Dallas, TX
Sale of vacant Dallas hospital meant to help homeless is a self-inflicted wound
Earlier this month, the Dallas City Council declared a long-vacant, city-owned hospital property in Oak Cliff to be “unwanted and unneeded.” Dallas paid $6.5 million for the building and 14 acres of land in 2022, using bond funds intended to provide housing and services for homeless people. The property will now go up for sale or auction.
So ends another unfortunate city real estate transaction, a purchase doomed by lack of due diligence, planning and communication. It’s another example of why the city should avoid adding to its extensive property holdings. The sale of the former University General Hospital site follows other real estate fiascos, including the purchases of the 7800 N. Stemmons Freeway office tower and a partially occupied extended-stay motel on Independence Drive in southwest Dallas.
The Hampton Road hospital was a reasonable location for a homeless service facility — not an overnight shelter, but a permanent supportive housing development. Fourteen acres would have allowed a lot of potential buffering, including townhouses and micro-retail, between the hospital building and the library and school across the street.
But from the start, the city’s actions provoked mistrust among some longtime residents of the area. They were blindsided by the city’s purchase of the hospital and angry about its proposed use. One community meeting with city executives almost turned physical.
Those residents ultimately won the battle, but all Dallas taxpayers will bear the cost of the failed real estate purchase. It seems unlikely that the city will recoup the $6.5 million it paid for the property, let alone the thousands spent maintaining the asset.
Meanwhile, the property will remain off the tax roll and underused for months or years.
Its next owner will face a list of challenges, chief among them rezoning. The city’s online zoning map shows that the parcel sits inside a planned development district, which means there are detailed, site-specific rules about what can be built there. (If it had been zoned for office, commercial or mixed-use development, a new state law would allow a new owner to build mixed-use residential and multifamily development without a formal zoning change.)
The property also will need new water, sewer and street infrastructure, depending on what the next owner builds. The sturdy but obsolete hospital building will need to be demolished.
And Dallas still needs more service facilities and permanent supportive housing for homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless. Taking the hospital and the Independence Drive location off the table represents another loss for the city on that front.
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Dallas, TX
2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule officially announced
Behold the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule.
We knew coming into Thursday that the Cowboys would be on the road to take on the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday Night Football, that Dallas is “hosting” the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3, and that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in town for Thanksgiving Day. Now we know it all.
Among the first things that jump to mind is that bye week is late. Dallas isn’t on bye until Week 14, the Sunday of that week is December 13th for full perspective.
The Cowboys also only play twice in their own building, thanks to the Brazil game, before November. Sometimes those weird quirks show up in schedules and this is certainly one of them.
It is interesting to see that the NFL gave Dallas the longest amount of rest possible after their Thanksgiving tilt. It hasn’t been uncommon for the league to have the Cowboys play on consecutive Thursdays, but perhaps that is a thing of the past.
Dallas, TX
Dallas Approves $180,500 for New Botham Jean Boulevard Street Signs
Flashit Photography
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved funding that will replace highway exit signs and road signs marking Lamar Street with new signage honoring Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Dallas accountant who was fatally shot in his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer in 2018.
The $180,500 in funding for 13 signs to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation is the final step in the street renaming that was unanimously approved by the council in 2021. The new signs will be placed at exits along Interstate 45, State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175.
Already, Botham Jean Boulevard signs run along the road in the Cedars, where Jean lived before he was killed.
“This street on which he chose to live and the street on which he died can serve as a lasting memory of the upstanding resident who loved Dallas so much,” his mother, Allison Jean, told the council in 2021.
Jean was shot by Amber Guyger, a Dallas police officer, after she entered his apartment believing it was her own. A Dallas jury found Guyger guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay the Jean family nearly $100 million in a civil trial, which accused her of using excessive force.
The Jean family is seeking restitution from the city of Dallas because they argue that Dallas, as Guyger’s former employer, had a duty to defend Guyger and pay out claims brought against her. The Jean family filed suit against the city in April of this year.
On Wednesday, city council member Adam Bazaldua stated that the continued remembrance of Jean’s name is a reminder that “no one is above the law.”
“This has never simply been about changing street signs; it has always been about commemorating a life that was taken too soon,” said Bazaldua. “When driving down Botham Jean Boulevard, we are reminded of the thousands of lives lost across the country each year to senseless gun violence.”
Bazaldua said that once city leaders were made aware that some signs from the initial 2021 street name change had not materialized, the horseshoe took steps to correct the oversight “somewhat promptly.” But he acknowledged that Wednesday’s funding came on the heels of community advocacy urging the project’s completion.
Community leader Yafeuh Balogun said his organization, Community Movement Builders, began asking the city for the updated signs in September 2025. Addressing the council ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Balogun encouraged the horseshoe to vote in favor of the funds because it “would make no sense” to not follow through with the street renaming approved years ago.
“I think this is very powerful simply because driving here today, I still saw the Lamar Street Signs,” Balogun said. “I remember how powerful it was back in 2021 when the city council voted to rename Lamar Street to Botham Jean. I’d like to keep that legacy going.”
Dallas, TX
World Cup volunteers receive uniforms, new tickets released
We’re less than a month out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and North Texans volunteering in the event have received their uniforms. FOX 4’s Peyton Yager has more on that and the new hospitality tickets released today.
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