NorthPark As An Economic Indicator

Gross sales through June at NorthPark were up 8.24%, which tells me Dallas did just fine for the first half. The folks there are a little worried, as are the rest of us, about how the current financial crisis will affect consumer confidence, even in Dallas, but they note that so far sales are very much ahead of projection.

Much of the credit for the increased traffic, of course, goes to the $275 million expansion. It is worth noting that David and Nancy Haemisegger (nee Nasher) did not ask for or receive tax abatements, subsidies, or any other goodies from the city to build the additional space, even though their investment will pay big dividends for taxpayers in increased sales and property taxes.