Economic Development

Patriot Tower Due for a $40 Million Makeover, to Include both Apartments and Office Space

Patriot Tower, the I.M. Pei & Associates-designed skyscraper at St. Paul and Bryan Street that opened in 1979, has not been well loved of late. The property changed hands several times before it was sold at a foreclosure auction last year. There are 30 stories of office space that are only about a t ... More >>

Scrap-Yard Owners Evolve to Survive Assault by City Hall and the News.

Fret Not, as Plans to Renovate Old Dallas High School Downtown Remain on Track

​Sunday's supposed to be my last day 'round here, but I just may stick around till Monday. The reason: The just-posted agenda for Monday's meeting of the council's Economic Development Committee promises that Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, will walk council th ... More >>

City Looking to Kick In $2 Million Toward Development Around Walmart on Ledbetter

​Word of warning: This won't be the sole Unfair Park item of the day to feature the word "Walmart." Patience, patience. But, to begin: Remember that Walmart going in at Ledbetter and R.L. Thornton? Right, that one. Gave us the phrase "Trees do not vote" during the contentious discussion about how ... More >>

On Site of Old Herrera's on Maple, the New Home of Omni Hotels' Parent Company

That big muddy patch seen outside the bossman's window will be TRT Holdings' HQ at some point.​Someone asked yesterday if and when Omni's going to move its HQ to the city of Dallas. Well ... if you'll look at the council's agenda for today, it's right there: items No. 54 and 55. The first one's fo ... More >>

City Council Delays Giving DISD Rezoning It Wants in Jubilee Park, Pending Trustees' Vote on School Closures Tomorrow Night

​Best I can tell using our half-baked search engine, we began writing about Jubilee Park-ers' battle with the Dallas Independent School District over a new-and-improved O.M. Roberts in April 2010, when residents told Dallas County commissioners they were terrified of losing their homes in an emine ... More >>

City Hopes $13 Mil in HUD Block Grants Will Jumpstart Lake Highlands Town Center

​For those wondering whatever become of the stagnating Lake Highlands Town Center, a ray of hope appears on the council's Economic Development Committee's agenda for Monday: "Community Development Block Grant Section 108 Guaranteed Loan Application for the Lake Highlands Town Center." I'll post th ... More >>

Perennial Dallas Mayoral Candidate Edward Okpa Is Not Impressed EBJ's Running Again

​From what I can tell, Jessica Huseman and Shawn Williams were the sole media members to attend Eddie Bernice Johnson's campaign kick-off held yesterday at the beleaguered Southwest Center Mall. The event was also attended by three council members: Pauline Medrano, Vonciel Jones Hill and Tennell A ... More >>

Two Years After Addison-Based Debt Relief USA Went Bankrupt, the Feds Take an Interest

​No doubt you heard the radio spots in which they promised to "settle your credit card debt for pennies on the dollar without filing for bankruptcy"; no doubt you saw the TV ads in which they claimed you would "truly be debt free in less than 36 months." From 2005 till '09, Addison-based Debt Reli ... More >>

Dallas County Now Under 90-Day Burn Ban

​No doubt you're aware: This is fast becoming one of the worst droughts in state history -- No. 3 so far, at a cost of billions to farmers and ranchers. And save for this tease of "dissipating thunderstorms" moving in, or not, from Oklahoma, it ain't gonna get any better any time soon. Which is wh ... More >>

Before Council Votes to Up Lake Highlands Town Center TIF Dough to $40 Mil, a History

What one corner of Walnut Hill and Skillman was supposed to look like by now​Twice now, following a weekend excursion to the scenic, dancing-watered parkingscape known as Lake Highlands Town Center, we've checked in on the city's efforts to back-on-track that stalled-out mixed-use development. Goo ... More >>

Council Told If The City Doesn't Pony Up for Studio, TNT Won't Shoot Dallas in Dallas

WireImageMary Crosby, Larry Hagman, former Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger director Michael Preece and Sheree Wilson at the auction of Hagman's memorabilia in Beverly Hills last week​Saturday morning we sneak-peeked an item that was just the subject of much debate during this morning's meeting of ... More >>

City to Kick In Millions More in TIF Dough to Get Lake Highlands Town Center Back on Track

​After last week's accidental tour of the Lake Highlands Town Center, or what there is of it, we discovered: Prescott Realty and the city's Office of Economic Development are hustling to get that long-dormant development off the ground years after that big-deal groundbreaking was buried in the eco ... More >>

QR Signs of the Times, Part II: CityDesign Studio's Virtual Look at Dallas' "Public Realm"

​I saw one of these signs on a Bishop Arts sidewalk over the weekend and thought nothing of it -- that is till today, when I was looking for something unrelated on the Dallas CityDesign Studio, which led me to its Facebook page, which led me to this: Urban Design Matters, a just-launched website r ... More >>

What Qualifies As "a Relatively Small Public Investment"? Let's Take a Look Downtown.

400 N. Akard​This morning, the council's Economic Development Committee will take up whether or not to give Dean Foods a $250,000 economic development grant (and $1,673,964 in tax abatements) for that new factory in the southern sector, which Ron Natinsky mentioned last week.At the same time, the ... More >>

35 Conferette Will Affect Denton's Economic Future, Says Music Geographer Michael Seman

It's actually Michael Seman's job to figure out how indie rock and economic development are intertwined.​Try this out. Let's say we project the future of indie rock out into the future as a straight line disappearing way off over the horizon of time. Everything that's ever going to happen in indie ... More >>

Head of Economic Development Explains $2 Million Grant Proposed for North Oak Cliff

Click to embiggen the map of the area that would be impacted by the proposed $2 million economic development grant.​On Friday we sneak-peeked that proposed $2-million economic development grant proposal intended to "support emerging development opportunities in North Oak Cliff." Before Wednesday's ... More >>

Council to Consider Doling Out $2 Million In GrantBond Money to North Oak Cliff Developers

​So much for North Oak Cliff not needing City Hall ...On Monday, the council's Economic Development Committee will discuss an "economic development grant proposal to support emerging development opportunities in North Oak Cliff." Which is kinda vague till you look at the corresponding item (No. 57 ... More >>

Mexican Macro-economics

How Much Money is MoneyGram Getting to Move From Minnesota to 2828 N. Harwood?

​A couple of weeks ago, MoneyGram announced it was moving its HQ from Minnesota to Dallas -- you remember that, right? And at the time, City Hall said the move involved "a public incentive package" that the city council had to approve -- oh, like it wouldn't. Anyway. Some Friends wondered how much ... More >>

This Just in From the Office of Ironic Developments at Dallas City Hall ...

​I've been meaning to get to this for hours and was otherwise occupied -- drinking, of course, in anticipation of tomorrow's big day. Schutze's bestest bud, Frank Librio at Dallas City Hall, sent to us media types a press release announcing that the city's Office of Economic Development Web site h ... More >>

Just How in the Heck Does the City Decide How to Spend Federal CDBG Money Anyway?

​Tomorrow, the city council will take a long, hard look at how federal community development block grants are spent -- or, in this case, not. According to the briefing document, there are 109  already approved projects and programs still sitting on $7 million in federal money that was suppose ... More >>

More About City's Plans to "Rent" JCPenney at Southwest Center Mall, With Option to Buy

Sam MertenThe vacant JCPenney building at Southwest Center Mall in South Dallas.​Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, just called back to explain why the city's moving forward with plans to purchase the JCPenney's space at Southwest Center Mall, which the chain aban ... More >>

If Nothing Else, City Council Members Now Have One More Reason to Travel Abroad

​The city council's Economic Development Committee was first briefed on the subject one year ago: "Attracting Foreign Investment as Part of Dallas' Economic Growth Strategy: The EB-5 Program." Long story short: Per the Immigration Act of 1990, foreign investors who sink at least $1 million into U. ... More >>

It's Official: The Trinty Trust Gives $2 Million to Set Up "CityDesign Studio" in Dallas City Hall

Speaking of the Trinity Trust, they've still got those T-shirts available.​The suspense is over. (See what I did there?) Following up its September 24 announcement concerning $10 mil going toward turning the Continental Avenue Bridge into a pedestrian pathway-n-park, the Trinity Trust this morning ... More >>

When Deloitte Did the Math, It Needed $2 Mil From Dallas, Or Else It Was Going to Irving

​Earlier this year, Deloitte LLP went down to Dallas City Hall and said it was thinking of consolidating its Dallas and Irving operations under one roof ... in Irving. The accounting firm had crunched the numbers, and "there was a multi-million dollar cost advantage to Deloitte LLP if it chose an ... More >>

You Think the Recession Blows? Well, Sure. But Try Living On One Dollar a Day.

"Andrea," who received $1,500 from the Chiapas Project to become a farmer in Mexico, where she support four generations of family​Sure, our economy's grim, but consider this: In Haiti, 80 percent of the population lives under the poverty line and two-thirds lack formal jobs. Altering such circumst ... More >>

What's it Worth to Move 200 Hilton Jobs to Dallas From Farmers Branch? Dunno Yet.

​Says this sneak preview of the city council's Economic Development Committee agenda next week, Dallas is considering forking over an economic development grant to Hilton Hotels, which is looking to relocate a regional headquarters to Dallas. Office of Economic Development head Karl Zavitkovsky, a ... More >>

Far as City Figures, It Has Four Options When It Comes to Saving Former Red Bird Mall

Perhaps you recall that back in June, the Urban Land Institute wrote of the former Red Bird Mall, "More than half the floor space is vacant -- feels lonely."​Now that the city council's had two months to digest the Urban Land Institute's 99-page report on Southwest Center Mall, formerly known as R ... More >>

According to UNT Profs, DART's the "Economic Engine Making Dallas a World-Class City"

Click to expland the image if you actually want to peek at DART's 2030 Transit PlanThis morning at Dallas Area Rapid Transit HQ, president Gary Thomas lauded the rail expansion as "on time and under budget," and presented a new study by professors at the University of North Texas's Center for Econom ... More >>

How Do You Save a "Mostly Dead" Mall?

From the Urban Land Institute report on Southwest Center: "More than half the floor space is vacant -- feels lonely"Back in April, the Dallas City Council agreed to spend $120,000 in economic development grant money so the Urban Land Institute could "assess redevelopment options" at Southwest Center ... More >>

Old Red Bird Mall's About to Get a Fresh Look from the Urban Land Institute

View Larger MapMoments ago, the Dallas City Council approved spending $120,000 in economic development grant money so the Urban Land Institute can "assess redevelopment options" at Southwest Center Mall. As we noted earlier this week, the council's Economic Development Committee took a peek at the p ... More >>

Red Bird Singing in the Dead of Night, Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly

View Larger MapSpeaking, as we were late last week, of deserted area malls, today comes word that the city council's trying to figure out what to do with the Shopping Center Formerly Known as Red Bird. Otherwise called Southwest Center Mall, the joint was once a jam-packed jewel upon its grand openi ... More >>

Master of His Domain: Dallas Judge Dismisses Law Prof From Defamation Lawsuit

Well, there's at least one person in this world Highland Park developer Hiram Walker Royall can't sue, at least not this week: law professor Richard Epstein, who provided a blurb for the back of Carla Main's book Bulldozed: "Kelo," Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land. As we've mentioned b ... More >>

What Remains of Federal Funds Intended for Motorsports Museum Will Now Go Toward MLK Boulevard "Revitalization Program"

View Larger MapBeen a loooong time since we've written about Derrick Mitchem and his proposed Motorsports Museum across from Fair Park, in the old Bama Pie building. Been no reason to: Last I looked, oh, three weeks ago, the place looked just as it has for years and as you see above -- more or less ... More >>

Slumdog Millionaires

If the Morning News considers itself the "conscience" of southern Dallas, it has a lot of explaining to do.

Highland Park Developer Who Likes to Sue Is Royally Pissed Over Book

Can't say I'd ever heard of Highland Park's Hiram Walker Royall till last night, when I stumbled across this piece from the First Amendment Center concerning the developer's October '08 libel lawsuit, brought about because Royall's furious over the contents of the well-reviewed 2007 book Bulldozed: ... More >>

We Now Officially Have Those Trinity River Blues

Vox Populi

Wait a minute...There's democracy in Dallas?

Don Hill's Faith-Based Plan For...Crime-Fighting?

Fear-Mongering Amongst the Mayoral Candidates. And Don Hill Has a Economic Plan. Didn't Say it Was a Good One.

Pie in the Sky

Forest City to Own Entire Metroplex

P.U.!

Who made a stink at City Hall?

Whizzing inside the tent

ExxonMobil shareholders use their stock to push a corporate giant toward change

The fix is in

Plans for a giant market in an Old East Dallas neighborhood speed ahead despite protests by neighbors

Spinning wheels

Fahim Minkah cleared one set of hurdles to build a South Dallas skating rink, only to have the city put more in front of him

Rumors of war

A fight over rezoning has some northeast Dallas homeowners talking recall

A Dream Deferred

Former Black Panther Fahim Minkah seeks redemption for a drug-infested neighborhood, but the Southern Dallas Development Corporation turns its back

Soul Power

The city's future is in the hooves of a winged horse--and in the New Age musings of the Dallas Institute of Humanities.