Signs Advertise Gambling Along Trinity River

Banners that advertise gambling are up this week at a prime Dallas development site along the Trinity River.

The 505 Riverfront tract spans 30 acres on Riverfront Boulevard beside the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

People who work at a forensic investigation and document retrieval company across the street are asking questions about the suggestion of gambling.

“It’s made all my employees curious the past few days,” said Terry Reeves with Elite Document Technology.

Reeves remained in his location through years of construction complications from the bridge and Riverfront Boulevard and now wonders what’s happening across the street.

“This is a great location for us. We have great access to our clients downtown," Reeves said. "So my main concern is how it’s going to affect our business."

505 Riverfront investor Dale Foster, who’s name is on the banners, said the mention of gambling is just one of many options for the property, in the event casinos ever become legal in Texas.

“It’s isolated and controlled and wouldn’t impact anybody around it,” he said.

Foster said it is also well positioned for urban development like Uptown Dallas has seen in recent years. The banners now posted on fences are meant to beautify the site and attract interest.

“We’re hoping to hear back from the development community as well, let them have a little bit of imagination to see what they might be able to do on a site like this,” Foster said.

Dallas city leaders want very much to see major urban development on that site.

City renderings show high-rise buildings around the proposed Dallas Trinity River Park near the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, which was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. 

The Dallas City Council voted  on Wednesday to move forward on a second Calatrava Bridge that would carry hike and bike crossings over the Trinity beside a new Interstate 30 roadway that will soon be built by the state.

And the city hopes to actually start construction later this year on the park, which was first approved by voters in 1998.

“For so long, people are saying there’s not enough going on, and now you start to see these things happening,” said Mayor Mike Rawlings.

Several Council Members said the new I-30 bridge is a sign of their commitment to help spur development in Dallas.

“I think that we have an opportunity to make sure that the excitement is here,” Councilman Dwaine Caraway said.

Prior owners of the 505 Riverfront site went bankrupt during the recession.

Foster hopes the city’s continued commitment to Trinity River helps attract development partners.

“If you look in urban, major downtown areas, this is very unique property, there’s no question about it,” he said.

Businessman Reeves said it could be good for his neighborhood.

“Whether we’ll see it in the near future, I don’t know,” he said.