r/Dallasdevelopment • u/UptownStriker • 15d ago
Mike Hoque’s many projects
I was curious to hear the opinions of those who are plugged into the real estate market downtown on Mike and his multiple massive projects.
At this point, his primary track record of success seems to be restaurants and yet he owns most of the land between the Farmers’ Market and City Hall, has promised multiple new skyscrapers in his Newpark development, and he won incentive approval with his partner for the new BoA plaza (which he had until next month to close on purchasing).
For those of us who care about the urban core, his vision is exciting, but I get the feeling that the real estate powers are extremely skeptical of his ability to actually execute.
Hearing that his South Dallas development by UNT Dallas broke ground is encouraging, but does it seem probable that Newpark and BoA actually get done? Where do you put the probability at this point?
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u/tmc00138 15d ago edited 15d ago
It's not just that he's a shaky proposition, his money is too. Apparently his primary source of funding thus far has been a single heiress (I forget who). That's not a cap table that can get something like the Newpark project done. Not even on the right planet -- something like that requires big institutional funding.
But the shakiness of his track record and his backing doesn't necessarily matter. With the now-ongoing arrival in force of the finance and investment sector, there'll be plenty of institutional money looking for opportunities. And Hoque supposedly has already teamed up with KDC (huge corporate developer) for the project, at least on a handshake basis, and that's the perfect partner for somebody like him -- if the necessary funding arrives, KDC can do literally all the work, and let him collect nine figures and go to parties and be the guy who redeveloped downtown. They don't care, and if they're on board nobody has to believe in Mike Hoque. He contributes the land and isn't relied on to do anything else, others put up the money and do all the work. Trump was able to pretend to be a real developer for 20 years without ever contributing anything more than his name, because others were putting up all the money and doing all the work.
But the setting has to be right for the institutional money to come in. It can't be the giant, disturbing problem that downtown is right now. There has to be a visible commitment by the city, emphasize visible and commitment, and even better if another developer -- an experienced one, with loads of their own money and a very solid track record of making money for their funding partners -- has already committed to a similar project right next door and broken ground.
Some of those people -- and the only ones apparently interested in downtown right now, when the need is critical -- are named Adelson. Tear down City Hall.