Preston–Royal Towers Approved, 9–6: Dallas City Council Says Yes to the $800 Million Preston Hollow High-Rises Over Two and a Half Hours of Opposition
The Dallas City Council voted 9–6 on Tuesday to approve the $800 million Preston–Royal development — a 19-story hotel and an 18-story apartment tower on land zoned for five stories — after Preston Hollow residents packed City Hall and spoke overwhelmingly against it. A motion to cut the project to 12 stories failed by the same 9–6 margin, and a motion to delay failed as well.
DALLAS — The Preston–Royal fight ended the way its opponents feared and its developer hoped: the Dallas City Council voted 9–6 on Tuesday to approve the luxury high-rise development at Preston Road and Royal Lane in Preston Hollow, FOX 4 reported. The $800 million project will include a 19-story hotel and an 18-story apartment tower on a corner where the zoning allows five-story buildings.
The site has been waiting for this decision for years. Developer Leland Burk has owned the land since 2017; it was damaged by the 2019 tornado, and the project was originally proposed at 28 stories before being reduced. City staff recommended approval, saying the development is consistent with the city's ForwardDallas 2.0 plan, FOX 4 reported. The council had formally deferred this vote on October 14 to give the traffic and density questions more review — the deferral this station covered last month — and Tuesday was the hearing that deferral promised.
Preston Hollow residents crowded City Hall, and the vast majority of speakers across two and a half hours of public comment opposed the project, FOX 4 reported. "At the proposed height, I will no longer have morning sun again," resident Laura Green told the council, per FOX 4. "Excessive development that is too tall will impact my home, quality of life, excessive traffic shadow in the morning, glare in the afternoon, light pollution at night." Supporters spoke too: "When I learned about this project I was delighted," Kenzey Shelton Hayman said, per FOX 4. "We could go down to one car because I can walk to the post office, Tom Thumb, restaurants."
The last efforts to shrink or stall the project failed on the floor. Councilman Bill Roth, who said he is concerned the towers' height will set a precedent for the area, proposed reducing the development to 12 stories; that motion failed 9 to 6, FOX 4 reported. A motion to delay the final approval vote also failed. The approval makes Preston–Royal the tallest test yet of ForwardDallas 2.0's willingness to put height inside established single-family neighborhoods — and the 9–6 split, twice repeated on the same afternoon, is the measure of how contested that test remains.
