Mark Noble wouldn’t mind having a little bit of the Windy City in downtown Dallas. “I have a real affinity for downtown Chicago,” Noble says. “I see what the green spaces have done in combination with the business leaders, the mayor, and other leadership in building a place everyone wants to go. I want to see that for downtown Dallas.”
That’s why Noble, managing director of real estate services organization Collier’s International, is co-chair of the founding committee for downtown’s Main Street Garden Park. The city-owned public park opened last November on 1.7 acres bordered by Main, St. Paul, Commerce, and Harwood streets.
“What’s most appealing about it is, I believe, the central business district is really kind of like the heartbeat of a city,” Noble says. “You can take a look at how well the central core operates, what kind of lifestyle is there, and get a good feel for the health of a city. I felt like there are many, many, many groups working hard to improve our downtown area and certainly the area along Woodall Rodgers Freeway.”
After helping raise about $20,000 for the park’s opening with co-chair Kent Eastman, Texas state president of Capital One Bank, Noble is continuing to help maintain the park through the nonprofit group called Friends of Main Street Garden.
“Mark took the lead on this and certainly has a passion for anything as far as improving the community and certainly the downtown area,” Eastman says. “He and his firm have shown a real interest in that. I was inspired by his passion and his willingness to take the lead position in that project.”
In raising funds for the park, Noble says the committee turned first to its “target audience” for support. “We basically tried to look at who most would benefit from the lifestyle and the culture that could be grown around open green space downtown,” Noble says. “Obviously, the first people that gravitate there are the people who have dogs. But for the people who are in the [nearby] buildings, like the University of North Texas and Comerica Bank, that park will become an everyday part of their lives.”
