The red running Mustangs mark the property that SMU has acquired.

SMU is rising. Not only in SAT scores and national rankings, but literally moving up, with programs in a high-rise building across Central Expressway. The 15-story building at the corner of Yale Boulevard and Central now houses SMU’s offices for human resources, internal auditing, taxes, accounting, procurement, payroll, asset management and the Department of Psychology’s Family Research Center. Other research offices are moving east as SMU’s campus stretches across Central for the first time in its almost 100-year history.

SMU’s 2006 purchase of Expressway Tower – a Dallas landmark that previously served as headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys – is one of several recent moves to gain additional space for growing University operations. SMU has purchased another building across from Expressway Tower, the former UA-Cine building on Yale, and the former Mrs. Baird’s bakery on Mockingbird. Across from Mrs. Baird’s, SMU now owns Park Cities Plaza, which houses the SMU Bookstore and other businesses.

With its recent building purchases east of Central, SMU has added nearly nine acres and more than 292,000 square feet to its campus, staking a claim on a valuable and strategic area of East Dallas.

“SMU has been landlocked and space-starved,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “The time had come for our main campus to grow beyond its traditional boundaries.”

The move across Central Expressway also coincides with a real estate renaissance sparked by the DART rail station east on Mocking­bird, which has created a main street feel to development at this busy crossroads. Now in its third phase of expansion, the Mockingbird Station entertainment district features the Angelika movie theater, restaurants and urban loft apartments. Across the street, the former Hilton Hotel has been transformed into the trendy Palomar Hotel and high-end residences, including the return of Trader Vic’s restaurant.

“This makes sense for SMU, but also for the existing Mockingbird Station community and, for that matter, a significant part of East Dallas,” says Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm. Plans are under way for the Mockingbird Station area to have a university-themed name – creating a clear link between it and SMU.

SMU’s Master Plan for the East Campus envisions a mixed-used environment, eventually featuring housing for sophomores and juniors, academic offices and research facilities.

In recent years, SMU has opened its door to Central by renaming Yale Boulevard as SMU Boulevard and presenting the street as the main entrance to campus, leading into the East Quad with the Blanton Student Services Building and the Junkins and Embrey engineering buildings.

“We’ve created higher visibility for SMU along 75 (Central Expressway),” Turner says of the heavily traveled corridor serving 350,000 vehicles a day. “This is a 50-year opportunity for us,” he adds, referring to the rarity of available property near campus. “We plan to make the most of it.”

The University’s presence extends beyond Dallas as well, with programs at SMU-in-Legacy in Plano and SMU-in-Taos in Northern New Mexico.