Downtown Dallas Inc. backs relocating aging City Hall, redevelopment of site

Downtown Dallas Inc. announced Friday that it backs the potential relocation of City Hall and redevelopment of that site, adding support to a high-stakes decision about the city’s urban core.

“DDI believes this is a generational opportunity to modernize and elevate how Dallas delivers public services,” said its president and CEO, Jennifer Scripps. “But we must be equally clear: Any future City Hall belongs within the highway loop in downtown.”

She said the current building “is no longer serving its intended purpose,” adding that key government functions are “inefficient — truly stymied in that space.”

DDI, a nonprofit, promotes downtown Dallas, and its board voted unanimously this week to back the course outlined by the City Council’s Finance Committee, Scripps said at the group’s annual meeting at the Fairmont Dallas.

That committee this week asked city staff to shift 311, 911 and emergency operations to a new government center as soon as possible, explore moving all other functions and pursue redevelopment options for the current site at 1500 Marilla St.

Downtown business interests favor redevelopment of the property for mixed-use projects and other ideas, while preservationists have called for protecting the I.M. Pei-designed building.

Last year, City Council members directed City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to assess the building’s condition. She engaged the nonprofit Dallas Economic Development Corp. to lead the review.

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The EDC’s report, released last week, found that fully repairing and modernizing City Hall could cost taxpayers more than $1 billion over 20 years.

DDI also is urging city leaders to pursue a redevelopment strategy for the existing site that builds on major public investments already underway downtown, including:

• The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
• The Black Academy of Arts and Letters
• Dallas College
• Memorial Auditorium, the planned future home of the Dallas Wings

Scripps said downtown offers assets that could be repurposed to consolidate city functions and improve public access.

She also said the organization hopes the Mavericks basketball team and Stars hockey team remain in or near downtown, “where they belong.”