Bishop Arts Changed Owners by the Block This Fall. Its New Doors Opened at Other Addresses.

Between late August and early October, two investment firms bought a large share of the Bishop Arts District. Together their properties hold 27 retail tenants, all now paying rent to a new owner. A Houston firm paid more than $170 million for nine properties, and a Dallas firm picked up the strip at 301–321 N. Bishop Ave. That's a lot of ownership changing hands for a district this size in one season.

Yet nearly every change a resident can see opened, moved or closed at an address that wasn't in either deal. The real movement came from operators already in Oak Cliff expanding, relocating and rebuilding around the edges.

Two sales, one season

The smaller deal made the news first. Advocate Oak Cliff reported on August 28 that 90Ten, a Dallas firm founded in 2023, had bought 301–321 N. Bishop Ave. Then on October 6, Hines announced what it calls the "Bishop Arts Portfolio."

Here's who now owns the blocks where many familiar names sit:

• Hines Global Income Trust paid more than $170 million for nine properties covering nearly seven acres. The deal includes the apartment buildings Bishop Canopy, Bishop Flats, Bishop North and Treehaus, 539 units in all. It also includes retail at 308 and 275 N. Bishop Ave.; 404, 332, 336 and 337 Melba St.; and 403 and 321 W. 9th St. According to Advocate Oak Cliff, the roughly 49,000 square feet of retail houses 22 tenants. Among them are Village Baking Co., Bar Eden Lounge, Paradiso, the Michelin Bib Gourmand awardee Lucia and the Michelin-recommended Written by the Seasons.
• 90Ten bought 301–321 N. Bishop Ave., which houses Hunky's, Palmieri Café, Dolly on Bishop, Kawaii Candle Co. and Simply Bella. The firm bought a Lower Greenville block in the same move, and financial terms were not released.

When Hines bought, the retail was 98% leased and the apartments were 95% leased. Most of the seller's holdings had belonged to Exxir. Hines bought Bishop Arts as part of a three-market deal that also covered properties in Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio.

The firm told The Dallas Morning News that the sale won't affect existing operations. Advocate Oak Cliff relayed the statement Corbin Eckel of Hines' U.S. Sunbelt team gave the News:

"Our goal is to synergize the residential and retail components in ways that serve residents, businesses, and the broader district as it enters its next chapter."

That statement is the only public word from Hines on its plans. For now, the bakery case at Village Baking Co. and a reservation at Lucia work the same way they did in September.

Where the new doors actually opened

While the deals were closing, a different set of addresses was changing. None of the openings below sit at an address listed in either sale.

West 8th Street keeps coming up. Three of these six addresses are on it, and The Wild Detectives' new shop is just around the corner on Zang. Advocate Oak Cliff's September report explained the split. The bookstore bar kept its original home at 314 W. 8th St. under the name Stories and opened Ideas a block away at 321 N. Zang Blvd., in the space Sketches of Spain left when it closed in July.

CocoAndré's move works the other way, as a homecoming. Advocate Oak Cliff describes the shop as a mother-daughter business run by Andrea and Cindy Pedraza. The paper reported that they were moving the chocolatier back into a space of its own on Centre Street, and the soft opening came the weekend of September 4.

One stop just past the district's edge belongs on the same walk. El Jardín Café was officially open at 714 W. Davis St. by October 5.

Trapèze took the longest, and the delay explains its look

Of all the fall openings, Trapèze took the most work, and the reason is in plain sight from the sidewalk. CraveDFW reported on October 19 that the 1940s bungalow at 240 W. 8th St. had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Because the lot sits inside a conservation district, the crew had to keep the street-facing front the neighborhood has known for decades. The opening slipped from spring to midyear to October.

Four days later, CultureMap reported that Trapèze had quietly opened and was in its soft-opening phase. It had been taking guests on recent weekends while the patio was finished. Co-owner Peter Novotny told the outlet that a limited menu was available, with the full menu and brunch coming "very soon." No grand opening date had been set when that story ran on October 23. The restaurant's Instagram is the place to check hours before you go.

Trapèze comes from Novotny and Dan Murry, who run Ruins on Commerce Street and Armoury D.E. on Elm Street in Deep Ellum. Here's what CraveDFW reported about the concept:

• The room: a bohemian brasserie with a cabaret-and-circus streak, which is where the name comes from. There's a small stage inside and a larger one on the back patio for live music.
• The kitchen: a menu from New York chef Jeremy Spector, who spent time at Balthazar and Gramercy Tavern and owns The Brindle Room in Manhattan. Early menu talk included roasted oysters with leeks, pork rillons, steak au poivre and duck confit poutine, plus a burger with a French accent.
• The bar: classic French and New Orleans-style cocktails, with a deep list of cognac, rhum agricole, absinthe and Chartreuse, and an all-French wine list.

The French theme draws on local history. In 1855, French, Belgian and Swiss settlers founded La Réunion just west of the Trinity River, and the neighborhood still marks that heritage every July with its Bastille Day celebration.

The goodbyes also came from outside the sales

The fall's one in-district restaurant closing also sat at an address neither buyer purchased. Pillar, the bistro at 408 N. Bishop Ave., closed September 30, according to The Dallas Morning News. The restaurant had opened December 8, 2024.

A longer-running goodbye is underway a short drive south. Advocate Oak Cliff reported on October 13 that El Padrino at 408 W. Jefferson Blvd., which owner Juan Contreras Sr. has run since 1989, has until the end of the year to close. The family's Pleasant Grove location will stay open. That leaves November and December for a last visit to the Jefferson location.

Put the season together and it adds up to five openings or moves, one closing and two large sales. Every opening and the closing happened at addresses outside the deals.

Bazaar Sundays carry the district through the holidays

The district's regular gathering also sits on land outside both portfolios' listed retail. The Bishop Bazaar runs along West 9th Street between North Bishop Avenue and Madison Avenue, with stalls spilling onto Bishop Lane, Park Bishop and Magnolia Plaza outside Written by the Seasons. The organizers list the address as 200 N. Bishop Ave. and describe the market as 150-plus local vendors with live music and entertainment.

Part 2 of the Fall 2026 season starts ten days after this post goes up. All three dates run 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.:

1. Sunday, November 15
2. Sunday, December 6
3. Sunday, December 20

The November 15 market also makes a good day to walk the rest of the fall's changes. Start with chocolate and horchata at CocoAndré on Centre Street. Then stop at Curious Twins and The Wild Detectives on West 8th and Zang, and see whether Trapèze has its full menu and patio running yet.

If you own a home or high-rise residence nearby and want a discreet read on what Hines' and 90Ten's purchases could mean for the blocks around it, Sharon Quist is glad to talk it through. Request a private consultation with Sharon.