Washburne Buys Dallas Greyhound Terminal for Redevelopment

A Dallas business mogul has secured a bus terminal near the downtown convention center with plans for redevelopment.

Ray Washburne bought the Greyhound station at 205 South Lamar Street, which is closing next year, from Alden Global Capital subsidiary Twenty Lake Holdings, the Dallas Morning News reported. It was a significant acquisition in a greater mission among Dallas power players to reshape downtown.

Twenty Lake Holdings acquired 33 Greyhound stations from First Group in 2022 for $140 million.

Davidson Bogel Real Estate’s Jake Milner represented Connecticut-based Twenty Lake Holdings in the transaction with Washburne. The sale price was not disclosed, but the Dallas Central Appraisal District values the 26,000-square-foot property at $2.8 million, or $107 per square foot.

The bus terminal will remain operational through April under Greyhound’s extended lease. After that, Washburne plans to redevelop the site in light of Dallas’ $1.2 billion replacement of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Washburne’s firm HP Village Management owns Highland Park Village, and his Charter Holdings bought the former Dallas Morning News headquarters building, at 508 Young Street, for $28 million in 2019. It is a few blocks from the Greyhound station. Charter also bought Founders Square, a historic office building at 900 Jackson Street, last year.

Washburne is part of the Hunt family, married to H.L. Hunt descendant Heather Hill Washburne. Hunt Realty Investments has a $5 billion plan to redevelop the area around Reunion Tower, also in the same corner of downtown, near the convention center.

Washburne hasn’t revealed redevelopment plans for the Greyhound site, but said he is considering keeping the iconic bus station sign from 1946.

Since the Alden subsidiary bought them, bus terminals in major cities including Cincinnati and Philadelphia have closed, pushing replacement terminals into suburban areas and creating transportation woes for travelers and commuters, especially low-income residents.

Earlier this year, Twenty Lake Holdings tapped JLL to find a buyer for its Greyhound station in downtown Chicago, which was earmarked for redevelopment as a two-tower residential development.

Washburne, a political donor who served in the Trump administration, is also a co-founder of M Crowd Restaurant Group, which owns Mi Cocina. His HP Village Management bought the 1 million-square-foot Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, for $175 million earlier this year, with plans to invest $100 million into renovating the upscale shopping center.

— Andrew Terrell