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Dallas, TX
South Dallas’ proposed ‘Winners Tower’ loses at city planning hearing
A proposed 25-story high rise in South Dallas was denied by the city planning commission Thursday, a significant roadblock for the project.
Winners Tower, at 1709 Martin Luther King Blvd on the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd and Colonial Avenue, is planned to include a hotel, condos, retail and parking. The project was proposed by Raphael Adebayo, the pastor at Winners Assembly Christian Church and the property’s current owner.
The sign of Winners Plaza is seen past Dallas Pastor Raphael Adebayo as he gives a tour of the complex, on Thursday, July 3, 2025 in Dallas. He is after the zoning commission for permission to redevelop his church into a 25-story luxury tower with a 150-160 room hotel, 60 condos and ground floor retail.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
The tower needs a significant zoning change to the land parcel, which includes the church and surrounding retail strip, to move forward.
The commission heard public comment, including from associates of Adebayo, but they ultimately passed a motion to deny the zoning change request with prejudice.
The tower’s proponents voiced support for what they perceived as a radical new vision for the underserved South Dallas community. They cited job creation and innovation as reasons for the board to approve the project.
“When we talk about the revitalization of the South Dallas community, we wanna do things from ground up,” said Christopher Walker, the community engagement manager of Abounding Propserity, a non-profit that is currently a tenant of the land in question.
“As a tenant, and as someone who’s seen the spirit of Winners Assembly by being connected to Pastor Raphael and the staff, I’ve seen their passion and the purity they have to create these opportunities for those folks of this area,” he continued.
“This is an opportunity to create something new, to be innovative, and to create something different that’s needed.”
The two available renderings of Winners Tower, which is the 25-story high-rise being proposed at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Colonial Avenue.
Winners Development Corporation
However, board member Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan, who initially motioned to deny the proposal, cited a lack of community engagement from the applicants. She challenged the idea the project was actually for South Dallas residents.
“There are services that you offer that are beneficial to the community. But this project does not serve this community. This project serves other communities,” Wheeler-Reagan said during the hearing.
Concerns were raised about the height of the building, the price of the condos inside and how it fit in — or didn’t — with the historic character of the neighborhood.
“I cannot support this proposal, not because I’m not against growth, but because I believe growth must be rooted in respect, accountability and community,” according to board member Darrell Herbert, who seconded the motion.
“This structure is out of scale and out of step with the neighborhood’s historic character. It threatens to overshadow, not just physically, but symbolically, the homes, families and culture that define South Dallas,” he continued.
The initial plan for the project was 25 stories, but the applicants were willing to bring it down to 15 to quell concerns over the height of the building. City staff recommended granting a zoning change that would have allowed a multi-use project to move forward but that limited the tower to about five stories.
The applicants cited a 13-story apartment building less than a half-mile away as precedent for approving such a project, but Winners Tower would be a first-of-its-kind undertaking in the surrounding area because of its size and scoop.
Still, the applicants argued that it was in line with certain plans for the area.
“The proposed height will not be out of character with the evolving skyline of the area and will create a visual gateway to the MLK corridor,” said Esther Adebayo, daughter of Raphael Adebayo, and a representative of the project at the hearing.
“We believe that this project supports multiple goals of the South Dallas Fair Park Economic Development Plan [of] 2001 and the Forward Dallas comprehensive plan,” she added.
The proposal has an estimated cost of around $250 million, and Adebayo has previously announced his plans to get funding partly from EB-5 visa holders, who must invest a minimum of $800,000 in the U.S. and create 10 jobs. He has been buying up land since 2007, and Winners Assembly opened 21 years ago.
At the hearing, Adebayo and others tied to him said that several retailers and prospective tenants were already on board with the project.
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Adebayo spoke at the hearing, but could not be reached for additional comment following the denial.
The applicants can still appeal, including an appeal to City Council. The Council would need a three-fourths supermajority to overturn the planning commission’s denial and approve the rezoning.
Behold the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule.
We knew coming into Thursday that the Cowboys would be on the road to take on the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday Night Football, that Dallas is “hosting” the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3, and that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in town for Thanksgiving Day. Now we know it all.
Among the first things that jump to mind is that bye week is late. Dallas isn’t on bye until Week 14, the Sunday of that week is December 13th for full perspective.
The Cowboys also only play twice in their own building, thanks to the Brazil game, before November. Sometimes those weird quirks show up in schedules and this is certainly one of them.
It is interesting to see that the NFL gave Dallas the longest amount of rest possible after their Thanksgiving tilt. It hasn’t been uncommon for the league to have the Cowboys play on consecutive Thursdays, but perhaps that is a thing of the past.
A portion of South Lamar Street was officially renamed Botham Jean Boulevard in 2021.
Flashit Photography
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved funding that will replace highway exit signs and road signs marking Lamar Street with new signage honoring Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Dallas accountant who was fatally shot in his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer in 2018.
The $180,500 in funding for 13 signs to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation is the final step in the street renaming that was unanimously approved by the council in 2021. The new signs will be placed at exits along Interstate 45, State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175.
Already, Botham Jean Boulevard signs run along the road in the Cedars, where Jean lived before he was killed.
“This street on which he chose to live and the street on which he died can serve as a lasting memory of the upstanding resident who loved Dallas so much,” his mother, Allison Jean, told the council in 2021.
Jean was shot by Amber Guyger, a Dallas police officer, after she entered his apartment believing it was her own. A Dallas jury found Guyger guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay the Jean family nearly $100 million in a civil trial, which accused her of using excessive force.
The Jean family is seeking restitution from the city of Dallas because they argue that Dallas, as Guyger’s former employer, had a duty to defend Guyger and pay out claims brought against her. The Jean family filed suit against the city in April of this year.
On Wednesday, city council member Adam Bazaldua stated that the continued remembrance of Jean’s name is a reminder that “no one is above the law.”
“This has never simply been about changing street signs; it has always been about commemorating a life that was taken too soon,” said Bazaldua. “When driving down Botham Jean Boulevard, we are reminded of the thousands of lives lost across the country each year to senseless gun violence.”
Bazaldua said that once city leaders were made aware that some signs from the initial 2021 street name change had not materialized, the horseshoe took steps to correct the oversight “somewhat promptly.” But he acknowledged that Wednesday’s funding came on the heels of community advocacy urging the project’s completion.
Community leader Yafeuh Balogun said his organization, Community Movement Builders, began asking the city for the updated signs in September 2025. Addressing the council ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Balogun encouraged the horseshoe to vote in favor of the funds because it “would make no sense” to not follow through with the street renaming approved years ago.
“I think this is very powerful simply because driving here today, I still saw the Lamar Street Signs,” Balogun said. “I remember how powerful it was back in 2021 when the city council voted to rename Lamar Street to Botham Jean. I’d like to keep that legacy going.”
We’re less than a month out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and North Texans volunteering in the event have received their uniforms. FOX 4’s Peyton Yager has more on that and the new hospitality tickets released today.
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