Highland Park Village Buildings Set for Renovations

Highland Park Village is getting a facelift. Filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation confirm that several buildings at the 1931 shopping center are slated for renovation work, and a spokesperson for the property has confirmed the plans.

The filings don’t specify which tenants will be affected or whether any storefronts will temporarily close during construction, but the scope of the project, as outlined in state records, points to meaningful structural and cosmetic work rather than routine upkeep. Highland Park Village has operated continuously since its opening and holds the distinction of being one of the oldest continuously operating shopping centers in the United States, a status that makes any significant renovation a matter of public interest well beyond the Park Cities.

Worth noting is how the Village has managed that history. The center, developed originally by the Flippen and Armstrong families and now controlled by a family ownership group with deep roots in Dallas real estate, has earned a National Register of Historic Places designation. That designation shapes what can and can’t be done to the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture that defines the property’s look, and it means any renovation has to thread a needle between modern retail demands and preservation requirements.

A spokesperson for Highland Park Village confirmed the plans but didn’t offer detail on timeline or budget.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation requires filings for most commercial construction projects above a certain cost threshold in the state, so the appearance of the Village in those records signals the project has crossed into something more than minor patching. The TDLR database is publicly searchable and has become a reliable early indicator for construction activity across North Texas, often surfacing plans before a shovel turns or a press release goes out.

Highland Park Village sits at Mockingbird Lane and Preston Road and draws shoppers from across Dallas and well beyond the Park Cities. Tenants include Chanel, Christian Louboutin, and Hermes, brands that aren’t typically associated with disruption to their retail environments. Whatever the renovation timeline looks like, the ownership group will have commercial pressure to minimize downtime.

The center’s Spanish Colonial Revival buildings have anchored Preston Road’s southern end for nearly a century. That stretch of Preston, from the Village up through Preston Center, remains among the most commercially valuable corridors in the city, and the Village’s condition directly affects property values and foot traffic in the surrounding blocks. Any extended construction presence will be felt.

Renovations at historic retail properties of this caliber typically run into the millions. The Shops at Highland Park Village have undergone periodic updates over the decades, but a filing with TDLR suggests this cycle may be more substantive than past rounds of work. Comparable projects at historic shopping districts, including work done at properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, often involve facade restoration, accessibility upgrades, updated mechanical systems, and interior reconfiguration to meet current tenant demands without compromising historic integrity.

None of that is confirmed for this project specifically. What is confirmed is that the state has a filing and the property’s spokesperson has acknowledged renovations are coming. More detail will likely emerge once permits are issued or construction begins.

For residents in Preston Hollow and the Park Cities, Highland Park Village is less a shopping center than a civic institution. It hosts community events, anchors neighborhood identity, and draws the kind of foot traffic that sustains the retail corridor around it. People in this zip code have opinions about it, and they’ll have opinions about this work, too. The ownership group would do well to get ahead of those questions before construction fencing goes up on Preston Road.