Major mixed-use development breaks ground on Dallas' Henderson Ave

A long-awaited development is coming to Dallas' Henderson Avenue, featuring the involvement of one of the neighborhood's original architects: According to a release, New York-based Acadia Realty Trust and Dallas development firm Ignite-Rebees will break ground on a 161,000-square-foot, creative, mixed-use development combining retail, restaurants, and innovative office space.

The site consists of a quarter-mile stretch of Henderson Avenue between Glencoe Street and McMillan Avenue at the eastern end of Henderson Avenue, almost to the Sprouts. Designed by Dallas-based architecture firm GFF, the Henderson development will comprise 10 architecturally distinct buildings lined with landscaped walkways that are pocketed with multiple public spaces. The project will also include 500 subgrade parking spaces.

It's expected to be completed by fall 2026.

The Henderson Ave. development is led by Acadia Realty Trust and Ignite-Rebees, a development firm founded by Mark Masinter and Tristan Simon, a pair of long-time Dallas visionaries and entrepreneurs.

Simon is a celebrated Dallas restaurateur turned real estate developer who transformed Henderson Ave. in the 2000s with a series of successful restaurants including Hibiscus, The Porch, Fireside Pies, and Victor Tangos.

Mark Masinter founded Dallas-based Open Realty and now serves as Chairman of Global Retail for Newmark, a New York-based real estate services firm.

“This project will spark a renaissance of Henderson Avenue. In addition to becoming a mecca for cutting-edge retail, Henderson Ave. will soon feature an array of stellar new restaurants within the development and up and down the street that will make it one of the most exciting and interesting food and beverage destinations in Dallas,” Simon says.

Open Realty, Tristan Simon, and Los Angeles-based CIM Group acquired a portfolio of retail properties along Henderson Avenue in 2012, as well as the new development site. The portfolio was acquired by Acadia Realty Trust in 2022. Ken Bernstein is President, CEO, and co-founder of Acadia Realty Trust, which specializes in the acquisition, redevelopment, and management of open air retail properties.

Acadia Realty Trust and Ignite-Rebees also own and operate 120,000 square feet of existing retail and restaurant space along Henderson Avenue.

“The new development will bring an exciting, aspirational vision that will elevate the street to the next level of urban-cultural significance,” Acadia Realty Trust CEO Bernstein says. “Henderson Ave. is the connective tissue between the Park Cities and burgeoning East Dallas, and it’s ready to become one of the great retail streets in Texas.”

The new development will encompass 12,000 square feet of restaurant space, 75,000 square feet of retail space, and 74,000 square feet of office space. Retail leasing for the new development will be managed by Open Realty; office leasing will be managed by Newmark; the project architect is GFF; the office interior designer is SETSTUDIO; the property manager is Rebees Management Company; and the general contractor is Balfour Beatty.

Additionally, Henderson East will be the first office project in North Texas to be fully “hotelized,” giving tenants immediate access to top-quality, on-premise food and beverage and a professionally-trained hospitality staff servicing all areas of the project.

“At a time when companies are struggling to entice their workforces back to traditional office environments, fresh solutions are needed to make going into the office more desirable than staying home,” Masinter says. “Henderson East expresses our vision of the most successful office concept for the future. When the project is complete, Henderson Ave. will transform into one of the most appealing stretches of walkable retail in Dallas and feature dozens of the most exciting contemporary retail brands in North America, many of which will be new to Dallas."

“Our goal for Henderson East is to curate a community of special firms that desire to office in a remarkable environment with amenities befitting a private social club or high-end hotel,” said Simon. “There will be nothing else like it.”