If you’ve driven along Commerce Street just west of downtown Dallas, you’ve likely noticed construction activity across the Trinity River.

The work marks the beginning of Harold Simmons Park — a $350 million project aimed at transforming the Trinity River corridor into a major recreational destination in North Texas.

The park’s first major feature, known as the “Play Cove,” is already taking shape, though much of it is being built overseas.

Tony Moore, CEO of the Trinity Park Conservancy, said the Play Cove will include six massive, two-story towers connected by suspension bridges, creating an immersive play space for visitors. While the site in Dallas is still in early stages, those towers are currently under construction in Germany, where designers were selected for their engineering expertise and craftsmanship.

“They’re about two stories high, connected by bridges, so you can walk from tower to tower,” Moore said. “We wanted the very best.”

Once completed, the towers will be shipped to Dallas and installed as the centerpiece of the park’s first phase.

The broader vision for Harold Simmons Park also includes a significant investment in green space. Nearly 2,000 mature trees will be added to the site, with many already selected and waiting in nurseries until construction progresses. Existing trees will also be preserved and protected.

Project leaders said the goal is to open part of the park as soon as possible, giving residents access while construction continues on future phases.

After years of planning, Moore said seeing work finally begin is a milestone moment for Dallas.

“This has been a long time coming,” he said. “Dallas has been waiting for this.”

If construction stays on schedule, the first phase, including the Play Cove, is expected to open by the end of 2028.

The best day for homeowners to list their house for sale in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is April 12, according to a new Realtor.com study.

In the early to mid-spring there is a golden window in the home market when buyers are returning to the market, said Hannah Jones, a senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com.

Realtor.com placed the week of April 12-18 as the best days to list a home across the United States. Ideal time blocks to list a home range from March 8 to May 24 for the 50 largest metros in the country — but Dallas is near the national average, the firm notes.

“Sellers who are able to catch that early swing of buyers can expect to see a lot more demand for their home, versus later in the summer, when schools are out and there are more people in the market,” Jones said.

As a result, “there are more homes in the market and so you might have less demand for your home.”

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington homes listed on April 12 are expected to be on the market nine fewer days compared to the average week, according to the study. Additionally, views per property are anticipated to be up 23.5% and active listings are expected to be down 14.6% versus the average week.

A separate Zillow study said sellers in Dallas saw the strongest returns by listing in the last two weeks in April. The analysis found that time frame would deliver a price boost of about $5,700.

“Dallas is such a large and varied market of course,” Jones said. “So when you’re looking at that metro level it really does align with the national data because of how big it is and how those dynamics work out.”

That stretch of April still means higher prices, Jones said. D-FW homes listed during that time period are expected to have a listing price increase of about $24,000 versus the start of the year, according to the study.

However, the benefit of listing a home in D-FW in the time frame that Realtor.com is recommending is less stark compared to other metro areas.

The list pricing compared to the start of the year only expected to be up 5.8%, compared to other metro areas which have anticipated listing price changes as high as 15.8%. Dallas is a very stable market with fewer big swings and stronger demand than other metros, Jones said.

Getting a head start is key

Most people start getting ready to put their homes on the market before they actually list their home. The quality of homes has increased and in order to be competitive a seller really needs to get their home ready, said Jim Fite, CEO of Century 21 Judge Fite Company.

“They need to stage it properly, they need to get the repairs done in advance so that when it hits the market, that group of people that haven’t bought yet see it immediately and will be attracted to it,” Fite said.

If a seller hasn’t gotten their home ready to sell it will probably stay on the market regardless of when it is listed, he said.

The spring and summer is the home selling season, Fite said. More homes sell in the next five months than the following seven months, he said.

There are a number of reasons for that. School is getting out and people want to make a move before the start of the next school year, Fite said. People are also downsizing, possibly because kids are going off to college.

Because of that timeline, it’s good to start looking for a home in April, Fite said.

“If you bought a home in April, it’s not going to close until May,” Fite said. “So that means you’re not going to move in till the first of June, maybe. And then you have a couple of months to get settled before school starts.”