A longtime investor in downtown Dallas has decided to play an even bigger role in the redevelopment of the city's urban core with the acquisition of the former Pilgrim's Pride facility and some surrounding acreage in The Cedars.

The chicken processing facility near Interstate 30 and Interstate 45 has been vacant for years, ever since Pilgrim's Pride closed the facility and eliminated 1,000 jobs as it consolidated its operations.

Dallas investor Mike Hoque, through Hoque Global affiliated entity FAQ Capital LLC, has cobbled together the tracts of land to total 15 acres of land with connectivity along Good-Latimer Expressway.

"It took us over two years to assemble the deal," said Hoque, who owns other real estate in downtown Dallas and runs several restaurants.

"We have the opportunity to create a connecting development between the Farmers Market and South Side on Lamar," Hoque told the Dallas Business Journal."There is enough land mass to create growth."

With other investors moving northward in Dallas-Fort Worth, Hoque said he wanted to go south for better investment options. Terms of the acquisition were undisclosed.

"I see the growth going south as all the developers are looking to the north," he said ."There is a huge opportunity that's going to be there to do a legacy development that overlooks Deep Ellum and South Side on Lamar in the Cedars district."

Even though a master development has yet to be outlined, Hoque said he sees a lot of interest in affordable townhouse, breweries and restaurants in this part of Dallas.

"It's going to be a true mixed-use development," he said. "I want to bring an affordable component to this project to have a place for people in the service industry to live close to their job."

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Hoque, who created Wild Salsa, Dallas Chop House and the Dallas Fish Market, said restaurants will also play a role in the project. But it's still early and nothing has been decided.

"In the last 24 months, we have talked to multi-family developers, a hotel, brewery developers and we have not selected anyone," he said. "We will be the master developer."

Hoque is working through his in-house designers, along with Dallas-based 5G Studio Collaborative, on a master plan. He has yet to hire a general contractor for the yet-to-be named mixed-use development.

The team expects to have a master plan for the development by the end of the year.

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