Deep Ellum’s days as a grungy patch of Dallas real estate may soon be over.

With Uber’s plans to move thousands of workers to the district on the eastern edge of downtown, more big employers and national companies are eyeing the area.

Deep Ellum’s earliest days were as a scruffy commercial district and working-class neighborhood in the shadows of downtown.

Then in the 1980s, the area began to evolve into a collection of entertainment venues, artists’ enclaves and loft housing.

Now, with Uber and potentially other employers migrating to Deep Ellum, property values are rising and developers are scouting the market for construction sites.

“We are having a whole new crop of buyers coming in and asking a lot of questions about Deep Ellum,” CBRE senior vice president John Alvarado said. “They see the value in the edgy character that neighborhood has.”

And Deep Ellum is still a bargain compared to Uptown, where development site prices can top $300 per square foot.

One of the country’s top office developers, Houston-based Hines, just broke ground on a Commerce Street building in Deep Ellum that will add to the area’s appeal as a business environment.

And a major national retailer, sports apparel firm Patagonia, has picked Deep Ellum — not NorthPark Center or the Galleria — for its first Dallas store.

Don’t be surprised to see more merchants and office builders popping up amidst the watering holes and tattoo parlors along Deep Ellum’s streets.