The new names on Knox Street this fall mostly come from Highland Park Village. Over the past five years, brands have moved from the Village to Knox, turned Village pop-ups into permanent Knox stores, or opened Knox versions of Village shops. That's no accident. In 2018, MSD Capital, now BDT & MSD Partners, began buying buildings around Knox and became the area's biggest landlord. The Summers Group and Gillon Property Group took over leasing and property management soon after, and D Magazine describes both firms as "heavily connected to Highland Park Village."
For anyone in the Town of Highland Park, this changes what Knox is for. A street once known for furniture showrooms and casual standbys is being curated like a second Village. The useful questions are which parts of an ordinary week still happen there, and what arrives next along the Katy Trail side.
The same leasing teams, the same kind of tenant
Knox has reinvented itself before. In 1985, D Magazine published "A Walking Tour of Knox/Henderson," and even then the Knox side of Central leaned more upscale than Henderson. In the 1990s it was known as "Furniture Row." The current wave started with the 2018 acquisitions. It picked up speed with the Weir's Plaza redevelopment and the 2023 news that Auberge would open its first Dallas hotel there.
- 2021. Vince moves from Highland Park Village to Knox.
- 2022. Anthropologie makes the same move. In May 2025 it shifts a couple of blocks into the former Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams space, and Kith takes its old spot.
- 2025. Roller Rabbit brings its block prints from the Village to Knox.
- Fall 2026, announced. Cult Gaia is going permanent on Knox after a residency at Market Highland Park Village. TWP, which ran a pop-up in Highland Park last year, has also announced a permanent Knox store.
- By the end of 2026, announced. Brian Bolke is opening a sister store to The Conservatory, which opened in Highland Park Village in 2019. The Knox store will be two stories and 10,000 square feet, with an outdoor deck and a bar and restaurant.
The Village's own rotation has long tested brands before they commit. Knox is now where several of those brands go next.
What actually opened this year
The stores with confirmed openings are mostly first-in-Texas or second-location boutiques, the kind of tenant a Village-style leasing strategy goes after.
- Caffe Lucca opened in March 2026. It's a Sicilian-inspired restaurant from Julian Barsotti, serving busiate pastas.
- Hart opened August 15, 2026. It's the Charleston jewelry brand's first Texas shop, and its other stores are in Manhattan, Nashville and Nantucket.
- Visual Comfort opened in August 2026 in the former Origin Kitchen + Bar space. It's the Houston lighting brand's first Dallas store outside the Market Center.
- Addison Bay opened September 2 at 3212 Knox Street, Suite 104. It's the brand's fourth store and its first in Texas.
- KD Biel opened September 25, a second location for the Design District home decor shop.
As of mid-October 2026, a longer list is still announced but not yet confirmed open. Toteme, Julia Amory and ME+EM, which already has a NorthPark boutique, are slated for this fall. Alo, Staud and Sunlife Organics are aiming for the end of 2026. Bachendorf's and Dôen are slated for winter. Bachendorf's says its fifth location will have a full-service bar.
The errands that moved out to make room
A street can only fit so many storefronts, and over the past two years the anchors that left were the everyday kind. Chuy's moved to Greenville Avenue in 2025 after 32 years on Knox. Pottery Barn, on the street since the '90s, moved to NorthPark in 2026. Weir's has closed. Pottery Barn Kids is still open.
The newest change shows why weekday traffic matters around here. Mar y Sol, the Latin restaurant on McKinney Avenue that D Magazine includes in its Knox roundup, served its last guests on August 15. Owner Alberto Lombardi told The Dallas Morning News that it fed 250 to 300 people each Friday and Saturday but didn't draw enough business on weekdays. Lombardi's replacement is Victory Tap, which the same report calls an "approachable" sports bar. As of mid-October, its listed opening date was October 10.
The food arriving in 2027 is a mix of all-day and neighborhood spots, which may help on Tuesdays as much as Saturdays. Sant Ambroeus, the all-day cafe founded in Milan in 1936, plans its first Texas location with a patio. The il Bracco team is opening The Main House in the former Mashburn space. Théa Mediterranean Rooftop is bringing its second location. Separately, and with no opening date yet, Katz Bros. Hospitality, the group behind Green Point, has announced El Camino Royale, a casual Tex-Mex spot near the hotel along the Katy Trail.
The weekday Knox that hasn't changed
Under the new storefronts, a set of long-running places still carries the ordinary hours:
Coffee and a pastry. Berkley's Market is a Dallas coffee shop that also sells wine and gourmet groceries. Fox Trot is the sit-down cafe option. Village Baking Co. is where D Magazine suggests a chocolate croissant after a Katy Trail walk.
Weekend brunch with house deals. Taverna and Toulouse are both longtime Lombardi restaurants. Taverna pours $3 mimosas and Bellinis on weekends, and Toulouse offers half-price bottles of wine and champagne.
Lunch and dinner. Knox Bistro is a casual neighborhood spot known for its French cooking. Green Point Seafood & Oyster Bar is at its best at lunch. Anchor Sushi Bar and Pizzana fill in the rest of the week, and Mister Charles is on D Magazine's list of the city's best restaurants.
Practical stops. The Apple Store, the company's first in Dallas proper, has been there since 2003. Lululemon opened its first Dallas store on Knox in 2013. Crate & Barrel dates back to the Furniture Row years, and Pegasus Bank is a local, independently owned bank.
This core set doesn't depend on the next wave of fashion openings. Most of the turnover has happened around it.
The next change comes from the Katy Trail side
The biggest project on the street sits where Knox meets the trail. The Knox, Auberge Collection is at 4555 Travis Street, and Auberge describes the location as "adjacent to Highland Park." The hotel opens January 29, 2027, with 140 rooms starting at $1,100 a night. Bookings opened October 15. The broader mixed-use project is designed to link the Katy Trail directly to Knox with a pedestrian passage and a half-acre park.
The city is changing the crossing, too. Dallas approved a contract with Meca Construction for three new traffic signals, one at Knox Street and the Katy Trail, with a not-to-exceed amount of $1,123,000 for the group. The council item ties the work to the city's Vision Zero Plan and schedules construction from October 2026 to October 2028.
The street's own improvement district is running behind on its larger plans. The Knox Street Improvement District Corporation manages the Knox Street Public Improvement District. It asked the City Council to amend its 2026 service plan because the Knox Complete Streets project has been delayed, according to the city filing for the August 25, 2026 public hearing. The same filing estimates the district's annual spending over the next five years at between $875,920 in 2028 and $1,181,642 in 2031, about $4.93 million in total, for capital improvements, public safety and security, and marketing.
Together, these items set the timeline. The shops are filling in now, the hotel and most of the 2027 restaurants arrive next year, and the trail crossing has construction scheduled through October 2028.
If you're curious how Knox's turnover compares with the Village rotation you already know, or how changes near the town's edges show up when neighbors decide to stay or sell, the team at Carol Ann Zelley Real Estate Group follows these blocks closely and is glad to talk it through. Schedule a personalized consultation whenever it suits you.
