WFAA News 8
DALLAS — Dallas is one City Council vote away from approving a move out of the historic I.M. Pei-designed City Hall at 1500 Marilla after the Council’s Finance Committee heard a third-party report that estimated the cost of modernizing the 47-year-old building at more than $1 billion.
The committee then unanimously voted to advance a recommendation to immediately relocate the city’s 311, 911 and emergency operations, move remaining government staff to a to-be-determined new location, and explore development of the existing Downtown Dallas site. The recommendation now goes to the full City Council for a vote.
City officials still have not publicly said whether the location could be used for a new Dallas Mavericks arena, although the site is widely believed to be in contention.
“This is not about sentiment, it’s about stewardship of taxpayers’ money,” said Dallas Economic Development Corporation CEO Linda McMahon. “It’s about whether we continue to invest in aging systems that create no new value or whether we position Dallas for a modern, efficient, customer-focused civic future.”
McMahon presented the report — commissioned by the EDC and compiled by a variety of subject matter experts — that found all of the city’s systems are past their useful life. The report detailed issues with plumbing, heating, air conditioning, mechanical and electrical systems and the building’s roof. Most of the repairs done on the building so far have been in reaction to system failures, city staff conceded.
The $1 billion renovation price tag is up several hundred million dollars from cost estimates provided to Council members last fall — and raised some eyebrows around the horseshoe.
“Many of us up here are skeptical,” said Committee Chair Chad West.
Others were more direct in their doubts. Council members Cara Mendelsohn, Paul Ridley, Bill Roth and Adam Bazaldua were among those who voiced concern with the report and even opposition to moving.
“We’re asked to make a billion-dollar policy decision here,” Bazaldua said. “I’m asking if you’re giving me one scenario here, how am I supposed to make a decision not knowing what the other scenario is?”
McMahon and the experts alongside her said they stood by their findings — and city staff had not pressured them to skew the numbers higher in an effort to push the Council to approve a move out of the building.
“It would be very difficult for me to think that anyone else would find a different conclusion,” McMahon said.
The Council members who expressed opposition were not on the Finance Committee — and did not get a vote at this stage, so the recommendation passed unanimously. They will get a say when the matter goes before the full Council, and public comment is scheduled for a future meeting of the Economic Development Committee.
Despite the reassurances from McMahon, skepticism and opposition continued among some in the packed City Council chambers.
“I would really hate to believe that our Dallas government has already made a deal about Dallas City Hall,” said Sarah Crain, CEO of Preservation Dallas. “But what I will say is hearing the head of the organization that is presenting this data encouraging leaving this space makes me feel like we’re not having a serious conversation about the maintenance.”
Along with the recommendation passed out of committee, West asked for the City Manager’s office to provided regular updates to the Finance Committee. Assuming Council advances the recommendation, he also instructed the City Manager’s office to:
- Ask real estate firm CBRE to negotiate with property owners to identify a single site for 311, 911 and emergency operations.
- Launch a public survey to evaluate what citizens want to see in a new city hall
- Ask CBRE to curate a list of locations to which the city could relocate City Hall operations
- Bring options for the development of the site to the Council’s Economic Development Committee
