Preston Center's Next Chapter Is Opening in Borrowed Storefronts

The 8300 Douglas redevelopment at Preston Center is years from opening. Its first phase is expected in late 2028, according to People Newspapers. A July contractor report put completion in January 2029.

For anyone who grabs coffee on Berkshire or books dinner on Douglas, the change has already happened. Over the past year, four familiar names left Preston Center or its edges. Every business that arrived in that time moved into a room someone else had built and left behind: a former burger grill, an office lobby floor, a former cupcake shop. The Preston Center of 2029 is being put together in secondhand storefronts, well before a single new square foot of retail opens.

Four Departures in Eight Months

The departures came in two waves. The first was a pair of Westchester Drive closings at the end of 2025. The second was a long-running restaurant on Preston Road at the start of summer.

The Dallas Observer listed Yolk in its November 2025 closings roundup, tying the closure to the mixed-use redevelopment on its corner and saying it was unknown whether the brand would come back to that address. AT Bistro's owner told the Advocate that a new location was in the works. The most recent coverage still doesn't give an address. When People Newspapers published its April overview of the redevelopment, Wang's, Yolk and AT Bistro had all left the center.

Sevy's is the longest-running of the four. People Newspapers' August Comings and Goings noted that the family-owned restaurant had been at its spot near Preston Center for nearly three decades before its final service in late June. The Dallas Observer reported that the closing came down to the lease. The owners said they could not reach a mutually beneficial agreement on a fourth 10-year term, and they have been looking for a new location. That report doesn't tie the closing to the 8300 Douglas construction.

Every Newcomer Moved Into a Room That Already Existed

Those closings opened up space, and the arrivals since have one thing in common. None of them waited for the new towers.

Cavero Café, 6009 Berkshire Lane. Cavero opened quietly in April in the former Southpaw's Grill space. People Newspapers described it as an all-day café serving coffee drinks, breakfast and lunch wraps, salads, smoothies and desserts. Turkish coffee is its best seller. The draw is the house-made vanilla soft serve, made from owner Yazan Mustafa's own recipe, and the reviewer called it the best she had tasted in Dallas. A burger-and-shake grill gave way to a marble-table café, and the strip around it stayed the same.

Scilla, 8111 Douglas Avenue. Duro Hospitality, the group behind The Charles, El Carlos Elegante and Sister, opened its coastal Italian restaurant on Friday, July 17. Duro founding partner Chas Martin told the Dallas Observer the restaurant was meant to fill a gap in Preston Hollow: "This neighborhood has a bunch of great restaurants. There's not a lot of super-posh joints, though." In that same review, the Observer pointed out that Scilla sits on the ground floor of an office building near Preston Center, and that white blinds in the dining room mostly hide the parking lot view. Its own patio was still unfinished during that first week. The first upscale dinner room to open on Douglas this year went into an existing office building, not a new podium.

Hadleigh's and Field Shop, 4020 Villanova. The men's and women's clothier is moving into The Plaza at Preston Center, taking the former Sprinkles space. The Hadleigh's site says the store will carry menswear, women's wear, slippers, its bespoke library and its home collection, with Field Shop by Hadleigh's connected next door. The company's page says "coming in October." People Newspapers' September roundup still listed both shops as coming soon, with no opening day. As of this writing, we have not seen a report that either one has opened.

All three moves follow one pattern. Each operator chose an older, smaller space they could open in right away over a new space years down the road.

What the Towers Add, and When

The new space is real, and it's large. People Newspapers lays out the plan for the $200 million project led by RAMROCK Real Estate, Lincoln Property Company and HKS:

• About 300,000 square feet of Class AA office space
• About 280,000 square feet of residential space, including a 147-unit residential tower
• 24,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and dining
• A 35,000-square-foot rooftop park, which is a project amenity and not the city's Preston Center garage

A July report from Construction Superintendent names a Balfour Beatty and ANDRES Construction joint venture as builder and describes a 12-story office tower and a 16-story residential tower. JLL's June financing announcement puts the structured parking at about 1,000 spaces, spread over four below-grade levels and two above-grade levels. According to People Newspapers, CVS and Target are expected to stay.

Compare the 24,000 square feet of new retail with everything else in the plan. The project is mostly office and residential, and the dining space at its base is small next to the towers above it. The office tower has already signed a major tenant. D Magazine reported in May 2026 that Fifth Third Bank picked 8300 Douglas for its Texas headquarters. The bank plans to take two floors and 63,000 square feet, with about 350 employees, once the building is ready in 2028.

Why the Order of Events Matters

Put those timelines next to each other. The bank employees, the residents of the 147 new units and the tenants of the new ground-floor spaces all show up in 2028 or 2029. By then, Cavero will have been pouring Turkish coffee on Berkshire for more than two years, and Scilla will have been booking tables on Douglas for about as long. Whoever leases the new retail space will be joining a lineup that was settled years before.

That makes 2026 the year that sets Preston Center's lineup, even though the construction schedule points to the end of the decade. The places that shape a daily routine, like a morning coffee stop, a weeknight dinner or a Saturday clothing errand, are being chosen now in rooms that were built decades ago.

The two published completion dates are a reason to watch the smaller storefronts closely. People Newspapers reported that construction began in March 2026 and that the first phase would wrap in late 2028. The July contractor report said construction was set to start that month and finish in January 2029. Neither source explains the gap, which may come from tracking different phases. Every month the towers slip is another month the older spaces nearby have the area's diners and shoppers to themselves.

Open Questions Going Into Winter

A few things are still unannounced as of October 12, 2026:

1. Sevy's next home. The owners said they were searching for a new location and would share updates. We haven't seen a new address reported.
2. AT Bistro's next address. The owner planned a relocation, and the most recent reporting we found did not name a site.
3. Wang's Chinese Cafe. Coverage confirms only that it left Preston Center.
4. Hadleigh's opening day. The move is listed for October at 4020 Villanova, without a date.

People Newspapers' October 1 Comings and Goings didn't list any Preston Center openings or coming-soon items. The next lineup change will probably come the way the last three did, through a lease on an empty storefront that's already built.

At The Ryan Group, we follow Preston Center tenant by tenant, because the shops and restaurants a few minutes from home are part of what a Preston Hollow address means day to day. If you'd like to talk through how 8300 Douglas and the changes around it fit into your own plans, schedule a free consultation with our team.