Root and DOT's Hop House, and is the result of a partnership between DEF, the 501c3 that advocates for the neighborhood, and the owner of the parking lot, says DEF executive director Stephanie Hudiburg.

"This has been a priority we've been trying to do for a few years," Hudiburg says. "Originally, we were trying to find a way to do it on the public right of way, by using metered parking on the streets. But the parking lot owner is working with us to offer a program that serves the entire district, right in heart of district."

The lot is the large plot that stretches across a block from Commerce Street to Main, making it accessible to pedestrians from both streets.

"This particular lot is owned by a property owner who also owns retail, bars, and restaurants, and wanted to offer a holistic customer experience that benefits other businesses as well," she says. (FYI, it's Asana Partners.)

The valet stand will be in operation Thursdays-Fridays from 6 pm-1 am, and Saturdays-Sundays from 1 pm-1 am. At launch, it will cost $25, although there are hints that the price may increase down the road.

The valet is one part of a larger program to make it easier for people who want to visit Deep Ellum, Hudiburg says.

Other parts of the program include:

• closing down the main streets on weekend nights to pedestrian traffic only, from 10 pm-3 am
• new bicycle corrals on Main Street, and a new bicycle pump installed at 2626 Main St. in front of the Patagonia store
• freshly painted crosswalks, at the intersections of Main & Crowdus, Elm & Crowdus, and Elm & Good Latimer Expressway

There are also 1,000 new parking spaces, and a new/additional dropoff spot in the neighborhood's Rideshare Flow Zones, a program it introduced in 2019 modeled after DFW Airport in which zones have been designated as drop-off/pickup rideshare zones for visitors coming via services such as Uber and Lyft.

The zones are 1 to 2 blocks away from core activity in Deep Ellum, with the goal of improving traffic flow and emergency vehicle access in the area, and are in play during the busiest nights and weekends.

The new zone is at 2551 Elm St., in front of Elm & Good at the Pittman Hotel and will launch on May 12.

It joins the five existing rideshare drop off/pick up zones:

• Good Latimer Expressway northbound between Main & Commerce
• Commerce Street eastbound between Crowdus & Malcolm X Boulevard
• Pryor Street southbound between Main & Commerce AND extended zone on Commerce between Pryor & Henry
• Malcolm X Boulevard northbound between Indiana & Junius
• Swiss Avenue westbound between N. Hawkins & Good Latimer Expressway

The Deep Ellum Foundation has created an entire page dedicated to getting around the neighborhood with charts and maps and such, rendered in a pleasing purple-teal-chartreuse color scheme.