When the deconstruction and reconstruction of Deep Ellum sidewalks began last fall, it was a long time coming. We published a story in January about the restaurants on Commerce struggling to stay afloat with the construction. Cane Rosso feared that its Deep Ellum location, a staple for many years, wouldn’t make it through the end of the project. Management at Twisted Root said they experienced a 20-30% sales drop since November 2024. Pete Zotos, owner of St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin, reported a 19% drop.
This month, we checked back in for an update. Six months later, they're still singing the same tune.
“Nothing has changed,” he told us this week. “It’s a shame, and it’s only gonna get worse when it’s on our side of the street.”
“We’ve been facing many challenges at both Ruins and Armoury since the construction began,” says Peter Novotny, who also owns Armoury on Elm Street. “Reduced parking and limited accessibility have taken a toll on a neighborhood that depends heavily on its walkability. The drop in foot traffic has been pretty clear, and we’ve seen a substantial decline in revenue across both locations.”
Art Harvey, owner of Westlake Brewing, told us in January that there was an incident early on in the project when the construction crews broke a water main connected to Westlake. When we reached back out this week, he told us that the same accident has happened three times now, forcing the brewery to turn away customers.
“For the last two months, we’ve at least seen crews working on more than one of the eight blocks of the Commerce construction at a time,” Harvey says. “It still seems terribly inefficient, though. I’ve watched them dig what seems to be the exact same hole in front of our business no less than 15 times.”
The grievances don’t stop there. Harvey also pointed out that he’s seeing his regulars less, foot traffic is noticeably down, and he’s had to keep Westlake’s roll-up windows shut because of the noise.
Pete Zotos is the owner of St. Pete's Dancing Marlin, a Deep Ellum bar and restaurant struggling to make it through the Commerce Street constuction hell.
Mike Brooks
In September, Dallas City Council member Jesse Moreno, who represents Deep Ellum, told NBC 5 that he intended to put together grant funding opportunities for small businesses needing relief. When our January story was published, no discernible progress had been made on that plan. We reached out for an update, and he sent us a statement on January 9, reiterating his plans to help small business owners with temporary funding.
“I stand committed to ensuring that we explore all options to help these businesses survive,” he said in the statement. “I had reviewed the possibility of using funding from the Small Business Center, which has unfortunately been discontinued by City leadership. I am optimistic that we will revive such programs soon, and it is my hope that we can utilize this necessary City resource for the vulnerable Deep Ellum business community.”
Harvey told us he hasn’t seen Moreno’s plan come to fruition.
“I have yet to see anything resembling that effort,” Harvey says. “He could start by working with the county on business personal property (BPP) tax exemptions for affected businesses. A second step could be an exemption for the city taxes placed on TABC permits for affected businesses. A third step could be exemption of the property taxes for the landlords, which are normally passed directly to the tenants through our lease agreements. None of these options would require applications from the individual businesses or grant reviews.”
We contacted Moreno again this week, asking what work he had done to get funding for the small businesses. His team wrote back to us via email.
Dallas City Council member Jesse Moreno intends to offer grant funding opportunities to the businesses affected by the construction.
Mike Brooks
Well, yeah. It’s Moreno’s job to represent the best interests of the folks in this community, but why aren’t those folks feeling supported?
Stephanie Hudiburg is the executive director of the Deep Ellum Foundation and serves as something of a bridge between the local administration and the small business owners in Deep Ellum.
“This is going to be a long process that will, at the end of the day, result in something really positive,” she says. “But in the meantime, it is something that our businesses wake up to every day. There are places that put their heart and soul into these businesses. They’re our owners, they’re here every day making it work, and they need support now.”
Of course, the owners and government officials will be the most involved throughout this ordeal, but what role does the Deep Ellum patron play? How does the Dallasite who is used to shopping, eating or going out to shows in the neighborhood make their voice heard too?
“I would let elected officials and City Hall representatives know the importance of this neighborhood,” Hudiburg says. “As a resident, as a lover of arts and culture, whatever you are, everybody has a Deep Ellum story.”
