Dallas, TX
Dallas City Hall is in bad shape; how bad we just don’t know
From the get-go, the conversation about Dallas City Hall’s future has been polluted by finger pointing, foregone conclusions and unreasonable expectations. Council members are set today to discuss the building again. They should bring the patience, honesty and open-mindedness this debate deserves.
The hulking structure designed by architecture legend I.M. Pei has deteriorated to the point where the city can’t continue to do nothing. Options include moving into a different, existing space, constructing a new city hall or staying put and repairing 1500 Marilla.
City staffers earlier this month presented a wide-ranging estimate that it would cost between $152 million and $345 million to handle the building’s deferred maintenance.
Council members must now decide whether to invest in getting better numbers — probably at great cost — or to cut bait and move on with a different option.
At the briefing earlier this month, some council members sharply questioned the cost figures’ reliability. And we’ll grant that any estimate with a $200 million range is plainly imprecise. But there should be room for a little grace here. Assistant City Manager Donzell Gipson told us staffers had little time to offer an estimate of the total cost of City Hall’s deferred maintenance.
In an Aug. 29 memo, Mayor Eric Johnson named council committee members and outlined priorities for each committee. The finance committee was instructed to “determine whether Dallas City Hall and other municipal facilities effectively support City operations and best serve the citizens of Dallas.”
After the mayor issued the committee charges, staff received a committee assignment asking for a dollar figure on the cost to fix City Hall, Gipson said. The finance committee met to discuss this topic on Oct. 21. By our math, that gave city staff less than two months to come up with a wildly complex number — hardly a reasonable timeframe.
So city staff used what information they had and cobbled together an estimate from bits and pieces of knowledge about various systems and needs in the 1978 building.
The $17 million quote for new emergency generators is a recent one, Gipson explained, so that one should be reliable. Two of the larger items, water infiltration and garage repair, are estimated to cost at $72 million to $100 million and $25 million to $145 million, respectively. Gipson said those estimates are partly based on old quotes adjusted into today’s dollars and partly on other potential unknowns.
There are concerns about leaks in the reflecting pool, for example, and fixing that problem could carry many unknown costs, Gipson said.
What lends credibility to staff’s low-range estimate is a facilities condition assessment dated October 2018. It identified some $92 million in needed repairs and replacements at City Hall, a city spokesperson said. Many of the items in the report were never addressed.
It’s been years since Dallas learned City Hall needed nearly $100 million in maintenance, and deferred maintenance costs grow the longer they’re deferred. So staff’s $152 million low-end estimate may not be a hard quote, but it reads as reasonable to us based on the costs that were assessed in the recent past.
Staff said some of the high-range estimates are based on unknowns. That sounds like a guess to us. But City Hall is an unusually difficult building to work with, in part because it isn’t constructed like most buildings. Its exterior and interior concrete structure makes it hard and expensive to assess costs. So staff threw out a number they hope is the worst-case scenario to fulfill the mandate in the committee charge.
Now, there’s a caveat to all this. Dallas City Hall — both council and staff — have done an abysmal job of managing the city’s real estate assets. Keeping track of the maintenance needs at City Hall and other city-owned properties is grinding work. It’s also work that just doesn’t get done in a systemized way.
The most recent and memorable example of Dallas’ real estate bungles is the building at 7800 N. Stemmons Freeway. The city bought it to use as a permitting center and then couldn’t get permits for it.
The failures ran so deep that City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert instructed staff to “suspend all real estate purchasing unless previously approved by Dallas voters or the City Council.”
The last inventory of city-owned property was in 2017, our newsroom colleague reported in May, and Dallas assessed only 220 of its more than 500 properties at that time.
The most recent city budget did include plans for an updated facility condition assessment, and a February memo does discuss the development of a new “Strategic Real Estate Master Plan.” Hopefully, those steps will help.
As for City Hall, residents will have an opportunity to voice their opinions at a listening session hosted tonight by council members Cara Mendelsohn and Paul Ridley. Both council members oppose tearing the building down, an option we think needs to be on the table.
Some of the talk there will likely focus on staff’s estimates for repairs. The numbers aren’t perfect, but make no mistake, City Hall does have serious and costly problems that must be addressed.
Whether the time is right to move on is a tough call. But pretending that staff inflated the figures just to prime the city for a teardown doesn’t match the facts we reviewed.
A real conversation about what to do next should begin with the reality that this building is in trouble, and there is no cheap way out.
FC Dallas returns home this weekend looking to build off last week’s road result as Real Salt lake comes to town for another important Western Conference matchup. With the schedule beginning to pile up before the summer World Cup break in June, grabbing points at Toyota Stadium feels more important than ever right now.
RSL arrives with one of the more balanced attacks in the conference and enough pace to punish mistakes in transition. For Dallas, this one is about staying organized defensively, controlling the midfield battle, and continuing to find consistency in the final third. If those three items can be checked off this weekend, there’s a real opportunity to keep the momentum moving in the right direction before a long summer road trip.
Let’s dive into some notes, predictions, and more.
TL;DR: Match Preview
Quick hits before kickoff.
- Score prediction: FC Dallas 2 – 1 Real Salt Lake
- Key player to watch: Petar Musa – To make the World Cup roster later this month for Croatia, Musa has to continue scoring here and guide the team to a big home win.
- Why this game matters: The next two are at home and after that there are nine straight road games. Dallas has to bank some points at home while they can before the long summer road trip.
FC Dallas Notes:
All-time vs RSL: FC Dallas holds a 24-15-13 all-time regular-season record against RSL. Dallas has scored 79 goals against Salt Lake. RSL has scored 63.
Home record vs RSL: Dallas has a solid 14-2-8 at home against RSL in regular season meetings. Dallas has scored 44 home goals against RSL. Salt Lake has scored 23 goals at Toyota Stadium versus Dallas. Dallas last won at home versus RSL on April 16, 2023. Jesús Ferreira and Bernanrd Kamungo scored for Dallas that night.
Homegrown clock: Homegrown keeper Michael Collodi was the only HGP earning minutes this season until Nolan Norris joined him on the field. Collodi has played the full 90 in each match, while Norris has been in and out of the lineup. Norris also has one goal on the season. Caleb Swann also made his debut off the bench in New York. Together, they have played 1595 minutes. To add more perspective here, Dallas HGPs only accounted for 1683 minutes in 2025.
What to Watch For: FC Dallas vs. Real Salt Lake FC Dallas returns to Toyota Stadium riding momentum from a historic road win in New York, but RSL arrives with one of the most dangerous young attacks in MLS. Here’s what to watch when the Burn host the Claret-and-Cobalt on Saturday.
Notable season stats:
- FCD is 7th in crosses in MLS with 144.
- The Burn are 6th in total distance covered in MLS with 286.24 km (800 miles).
- FCD is third in MLS in aerial challenges won with 171.
- FC Dallas is 9th in MLS in xG with 18.81.
- FCD is 8th in MLS in shot efficiency with 1.19.
- Musa is 4th in MLS in xG with 7.77. He also ranks tied for 4th in MLS in shots with 40.
Potential FC Dallas Lineup:
With another three-games in seven days stretch coming up, Eric Quill will likely go with as strong of a lineup as possible in these next two home games.
Formation: 3-4-3
Projected Starting XI
Availability & Disciplinary Report
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Disciplinary Report
Suspended: none
Suspended with next yellow card: none
Suspended with next two yellow cards: Osaze Urhoghide, Nolan Norris
🗒️
Availability Report
Season-ending injury list: Kaka Scabin
Out: Anderson Julio (Lower leg), Bernard Kamungo (lower leg)
Questionable: none
On Loan: Tsiki Ntsabeleng (Mamelodi Sundowns FC), Enes Sali (Al-Riyadh), Malachi Molina (Nashville SC), Geovane Jesus (North Texas SC), Enzo Newman (North Texas SC)
Unavailable (off-roster): Daniel Baran, Jaidyn Contreras
International duty: none
Real Salt Lake Notes:
Key player for RSL: Diego Luna
Scouting Real Salt Lake: What FC Dallas Needs to Know 🔎 A detailed scouting report on RSL ahead of FC Dallas’ 2026 showdown, breaking down formations, key players, tendencies, and tactical edges.
Disciplinary Report
Suspended: none
Suspended on next yellow card: none
Availability Report
Out: Jesus Barea (knee), Emeka Eneli (knee), Ari Piol (Achilles)
Questionable: Juan Jose Arias (groin), Justen Glad (groin), Lukas Engel (hip)
International duty: none
Big game this week for FC Dallas. Before we get into it, members have the full scouting report, projected lineups, and injury report. If you want to go into Matchday actually knowing what to watch for, now’s the time.
→ Join Big D Soccer
A mystery trust bought one of the most expensive homes in Texas this week — just months after buying another multimillion dollar property nearby.
The Lost River Trust bought the mansion at 4815 Saint Johns Drive in Highland Park from Dallas entrepreneurs Melbourne and Jamie O’Banion on May 5, according to county records. The final sale price is undisclosed, but the sellers had the home listed for $24.9 million at the time.
The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom home spans 11,433 square feet on a 0.6-acre lot, according to the listing. It was built by Mark Molthan and designed by Tom Weber. They listed the home on March 23 for about $2,200 per square foot.
Allie Beth Allman, founder of the eponymous brokerage, represented the sellers. Damon Williamson with The Agency represented the buyer, according to Redfin.
Just two Dallas homes last year sold with listing prices higher than $25 million, though both sold for well below what they asked. The trust of the late Fortress Investment Group CEO Josh Pack sold his former home at 6601 Hunters Glen Road for $30.5 million after asking $35 million, and manufacturer Guinn Crousen sold his home at 4000 Euclid Avenue for $25.5 million after asking $33 million.
Only six homes in Texas are asking a higher price, according to Zillow. Two effectively tie with the home on Saint Johns Drive: a spec mansion on Strait Lane that’s asking $25 million, and another new construction at 4 Lana Lane in Houston that’s asking $25.5 million.
The Lost River Trust bought another luxury home just six months ago. On Nov. 14, the trust purchased the home at 3709 Euclid Avenue, a four-bedroom, six-bathroom, 5,845-square-foot house that was asking $14 million when it withdrew from the market in September. It’s about half a mile south of the home on Saint Johns Drive.
Melbourne O’Banion is the CEO of Dallas-based tech startup Bestow, which produces software for life insurance companies. His wife Jamie O’Banion is the founder of Dallas-based cosmetics company BeautyBio.
The Crespi Estate at 5619 Walnut Hill Lane, listed by the Cox Family for $64 million, remains the most expensive home on the market in Texas.
Read more
Dallas entrepreneurs Jamie and Melbourne O’Banion list Highland Park mansion for $25M
Estate of late Dallas plastic surgeon Sam Hamra sells historic Highland Park teardown to mystery buyer
Robert Vaughn buys University Park spec mansion that asked $26M
DALLAS – Thunderstorms will roll through parts of North Texas on Friday. Thankfully, none should be severe. Mother’s Day could be a different story.
Friday Forecast
According to FOX 4 Weather Meteorologist Berkeley Taylor, a cluster of thunderstorms will work their way east across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on Friday morning.
Everything is well below severe limits, just with lots of lightning!
Scattered showers and thunderstorms will move in and out through the day on Friday. Coverage is about 20%.
An isolated strong storm or two can’t be ruled out, but the overall threat is low.
Temperatures will be in the 50s and 60s for the morning, before climbing into the 80s by the afternoon.
Weekend Forecast
Saturday will look similar, with even lower coverage expected.
Sunday presents the best chance to find rain and storms – about 50% as a cold front moves through North Texas.
North Texas is under a Level 2 out of 5 risk for severe weather. The biggest concerns will be with wind and hail.
Timing-wise, the front looks to move through in the afternoon/evening.
7-Day Forecast
Once the front is south of North Texas on Mother’s Day, the rain should come to an end, and it will stay dry into next week.
Temperatures will start to warm into the upper 80s and low 90s by midweek next week.
The Source: The information in this story is from the FOX 4 Weather team and National Weather Service.
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