Jack Matthews

Dallas Police & Fire Pension Fund Says it Has "Several" Offers to Buy Museum Tower

Every month, the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System's board of trustees convenes at the break of dawn for its regular meeting. On a scale of exciting-ness, that meeting usually ranks somewhere between scrubbing the mold from one's bathroom tiles and looking at the photo album my aunt used to keep ... More >>

City Staff Won't Recommend Low Income Housing Tax Credits If Project Doesn't Fit Mayor Rawlings's Plan to Grow Southern Dallas

​Earlier this month the city council's Housing Committee was told during this briefing the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs doesn't have much coin to spare this year when it comes to doling out its Low Income Housing Tax Credits -- just $7.6 million total for a region spanning D ... More >>

Mayor Mike to Debut Plans for Fixing Dallas ISD, Growing Southern Dallas Next Week

​Jim will be along shortly with his take on the passionate discussion surrounding Uplift Education's efforts to get the city to assist with the selling of bonds to help with the charter school's expansion. I'll just note this: During his closing remarks on the subject, just before council voted to ... More >>

They Wanna Shoot the Ewings in Dallas County Buildings, But First Need Commissioners' OK

​Twice in November the Dallas County Commissioners Court approved requests from reality-TV crews to film inside the county jail -- first from Brits bearing 3D cams, then from the National Geographic Channel. But tomorrow, Dallas comes to Dallas County: Per the commissioners court agenda Warner Hor ... More >>

Don Your Sunglasses For Yet Another Look at New-Look Reunion Tower (The Omni Too)

We said it before: Downtown Dallas is starting to look a little like Lil' Las Vegas. The subject spurred a little back-and-forth during a staff dinner last night, during which someone mentioned the story in yesterday's paper about our even more illuminated skyline. Said urban planner Larry Beasley, ... More >>

Take a Long Walk Along the Belleview Connector in This Very Animated Rendering

Way back in May we took a long, hard look at HALFF Associates designer Francois de Kock's Belleview Connector, a proposed bridge -- and "dramatic icon" -- that might one day link Riverfront Boulevard to Jack Matthews's South Side of Lamar. One day. Maybe. Last I looked, which was a while ago, the ... More >>

A Video That Actually Sells Dallas, In This Case to Foreign Investors. Y'all Come Now, Y'Hear?

​In recent days we've seen a video in which the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau sells the city to conventioneers and tourists, and a short film in which the Dallas Citizens Council sells the city to ... um, the citizens council? But after the jump, here's a real, honest-to-God pitch -- a fre ... More >>

Dallas Finally Does Dallas, or: They Started Shooting J.R. Ewing (and Family) This Week

Photo by Zade Rosenthal, courtesy Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc.Father and son: Larry Hagman and Josh Henderson on the set of Dallas yesterday​TNT's crack publicity department sends word: Production began on that next-gen Dallas this week -- 21 hours ago, or thereabouts, from the looks of Jo ... More >>

City Hall Says: Well, Of Course TNT's Next-Generation Dallas Is Shooting in Dallas

The next-gen Ewings live downtown, which is why they needed that studio in the Cedars.​Unlike, say, the release below, the one that just landed in the Unfair Park in-box is far less surprising: TNT will indeed shoot Dallas in Dallas. Specifically, the Warner Horizon-produced series, which was form ... More >>

TNT Orders 10 Episodes of Dallas Reboot

TNT/Warner Horizon​At long last, TNT has finally announced that it will indeed air that next-gen Dallas, featuring Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and a cast of younglings playing their offspring. The series, which is expected to shoot here now that the city council's OK'd that $235,000 so ... More >>

The Studios at Las Colinas Not Reel Happy With Dallas's Efforts to Build Studio in Cedars

Via.Rick Perry and Justin Muller at The Studios at Las Colinas​On Friday we spoke with Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, about why the city council will on Wednesday more than likely approve a $235,000 economic development grant for a film and television production studio in a S. ... 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 >>

In Other Economic Developments, The City Wants To Turn City Lights Back On. And: Dallas Wants Dallas to Furnish a Studio, Apparently.

The old George Dahl library in a cleaned-up rendering found in Monday's briefing​First off, as promised yesterday, here's that Statler Hilton update, which was posted last night to the city's website as the cumbersomely titled Filling in the Missing Pieces Downtown Upcoming Redevelopment Projects ... More >>

Don't Forget That Other Hike-n-Bike Bridge Linking Riverfront and the Cedars

​We're going to begin this morning with two Trinity-related items -- the first of which you see above. That, Friends of Unfair Park, is the Belleview Connector, a proposed bridge that would link Riverfront Boulevard to the Cedars -- specifically, Jack Matthews's South Side of Lamar and the attenda ... More >>

Citing "Great Recession," Dallas Police & Fire Pension Fund Trims Benefits For "New Hires"

Richard Tettamant​Back in mid-June came The Big Announcement: The Dallas Police & Fire Pension System was ponying up the $200 million needed to build the long-stalled-out Museum Tower high-rise in the Arts District. That same day, you may recall, we revisited a blast from the past -- the syste ... More >>

NYLO Hotels, In Plano and Las Colinas, Moving Into South Side -- Old Coffin Bldg., Actually

​We've documented developer Jack Matthews's plans for a hotel next door to his South Side on Lamar ever since we stumbled across it on the Landmark Commission's agenda last July. Back then, Matthews's subsidiary, CCH Lamar Partners I LP, told the commission: It had big plans to restore the old Dal ... More >>

Downtown Omni Office Complex Gets First Tenant: Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau!

Sam MertenMayor Tom at the October topping-off ceremony at the downtown Omni​At present, the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau is HQ'd out of the Republic Center on N. St. Paul. But the city just sent word: The DCVB late yesterday signed a deal (amount undisclosed) with developer Jack Matthe ... More >>

It's Official: The Good Guys Are Gone For Good

Courtesy FOX BroadcastingBradley Whitford's days taking a free spin on the Fair Park merry-go-round have come to an end.​Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, just called with disappointing but not entirely surprising news: The Good Guys will not return for a second season. Which mea ... More >>

Kroger Seeks Federal Dough to Redo Elliott's Hardware; Lancaster Project Nabs $3.3 Million, Heads to Council Committee for Approval

City of DallasA model of the Lancaster Urban Village proposed development at the corner of Ann Arbor Avenue and South Lancaster Road in South Dallas.​ If you're not familiar with the Dallas Development Fund, well, neither were we until we discovered it would be spending this afternoon in the base ... More >>

How Safe is 807 Elm Street? One Structural Engineer Says It's "Distressed" Beyond Rescue.

Inside 807 Elm Street from documents submitted to the Landmark Commission​Aside from 807 Elm Street, there were a handful of other items of note on the Landmark Commission's agenda Monday -- like this proposed plaque for the Cotton Bowl, or a more detailed look at Jack Matthews's plans for a bouti ... More >>

Looks Like South Side of Lamar's Finally Going to Get Its "Four-Star, Artsy" Boutique Hotel

​From the September 3, 2004, issue of the Dallas Business Journal, in a story headlined "Projects afoot for South Lamar area" about developer Jack Matthews's plans for the area around his South Side on Lamar:A 70-room boutique hotel, long Part of Matthews' vision for the area, is also moving forwa ... More >>

News & Notes: Superman's Away, Southwest Airlines Finds God and a Good Guys Pick

Dallas Independent School DistrictFrom Mayor Tom's Back to School Fair press conference Thursday, your Sunday-morning caption contestant​Some random notes while I attempt to get myself out of a murky land deal:Dallas Theater Center's revisal of It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's Superman closes ... More >>

Jack Matthews Talks For the First Time About In-the-Works TV, Movie Studio in the Cedars

Sam MertenJack Matthews​Back in June we noticed there were plans afoot to build a 150,000-square foot teevee and movie production facility at 2901 S. Lamar Street -- in a warehouse owned by a partnership that includes South Side on Lamar and convention center hotel developer Jack Matthews. The $40 ... More >>

Liveblogging Today's City Council Meeting, That Is, At Least Until They're Done Talkin' About the Interesting Stuff

Sam MertenCity Manager Mary Suhm and Mayor Tom Leppert early this morning at today's city council meeting.​With my trusty laptop in hand, I prepared to liveblog the heck outta today's city council meeting -- the last one before the council leaves for its July recess and then returns to tackle ... More >>

Developer Jack Matthews Among Those Partnering to Build Movie, TV Studio in Cedars

​For weeks we've wondered: When will Dallas get around to building an honest-to-God movie-television production facility? Because the city's filling up with shows, but production companies have scant options: Fair Park, which The Good Guys will have to adios upon its August return (fingers crossed ... More >>

Convention Center Hotel Referendum Turns One, And, Aw, Lookie, Ain't It Cute?

Photos by Sam MertenConstruction crews are working on the 12th of what will ultimately be 23 floors.​One year after Mayor Tom Leppert and the pro hotel'ers narrow victory at the polls over Harlan Crow and the anti-hotel folks, the Dallas Omni Convention Center Hotel is approximately half its h ... More >>

Tonight on MTV, the Trip Thorugh Dallas That Helped Change Artist Sam Fuller's Life

The Buried Life - MTV ShowsTonight MTV's The Buried Life -- a show about four Canadians, I believe, crossing things off their to-do list -- takes a detour to Dallas, where the lads meet up with artist Sam Fuller, who, at the time, was living on the streets while bouncing in and out of the Austin Str ... More >>

Sure, We Lost The College Football Hall of Fame, But At Least There's an Office Building in the Works as a Consolation Prize

Sam MertenJack Matthews​Two months before last year's May 9 referendum on public ownership of the Dallas Omni Convention Center Hotel, we cautioned voters that one of the key selling points of the project -- the erection of residential units, restaurants, shops, bars, nightclubs, and other ent ... More >>

Catching Up With Mayor Leppert in Asia If Only Because We Miss Him When He's Gone

All photos courtesy of the Office of the MayorLeppert and the trade delegation make a stop during their trip to Daedeok Innopolis (Hmm ... seems familiar)From the looks of the photos sent along by Mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff, Chris Heinbaugh, it appears as though Leppert and the other 21 memb ... More >>

While City Waits to Sell Bonds for the Hotel, a Fresh Look At the One That Got Away

A couple weeks before Dallas voters narrowly approved a publicly owned convention center hotel, we brought you exclusive photos of a private development from the offices of Jack Matthews, who's also developing the city's hotel. He showed us a model of what he called his "original vision" for the ho ... More >>

Ever Wanted a South Side Condo For Cheap? Apparently, Here's Your Big Chance.

A most curious press release landed in the Unfair Park in-box late yesterday offering a South Side condo for the low, low price of ... well, whatever the highest bidder's willing to pay. If you go to iBidcondo's Web site, you'll see that on July 27, the company will be auctioning off a 1,300 square- ... More >>

With More Than $315 Million in Profits Expected From the Convention Center Hotel, Why Don't We Build Two of These Suckers?

Now that we're one vote away from getting a convention center hotel, it looks like the College Football Hall of Fame is a done deal. At least that's what we gather seeing it across the street from Hotel Dallas in this rendering.The city council's Economic Development Committee this morning predicta ... More >>

Erykah Badu Preps To Open Studio At South Side On Lamar Building

Erykah Badu Over the next few months, Erykah Badu will slowly but surely move her home recording studio--filled with a blend of cutting edge and vintage hardware and equipment--from its current home location to its future one within the confines of the South Side on Lamar building just south of down ... More >>

Wednesday's Planned Construction on Convention Center Hotel Canceled; Bond Issuance Appears Unlikely Before Vote

Voters can thank the bond market for the opportunity to endorse or kill Mayor Tom Leppert's convention center hotel project at the polls May 9.Since the Dallas City Council approved the developer and operator agreements for the convention center hotel, the Vote No'ers have been eagerly awaiting an ... More >>

Surrounding Development Sold As "Key Component" to Convention Center Hotel Project, But What Do We Know About It?

We know we're getting this. But what else?When the Dallas City Council started the process of selecting a site for the convention center hotel in August 2007, it was stressed that the location "foster economic development in the downtown core through retail and entertainment establishments." Sure, ... More >>

Demolition on Convention Center Hotel Site Scheduled For This Week

Sam MertenSo says a worker for Balfour Beatty Construction we ran into this afternoon whilst nosing around the corner of Market and Young Streets. The parking structure is currently closed off by red "DANGER" tape as the construction crew cleans up around the site and surveyors make their final calc ... More >>

When Al Lipscomb's the Voice of Reason About the Convention Center Hotel, We're All Screwed

Sam MertenLeppert was too focused on the hotel votes to enjoy today's performance by the Dallas Black Dance Theatre.In separate 10-2 votes, the Dallas City Council approved developer and operator agreements with Matthews Southwest and Omni Hotels for the convention center hotel, leaving the $525 mil ... More >>

Jack Matthews Hints at His Vision for the City's Convention Center Hotel

Sam MertenLast week, Jack Matthews watched the council's Economic Development Committee support a maximum price of $356 million for the convention center hotel. For all those pro-hotel peeps convinced I can't find anything positive about the city's convention center hotel project, clearly you missed ... More >>

Hey, Look, They've Already Built the Convention Center Hotel -- In Miniature!

Bond and Gagged: Or, Why the Convention Center Hotel's Far From a Done Deal

Anti-Hotel Folks Make Their Case, to Which Developer Jack Matthews and the City Offer a Weary "Whatever"

So, How're Those Convention Center Hotel Negotiations Going, Anyhow?

Shocking! Surprising! And Exciting!

Mr. Sunshine

I see Dallas' glass as half-full in 2007, but what's in it?

Artless

A residency program for artists fades quietly

Best Developing Entertainment District

Lamar Street

Moving On

Poor David's Pub preparing to enter new generation

Artists in Residences

A Dallas real estate developer reinvents the art of the deal