The Leader - March/April 2009 - (Page 68) ECONOMIC ANCHORS IN THE STORM: TEXAS, ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA WEATHER THE CURRENT ECONOMY AND HAVE A MAJOR ROLE TO PLAY IN IMPENDING REBOUND For the Metroplex, the new headquarters downtown and suburban growth perpetuates the region’s momentum, building on its critical mass, said Mike Rosa, vice president of economic development at the Dallas Regional Chamber. “Those kinds of (headquarters) functions tend to coalesce because of the services they require, and the economic development underpinnings and fundamentals are strong here,” Rosa said. The Metroplex’s central, Sun Belt location and ever-growing population played a major role in attracting both, Rosa said. Companies increasingly have freedom to move wherever they desire, and companies’ major requirements will land where talented people are born, educated or migrate. “You have to be a place where people want to go,” Rosa said. “If 10 or 20 years from now we assess what the difference maker was for cities and regions, education and talent will be the differentiator,” Rosa said. Increasingly, the Metroplex’s transportation, infrastructure and cultural offerings are making that so. Transit in the Metroplex is gaining steam, with the Green Line radiating out of Downtown Dallas and the Orange Line link••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ing Dallas and Fort Worth with the type of heavy rail line that’s ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• common in the Northeastern U.S. Ridership increases create more and more revenue streams for further reinvestment, Rosa said. Metroplex airports have made gains as well. DFW Airport opened a new, $1.2 billion, 2 million- sq.-ft. (185,806 sq.-m.) international • • terminal in 2005, while Southwest Airlines and the City of Dallas are teaming up for a $519 million renovation of Love Field, which is scheduled to be completed in 2014. With mixed-use development and new and redeveloped cultural venues, the Metroplex is going through a thorough facelift that will completely alter perceptions, not to mention reality. For its part, Hillwood’s Victory Park connects Dallas’ Uptown, Downtown and Turtle Creek submarkets with office, hotel, residential and retail development, as well as the goal to create the largest urban arts district in the U.S. Currently in early stages of development, Woodall Rodgers Park will tie Victory, the arts district and the remainder of the CBD with a 5.2-acre (2.1 hectare) park to be built over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, one of the major thoroughfares flowing through Downtown Dallas. Victory Park includes the W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences, the redeveloped Reunion Tower, American Airlines Arena and a mini Times Square with giant highdefinition video screens. Furthering the CBD’s revitalization, the Dallas Center for Performing Arts is one of the most ambitious cultural development programs in the U.S. The 19-block, 68-acre (27.5 hectare) district includes new or redeveloped venues such as the Nasher Sculpture Center, which opened in •••••••••••••••••• 2003 and was designed by Renzo Piano, as well as the Winspear •••••••••• Opera House and Wyly Theater. Dallas Performing Arts Center also includes the Dallas Independent School District’s Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Arts. Fort Worth cultural offerings such as the Kimbell Art Museum 2 0 0 9 THE LE ADE R 68 MARCH / APRIL http://www.nledf.org http://www.nledf.org
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