Uber Taps Dallas for Major Hub at The Epic in Deep Ellum, Bringing 3,000 Jobs Dallas was the first city in Texas where the Uber app was available in 2012. Now, the city will host the second largest Uber hub outside of its headquarters in San Francisco.

Uber will take most of this planned office tower at The Epic. [Rendering: Perkins + Will]

Uber Technologies, Inc. is headed to Dallas.



Governor Greg Abbott announced today that Uber is establishing a U.S. General and Administrative Hub at The Epic in Deep Ellum, bringing with it at least 3,000 new jobs, more than $75 million in capital investment, and a place to house Uber’s various corporate functions.

The hub will be Uber’s second largest outside of the ridesharing giant’s headquarters in San Francisco. By placing it in Dallas, Uber is bolstering its presence in a city where it has a long history.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, said the company is excited to bring the major investment to Texas and increase its commitment to Dallas.

“Dallas became the first city in Texas where the Uber app was available in 2012, and since then, Texas has been a hub of innovation for our platform,” Khosrowshahi said. “We are grateful for our partnership with Gov. Abbott, Mayor Johnson and Judge Jenkins and their leadership in making this a reality.”

Uber will move into an office tower that’s part The Epic, an eight-acre mixed-use development.

The development is currently composed of 251,000 square feet of The Epic office space; 55,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space; The Pittman Hotel, a 164-room full-service Kimpton property; and The Hamilton’s 310 luxury apartment homes.

Uber plans to occupy around 450,000 square feet in the second planned 23-story office tower, according to Westdale Real Estate Investment and Management, The Epic’s master developer. That tower is expected to add 470,000 square feet of office space and an additional 15,000 square feet of retail space to the development.

Construction of the second tower is designed by Perkins+Will and is slated to begin construction in the fourth quarter of this year. The planned second office tower will be designed with forward-thinking details as well as a 45,000 square foot amenity deck that is an assemblage of meeting space, a commissary, and more.

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Prior to completion of the new office tower, by next July, Uber will move into an existing Epic tower (a LEED Gold certified building). Uber will occupy 168,000 square feet throughout seven floors, holding roughly 700 employees. Uber intends to begin tenant improvements and build-out of the new tower in the second quarter of 2022. Employees are expected to start migrating there in the fourth quarter of 2022 for an estimated total of 3,000 employees. Uber will be here by the year’s end Uber will hire or relocate around 400 employees to Dallas by the end of 2019, Chris Miller, senior manager of public policy in Texas, told The Dallas Morning News. Temporarily, Uber will move into a coworking space—followed by the two stage, two-year move into The Epic.

Most of the Dallas employees will work in finance, human resources, and sales, Miller told the DMN. Those workers will support Uber’s transportation-related businesses, including ridesharing, food delivery, and urban air taxis that could be flying in North Texas skies in the coming years.

It’s a huge win, which Dale Petroskey, president and CEO of the Dallas Regional Chamber, also emphasized to the DMN. He said the city’s Amazon bid played a part in getting Uber, as they are both forward-thinking companies.

“The whole project represents the future,” he said. “It’s the future of work. It’s the future of mobility, and it’s the future of Dallas as well.”

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The jobs created by Uber’s new regional hub will create a $400 million annual payroll in Deep Ellum, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins. Overall, that will boost the urban core and create a positive wave across North Texas, and beyond.

“Uber’s selection of Dallas County spotlights our position as a premier talent market for companies looking to expand,” Judge Jenkins said.

A $24 million state incentive package has also been extended to Uber. That translates to roughly $8,000 for each of the 3,000 jobs that Uber intends to bring to Dallas.



To receive the funds, Uber must first create the jobs, which are expected to have an average salary of $100,000 each.

“This investment will bolster Texas’ continued economic success and reputation as the best state for business,” Gov. Abbott said in a statement. “Our unrivaled workforce and business-friendly environment makes Texas the perfect home for innovative companies like Uber.”

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson pointed out that beyond the numbers, Dallas and Uber are “just a great match.”

“Dallas is a vibrant, diverse, welcoming, and innovative city,” he said, “and I’m certain Uber and its employees will flourish here.”

Uber will join other major companies in coming to North Texas

In recent years, Dallas-Fort Worth has attracted a number of corporate headquarters: Toyota Motor North America, McKesson, Core-Mark, and Kubota Tractors. The companies all cited the region’s central location and the availability of talent as major reasons for moving their companies here.

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Dallas has been a central location for the development of Uber Elevate, the ridsharer’s air mobility arm that has plans to launch an aerial shared transportation service called Uber Air. The goal is that by 2023, air taxis will be transporting riders through commercial flight operations in three launch markets: Dallas-Fort Worth, L.A., and Melbourne, Australia.

Dallas-based Hillwood—an early Uber Elevate partner—earlier this year announced its plans to create a Mobility Innovation Zone at its AllianceTexas development. That was earlier predicted to be a future place to develop, test, and refine Uber’s advanced mobility technologies.

A group of architectural firms are competing for Uber Elevate’s so-called “sky ports,” the future locations from which the air taxis will take off and land. The Dallas-based firms are Beck Group, BOKA Powell, Corgan, Gensler, and Humphreys & Partners (see their designs here).

Uber’s newly announced Dallas hub is expected to include Uber Elevate. It’s also a potential site for a proposed DART expansion known as D2, which could begin operations in 2024.

“This decision speaks to the depth of innovation and technology talent that is moving to the Dallas region. We’ve seen the fourth-highest high-tech job growth of any U.S. metro area over the past four years,” Petroskey said in a statement. “Uber recognizes that we are committed to recruiting elite tech talent from around the globe, and also preparing our home-grown workforce through expanded focus on rigorous STEM instruction in our high schools and colleges.”

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