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- Meetings of Interest: Sunday, September 10, 2023
Meetings of Interest: Sunday, September 10, 2023
Meetings of Interest: 🚧 Convention Center Contract
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Good evening:
The Dallas City Council will vote Wednesday on a $65 million project manager contract for the much-anticipated redevelopment of the Downtown Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Conceptual rendering of the new convention center.
The contract is
, led by Jack Matthews, one of the most transformational developers for Downtown and the Cedars over the past 25 years.
There are few developers as qualified and trusted to take on a project with the stakes as high as this one. Matthews Southwest beat out six other competitors in the City's Request for Qualifications process that began earlier this year and took a few months longer than expected.
Notable
include South Side on Lamar, Gilley's Dallas, CANVAS Hotel Dallas, and Alamo Drafthouse Cedars.
In the Downtown core, Matthews Southwest redeveloped the historic more than century-old Dallas High School that sat vacant for decades. They built The Galbraith, the nearby 217-unit mixed-income multifamily development.
Their prior Downtown project with the most direct connection to the convention center is the city-owned Omni Dallas Hotel, approved in a 2009 voter referendum, one of the signature achievements of former Mayor Tom Leppert's tenure. Matthews Southwest currently serves as the Omni asset manager.
For the convention center project, Matthews Southwest's contract would include:
Assisting with the development of solicitations for architecture, engineering, design, and construction
Developing and providing control processes for the project
Outreach and communication
Budgeting and cost tracking
Project scheduling
DDI President & CEO Jennifer Scripps will be in attendance at Wednesday's meeting to encourage City Council members to approve the contract with Matthews Southwest.
is being funded in part by a 2 percentage increase in the Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) approved by voters last November.
includes a mixed-use walkable entertainment district that connects Downtown and the Cedars neighborhood to the south.
By demolishing much of the existing convention center and rebuilding it along Lamar Street heading south, the project will open up about 30 acres of new development.
The new convention center is expected to open as early as 2028.
📝 Memos of Interest:
-- Like me,
D Magazine's
Matt Goodman knows how to have a good time on a Friday night. He reads memos from the Dallas city manager. He got his hands on one that wasn't posted publicly announcing the imminent departures of Julia Ryan, Director of Planning and Urban Design, and David Noguera, Director of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization (see above).
-- The City Council spent most of an 8-hour meeting on Wednesday debating dozens of budget amendments I told you about in
. In the end, just five of those proposals received majority support. The result is another slight reduction in the proposed property tax rate from what City Manager T.C. Broadnax proposed for fiscal year 2024. More amendments may be made up to the day of the final budget vote on September 20.
about the budget amendments that won approval.
-- There has been a lot of talk during the ongoing budget process of rising property taxes on Dallas residents. Even with consistently lower rates, most homeowners pay higher taxes year-over-year because of explosive property value growth. This memo outlines some recent feedback received from residents about property taxes via appraisal district websites (spoiler: they think taxes are too high).
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-- DFW Airport responds to questions about minority and/or women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) expenditures, revenues, and goals.
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-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos
and
.
Meetings of Interest
Monday, September 11
📔
Ad Hoc Administrative Affairs Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The only briefing item on this agenda is to deliberate on the appointment of City Attorney. That suggests the City Council may soon be ready to decide what it plans to do to permanently fill that post, an incredibly important position that reports directly to the City Council. Tammy Palomino has been filling the role on an interim basis since Chris Caso retired in February. She will likely be a leading contender for the job, but it is unclear if the committee will recommend a national search.
🏫
Workforce, Education, and Equity Committee, 10:30 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- This committee will discuss
from the 2021-23 City Council term and conduct a workshop on
.
🚨
Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.--
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot and Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price are expected in attendance to discuss
. They will be there at the request of Committee Chair Cara Mendelsohn,
.
-- Violent crime continues to fall across the city, according to an
.
-- Dallas Fire-Rescue is making changes to how it responds to certain calls, including elevator emergencies, automatic fire alarms, and car accidents,
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-- The committee will also be briefed on a planned six-month Downtown pilot program to address "welfare check" calls that typically require behavioral or mental health assistance. Instead of sending typical Dallas Fire-Rescue resources, teams that include a paramedic and crisis coordinator will respond to such calls Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The initiative is a response to significant call volume in Downtown for welfare checks. See slide below and
.
Tuesday, September 12
🚆
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board, 12 p.m., Board Room, DART Headquarters, 1401 Pacific Avenue, Dallas (Live Feed)--
The agency's
is up for approval.
-- A
, which no longer includes the proposed D2 subway line, is also on the agenda.
-- A
shows steady growth toward pre-pandemic levels, with the most growth on the
, DART's on-demand service.
Wednesday, September 13
🏛 City Council Meeting, 9 a.m. Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
--
is an $8.6 million annual contract for processing and maintaining city prisoners at Dallas County's Lew Sterrett Criminal Justice Center just west of Downtown.
--
authorizes the
to acquire, develop, and own a mixed-income, multifamily development at 2000 and 2220 South Ervay Street, not far from Downtown. It also authorizes a 75-year lease agreement with
, LLC or its affiliate for the development of the project.
--
would exercise the first of two one-year renewal options on a service price agreement with CitySquare for housing and service assistance for homeless young adults ages 18 to 24. Services include case management, emergency shelter, street outreach, and transitional living.
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is a $125,000 contract with
, to provide analysis of Dallas Police racial profiling audit data and preparation of the department's annual racial profiling report.
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is a resolution recognizing September 15 as Park(ing) Day in Dallas. DDI's Park(ing) Day celebration will be held the day before on Thursday, September 14, this year. During this international annual event participants turn parking spaces into small parks for reading, golfing, artistry, gardening, and much more. Learn more about the DDI event
.
--
is the aforementioned $65 million Downtown convention center project manager contract with Matthews Southwest.
--
will receive comments and amend the Central Business District Streets and Vehicular Circulation Plan to officially reflect the 2020 addition of bike lanes in each direction on Harwood Street from Interstate 30 to Main Street. As noted in the background material, the project was a partnership between the City of Dallas Department of Transportation, Downtown Dallas, Inc., and the Better Block Foundation. There are plans to extend the lanes north from Main Street to Klyde Warren Park.
Thursday, September 14
🚍
Regional Transportation Council, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Transportation Council Room, 616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, TX (Live Feed)
-- The agency is seeking to advance plans for high-speed rail connecting Downtown Dallas to Downtown Fort Worth.
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-- Staff is seeking approval to submit an application for federal grant funding to partially fund four pedestrian caps in the region, including for Klyde Warren Park's planned expansion, Interstate 30 decking near the Farmers Market, and the Southern Gateway project near the Dallas Zoo.
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Quote of the Week
Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax addressing City Council member concerns about city budget growth.
“We’re headed for continued growth, continued investment in the things that people want. We understand how to manage the finances to a point where we don’t put the council and the community in an upside-down situation.”
Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings?
.
Were you forwarded this newsletter?
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Have a great week.
Best,
Scott GoldsteinChief of External Affairs& Government RelationsDowntown Dallas, Inc.
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