Dallas takes another step toward leaving City Hall, approves $3 million search

The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to take another step toward leaving City Hall, authorizing up to $3 million to evaluate possible new locations for city offices and emergency operations.

The council approved two resolutions in 9-5 votes, with council member Adam Bazaldua absent for both. The resolutions allow City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and real estate firm CBRE to negotiate with property owners and assess up to four downtown locations for City Hall and up to four sites for 911 and emergency operations.

Tolbert said staff plan to return with findings before the end of August, before any decision is made on relocating city operations.

The future of City Hall has emerged as one of Dallas’ most consequential civic decisions in decades. Officials are weighing whether to relocate government operations and redevelop the 12-acre downtown site or remain in the nearly 50-year-old I.M. Pei-designed building, which has decades of neglected repair needs.

City staff say relocation would save money over time, while preservation advocates have challenged those estimates and pushed for repairs instead.

The resolutions authorize up to $2 million to evaluate potential downtown City Hall sites and up to $1 million for 911 and emergency operations facilities. The funding would cover inspections, engineering reviews, property owner reimbursements and other due diligence needed to determine whether sites are suitable. The resolutions do not authorize property purchases.

No potential relocation sites were mentioned during the meeting. But property owners and developers told The Dallas Morning News that at least three properties are under consideration: Bryan Tower, The Epic in Deep Ellum and Comerica Bank Tower.

Pacific Elm executive Billy Prewitt said city officials, including the mayor and city manager, toured Bryan Tower in late May. The 40-story building is expected to be vacant within a year.

City officials have also toured The Epic multiple times and the Comerica Bank Tower in late May. Other downtown locations believed to be in consideration include Bank of America Plaza, 1700 Pacific and Renaissance Tower.

Wednesday’s 9-5 split mirrored the voting lines established in March, when the council directed Tolbert to continue exploring alternatives to City Hall.

Council members Paula Blackmon, Laura Cadena, Cara Mendelsohn, Paul Ridley, Bill Roth and Bazaldua have consistently opposed the effort and raised most of the questions during nearly four hours of debate.

The original plan was to use federal pandemic relief funds to pay for evaluating leaving City Hall, but council member Chad West proposed using the city’s general fund contingency reserve instead, which the council approved. He opposed using federal relief money, saying it implies the city has given up on repairing City Hall.

“Today’s vote is not a vote to move out of City Hall or demolish this iconic building,” West said. “It’s a vote to give both City Council and the public the transparent apples-to-apples comparison we continue to ask for.”

Some council members questioned using contingency funds. Roth said the reserve is intended for emergencies and said this effort did not qualify. He said the city was spending millions for information without knowing what it would ultimately receive in return.

Mayor Eric Johnson described the council’s decisions on City Hall as “another major step toward doing right by our taxpayers.”

“We already know that relocation would be far more affordable than renovation,” the mayor said in a statement after the votes.

Johnson said he expects the City Council will ultimately choose to leave 1500 Marilla St. and “choose a municipal headquarters that functions effectively for employees and serves residents at the high standard they deserve.”

Most residents who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting opposed abandoning City Hall, calling it an iconic architectural landmark and a symbol of Dallas’ identity. Many expressed skepticism that demolishing the building would revitalize downtown, as city officials and developers suggest.

“City Hall is not the problem. It’s an inanimate object,” said Dolores Levy Soroka. “It did not stop development downtown. It did not drive AT&T or the Stars to Plano. It has no power to make or break a revitalization plan.”

But some said that abandoning the aging building is necessary for downtown’s future.

“Downtown is on its deathbed, it needs an injection of life,” developer Shawn Todd told the council.

Staff writer Nick Wooten contributed to this report.