Economic Issues

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 >>

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 >>

Seeds of Hope for Dallas Farmers Market

Long negotiations could plant something cool at the southeast corner of downtown.

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 >>

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.

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

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.

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Your First Look at the City of Dallas FY2011-12 Budget, Which Includes a Water Bill Hike

​On the other side is the budget briefing handed to media members when we arrived at City Manager Mary Suhm's fourth-floor conference room for a 3:45 meet-the-presser. Long story short: She managed to balance the budget without cutting too much, she said, thanks to the state taking less than origi ... 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 >>

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 >>

Before the Council Talks Trash This Morning ...

​No doubt most of you aren't all that concerned where your garbage gets dumped, so long as it's picked up and hauled off on time. That said, the subject's slowly but surely becoming a hot topic at City Hall, as City Manager Mary Suhm and Sanitation Services Director Mary Nix make their solid-waste ... More >>

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

New Anti-Poverty Coalition to Demand Dallas City Hall Zone Payday Lenders Out of Business

​Been trying to reach council member Jerry Allen ever since yesterday; no luck so far. But we know where he'll be at 3 today: in the Flag Room at Dallas City Hall, standing beside Dr. Frederick Haynes and Rev. Gerald Britt at an anti-payday lender press conference on behalf of the Anti-Poverty Coa ... 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 >>

Mexican Macro-economics

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Dallas County Commissioners to Discuss Privatizing Security Forces at County Buildings

There's a chance Dallas County could privatize security at buildings like the George Allen Courthouse downtown.​Flipping through the agenda for today's meeting of the Dallas County Commissioners Court, I came across an interesting item on page 193 concerning potential plans to privatize "all secur ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Dallas Ad Firm Uses Bailout to Sell Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast

Bush Tells Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington Mayors Their Jobs Are Harder Than His -- Haw, Haw, Haw.

Dallas to Lose $4 Billion in 2008? Man, That Sounds Bad.

One Out of Four Texas Children Goes Hungry At Some Point During the Year

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

Re: Pie in the Face

Forest City to Own Entire Metroplex

Whizzing inside the tent

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

Grandma goes electric

Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander wants to take the state into the 21st century -- and herself into higher office -- with her vision of "e-Texas"

Early thaw

Hope is renewed for four downtown housing projects