Economic Development

City's Plan for Boosting Southern Dallas? Horses, Golf and Completely Screwing Over a Latino Small Businessman

Scott K. Parks has a pretty good OK story in The Dallas Morning News today. It's the good-enough-for-Belo version of a story we brought you two weeks ago about the city's use of eminent domain to seize a privately owned parcel of land near the Trinity River, sandwiched between the equestrian park a ... More >>

Things Got Ugly at an Event Touting Southern Dallas' Horse Park and Golf Course Last Night

Last night the city held a shmooze event for people who live near a proposed exclusive private golf course and horse park in a poor part of Southern Dallas, but the shmooze blew up. A carefully choreographed scene of friendly information booths and party favors turned into an angry shouting match. ... More >>

Back to the Future: Jim Sends Greetings from the Bottom of the Cliff in 2112

This is my end-of-the-year lawn, but I'm so grateful to you loyal lawners out there for showing up, I'm going to go you one better. In fact, 100 better. This is "Get Off My Lawn" from the year 2112. So here I am in the year 2112 still cranking out lawns thanks to the last-minute invention of a new ... More >>

Texas Gives Away $19 Billion Each Year to Lure Business, More Than Any Other State

Over the weekend, the New York Times took a hard look at the tax breaks and other incentives state and local governments dole out by the billions to lure businesses. As the magnitude of those gifts has increased over the years, corporations have learned to shop for the most lucrative deal, dangling ... More >>

Atkins: Inland Port is Two Years Behind, Will Be Four if Nothing Changes

The Inland Port, the sprawling warehousing and transportation center meant to be an economic boon for southern Dallas County, has never really taken off. It opened in 2005 and has seen some development, but the project was stalled by a rocky economy and the bankruptcy of its largest property owner, ... More >>

Trinity Toll Road Doesn't Add Up

However you slice the numbers, it's still baloney.

Parkland Hospital's Land Grab

Dallas County's public hospital is using eminent domain to buy up real estate in hopes of flipping it for a profit. But one homeowner is holding out.

LINC'd In, Or: Next Up, Trying to Really Connect Downtown Dallas with the Trinity River

​If you've got time this afternoon you may want to dial up the meeting of the Trinity River Corridor Project Committee, which will hear from Dallas CityDesign Studio second-in-command David Whitley about "community and economic development" around the river. Not sure how much Whitley's going to ge ... More >>

Uplift Education's CEO: "We Do Not Want To Be a Roadblock" to Development in Deep Ellum

​Anna's attending tonight's meeting of Deep Ellum property owners and city officials concerning Uplift Education's latest charter school -- which, Uplift CEO Yasmin Bhatia just told me, is very definitely going to take the former Baylor building on Elm Street. As Bhatia put it: "All systems go" fo ... More >>

"Trees Do Not Vote" and Other Highlights From Contentious Council Talk About a Walmart

​Speaking of Dwaine Caraway ...The city council just voted on that Walmart Supercenter proposed for Ledbetter and R.L. Thornton, and though it ultimately passed unanimously it was no simple thing -- far from. It was quite the discussion -- heated at times, thoughtful at others. On the surface it w ... More >>

Mayor Mike Rawlings Last Night: "Everything I Look At, I Ask, 'Is It Right for Southern Dallas?'"

Last night, Mayor Mike Rawlings hosted a community forum at Cedar Crest Golf Course, billed in the invitation as an "update on the City of Dallas." Backed by council members Dwaine Caraway and Tennell Atkins and a large supporting cast of other city officials, he tried to reassure the crowd: City Ha ... More >>

City's Working on a Real Estate Deal Called "Project Wall-E." Top Secret, Exec Session Stuff.

​There's a curious item posted on the city council's Economic Development Committee's agenda for Monday morning: "Project Wall-E." And that's all it says, save for the fact it will be discussed entirely behind closed doors in executive session. The reason: "to deliberate the purchase, exchange, le ... More >>

Rick Perry's Manufactured Miracle

Rick Perry's Texas is a job-making, low-taxing oasis of prosperity. It's also pure fantasy.

Council Committee to Receive Briefing This Morning on Dallas's "Flat Employment" Rate

​In a few minutes, the council's Economic Development Committee will take up the subject of Dallas' Workforce and Jobs, which comes with this 29-page PowerPoint worth a look-see even if you're not planning on following along, which we are. Long story short: "In an ongoing weak national economy," s ... More >>

Inland Port, Executive Airport Land on Council's Radar During Talk of Economic Development

​Before the council's Economic Development Committee got 'round to talking about Dallas's employment figures -- and it was a brief briefing -- familiar Unfair Park figure Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the Office of Economic Development, gave the council an hour-long-plus overview of what his office of ... More >>

Jubilee Park'ers Celebrate Plan Commission's Rejection of DISD's Expansion Plans

Photos by Leslie MinoraJubilee Park residents visited City Hall once again in protest of an elementary school parking lot planned by DISD.​For Jubilee Park residents, it was a party atmosphere in the Flag Room outside council chambers Thursday afternoon, when the City Plan Commission denied Da ... More >>

Jubilee Park Residents Still Aren't Jubilant About DISD's Plans For School, Parking Lot

Photo by Patrick MichelsJubilee Park Residents and DISD have been brawling for well over a year.​Residents of Jubilee Park, the neighborhood of modest single-family homes just north of Fair Park, have become conditioned to distrust, if not fear, the Dallas Independent School District. For as l ... More >>

Head of Dallas Film Commission on Why City Needs (To Pay For) Larger Production Studio

2901 S. Lamar, site of the would-be TV and film production facility that would be used for Dallas if TNT picks it up and Warner Horizon decides to film it here​On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will vote on whether or not to give Jack Matthews's CCH Lamar Partners that $235,000 economic develo ... More >>

Dallas's E.D. Problem: Nothing Several Tons of Steel Won't Fix

Why Did Council Just Approve $10.7 Million For New McDermott Bridge? Because "No One Remembers the Little Things We Do."

Photo by Sam MertenWe're not sure what the Margaret McDermott Bridge will look like, but this version's already been scrapped.​The city council by a 13-1 vote this morning approved a $10.7 million contract with architect Santiago Calatrava to design pedestrian and bicycle components for the pr ... More >>

Author Engaged in Legal Tussle With HP Developer Tired of Being SLAPP'd Around

Carla Main testifying down in Austin yesterday​We've written a few times in recent years about author Carla Main, who remains locked in a legal tussle with Highland Park developer Hiram Walker Royall over Main's '07 book Bulldozed: "Kelo," Eminent Domain and the American Lust for Land, which chron ... More >>

"Nonsense" and "Rubbish": It's Natinsky's Turn to Respond to Rawlings's Campaign Mailer

​We've already gotten former Dallas Police Chief-turned-Dallas mayoral candidate David Kunkle's response to Mike Rawlings's latest campaign mailer. Now, it's Ron Natinsky's turn to respond to the flier, which says -- without naming him -- that Natinsky served as chair of the city council's Economi ... More >>

Two District 14 City Council Candidates Promise Not to Raise Taxes But Don't Have Concrete Solutions to Pending Budget Shortfall

James Nowlin​Late last week, we took a look at three of the five potential candidates for Angela Hunt's District 14 city council seat -- Jim Rogers, Vernon Franko and Brian Oley -- one of which (Rogers) said Hunt's decision to run for a fourth and final term caused him to put his campaign on h ... More >>

State of the Arts: City to Take Part in Americans for the Arts's National Economic Impact Study

Patrick MichelsWinspear Opera House audiences will soon be greeted by folks bearing surveys.​On the other side is a release that just arrived from City Hall announcing the Office of Cultural Affairs and Dallas Arts District's decision to take part in D.C.-based nonprofit Americans for the Arts's e ... More >>

Visiting Jubilee Park and Greenville Avenue During Today's Plan Commission Liveblog

Just remember: If and when that Lower Greenville Ave. PD passes, this is what you'll get next summer. Ish.​Put down your Angry Birds Seasons, it's time for the City Plan Commission public hearing! Today the big item on the agenda is the rezoning of Lower Greenville into a Planned Development Distr ... More >>

City Expects $2 Mil In Federal Money Will Spur Development Around Four Light-Rail Stations

The Hatcher Station, one of four light-rail stations identified as by the city as a recipient of the feds' grant announced this morning​This morning we've received several press releases from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation announcing ... More >>

Under Madrid With Mayor Tom, or: How a Tunnel in Spain May Hint at Dallas's Rail Future

Chris HeinbaughA postcard from Mayor Tom and the Dallas delegation from the tunnel in which they spent part of their first day in Madrid​Funny thing: Yesterday, in the comments below, longtime Friend of Unfair Park Montemalone asked this about the Dallas delegation's trade mission to Europe: "I wo ... More >>

Lawyers Spar Over HP Developer's Defamation Suit and How to Prove An Alliance "Unholy"

​Carla Main says she did everything she could to sit down with Highland Park developer Hiram Walker Royall while reporting her book Bulldozed: "Kelo," Eminent Domain and the American Lust for Land. She finally got in the same room with him today, though, in a morning hearing over Royall's defamati ... More >>

About Those Proposed Permit Fee Hikes ...

​For months Theresa O'Donnell, director of the city's Sustainable Development and Construction department, has been meeting with contractors and developers about how to loosen up the permit-granting, inspection-making logjam caused in recent months by departmental layoffs and other budget-busters. ... More >>

Big-Time Builders Insist Proposed "Effective Business Strategies" Are Quite the Opposite

​Earlier this month, the city council's Economic Development Committee was briefed on something called "Effective Business Strategies to Support Sustainable Growth." Translated, that means hiking building inspection fees in order to "recover the true costs of delivering services to our customers" ... More >>

Match Game: Before Council Takes NCTCOG Development Funds, a Peek at the Projects

Angela HuntThere was a competition to redo the Routh Street underpass that serves as an Arts District gateway. That was in '06.​At its August 25 meeting, the city council will be asked to sign off on taking close to $14 million from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, which, in June, a ... More >>

Says Mayor, Thanks to UNT Dallas Is Finally About to Become a College Town

Get to know the University of North Texas at Dallas from UNTD Webmaster on Vimeo.That video above was just posted to Vimeo by the University of North Texas at Dallas -- but says here it was sent out a couple of weeks ago to "the Board of Regents, potential donors, the Texas legislature, and elected ... More >>

Natinsky: Make Sure New Downtown Plan Remains Open to Closing Main Street to Cars

The great Red Oak Kid found this old postcard, which we stopped reading after "pot," to be honest.​More than one Friend of Unfair Park has suggested it in the past: What if the city closed off Main Street downtown to cars and made it pedestrian-only? If you're among those, what a friend you have i ... More >>

Biz Briefs: Judge Allows Cuban to Go After Feds; Gulfstream Breaks One Love Field Lease

​Back in July, U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater told the Securities and Exchange Commission that, sorry, but its complaint against Mark Cuban was getting tossed. The SEC, of course, accused the Mavs owner of violating insider-trading laws in 2004 by selling off $750,000 in Mamma.com stock; Fit ... More >>

"Going Forward, the City is Going to Be All About Synergy," In Case You Were Wondering

​I'd forgotten, till he called me back a few minutes ago, that I'd left Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, a message Monday morning concerning the Dallas Film Commission's pending move into City Hall. Nonetheless, he was kind enough to further explain the reason f ... More >>

City to Take Film, TV Biz Out of DCVB's Hands and Hand It Over to Economic Development

For the last week, this sign directing folks to The Deep End set has been posted at the Walnut Hill Lane exit on the Dallas North Tollway.​Since its inception in October 2002, the Dallas Film Commission has been charged with trying to lure filmmakers to Dallas -- no easy task, given that until rec ... More >>

Dream Weaver: City Bringing In "The Man Who Built Vancouver" to Talk West Dallas

Larry Beasley​Speaking of the Trinity River Corridor Project ... When last we saw Larry Beasley, "the man who built Vancouver," he was among a handful of urban planners imported to teach the Dallas City Council a thing or three during a daylong gab session at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in ... More >>

Is the City of Dallas Really Going Green, Or Just Talking Till It's Blue in the Face?

The city of Dallas has made much of its efforts to "build a greener city" ... which means what, exactly? That, more or less, was the question posed earlier this week during a confab at the downtown Dallas library during a program billed as a dialogue on the "green economy," a catchphrase that's beco ... More >>

Look, It Has Always Paid to Be Royce West

Sam MertenState Sen. Royce West and friendsFormer Dallas Observer ace reporter (and sometime-Unfair Park contributor) Matt Pulle has a great piece up today on the Texas Watchdog Web site revealing that in 2008 alone, state Sen. Royce West's 10-person law firm billed the City of Dallas, Dallas Area R ... More >>

Leppert Pokes Holes in Charter Amendment, Responds to Anti-Hotel Group's Ads and Much, Much More From the Campaign Trail

Sam MertenMayor Tom Leppert made two stops on his tireless convention center hotel campaign tour Tuesday as he dropped by for "coffee and conversation" with the Dallas County Council of Republican Women shortly before squaring off with anti-hotel group leader Anne Raymond at the Westin Galleria. Le ... More >>

Man, the National Review Is Just Begging Hiram Walker Royal For a Lawsuit

Still haven't been served over this December 16 item concerning the surprisingly litigious Hiram Walker Royall, a Highland Park developer, so I will proceed further -- but only with the caveat that a mutual friend of ours insists "he's a great guy." So, there -- covered. Anyway, the details behind R ... More >>

Gustav Isn't Screwing Around, and Neither is the City of Dallas

Oakley-dokey

Everything in Ed's world is OK with Ed

Don Hill Asks Tom Leppert: What, Exactly, Are You Spreading?

Mayoral Candidates Love South Dallas and the Arts. And You. They Love You.

Expenses Sure are Expensive

Re: Pie in the Face

Re: Pie in the Face

There But For The Grace of God

As the Tenth Street freedmen's town crumbles, its would-be saviors bicker among the ruins

Early thaw

Hope is renewed for four downtown housing projects