Spring Break is still in full swing for Dallas City Council, though some of the fallout surrounding all the City Hall drama continues to make headlines.
We’ll go over some of that here, but, if you need a break, we’ve got some other highlights, too.
Dysfunctional Relationship Between City Staff and Dallas EDC?
As previously reported by CandysDirt.com, internal city emails obtained by The Dallas Morning News have been shedding light on some of the efforts to assess the condition of and game out relocation options for Dallas City Hall.
The outlet’s latest report apparently shows there’s been some tension between the city and the nonprofit Dallas Economic Development Corporation — not so much related to 1500 Marilla St. but rather the city’s efforts to court investment and corporate relocations.
Emails suggest City Manager Kimberly Tolbert has not been too pleased with Dallas EDC’s role in economic development over the past year. And the feeling seems mutual, with the organization’s CEO, Linda McMahon, expressing her own frustration with city staff’s handling of company recruitment efforts.
“My goal has always been to work through this with the staff and not to involve the City Manager but certain circumstances required that the board and I elevated it to the City Manager level because there was no resolution to be made at the staff level,” McMahon said in a statement to DMN, stating that there were times when “communication has not been good.”
For her part, Tolbert has described EDC’s efforts at times as “over reach” and “exhausting” in emails, according to DMN. Apparently, McMahon has been working to secure a bigger role for her organization in courting businesses, pushing for the city to clarify the group’s authority.
Tolbert has not provided comment or issued a statement related to the story as of Saturday evening.
EDC’s mission statement says the group is a “non-profit entity created by the City of Dallas to drive the city’s economic growth and vitality with an emphasis on bolstering growth in the southern area and other underdeveloped parts of the city. The Dallas EDC showcases the unparalleled opportunities Dallas offers and also actively supports business development and transformative projects in alignment with the Dallas City Council’s Economic Development Policy and Economic Development Incentive Policy.”
The city tasked EDC with conducting the property condition assessment for Dallas City Hall. According to the emails, the organization selected and oversaw the consultants involved and controlled the flow of information related to the project, including the exploration of relocation options and redevelopment opportunities, DMN reported.
Southern Dallas Development Named Finalist in Elon Musk’s Tunnel Vision Challenge
A development in southern Dallas has advanced in a contest sponsored by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction firm the tech entrepreneur jumpstarted as a subsidiary of SpaceX.
Located right by the University of North Texas’ Dallas campus, University Hills is a 270-acre master-planned project by Hoque Global. Plans for the mixed-use development call for hundreds of single-family homes, up to 1,500 multifamily units, roughly 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space, a town center, and more than 50 acres of parks and greenery.
Work on the development’s infrastructure is underway, and construction on phase one (which includes the homes) is expected to begin as early as 2027.
In January, The Boring Company launched its “Tunnel Vision Challenge,” inviting individuals, businesses, and governmental entities to submit ideas for a tunnel project measuring up to one mile long with a 12-foot interior diameter. The competition was meant to showcase creative ways tunnel infrastructure could address real-world challenges. The winner gets their tunnel built for free.
University Hills was named one of the 16 finalists this past week, beating out hundreds of other submissions. The tunnel project would run from the development to the University of North Texas Dallas DART Station.
The Tunnel Vision Challenge winner is expected to be announced on March 23.
Oak Cliff Celebrates First Target Store Opening
Oak Cliff just got its first Target store at the Wynnewood Village shopping center, with the retailer officially opening its doors today.
“This new Target is very much welcome in Oak Cliff,” said Council Member Maxie Johnson (District 4) during a soft opening and celebration this past week. “Oak Cliff residents deserve to have grocery and shopping options just like you can find in other parts of this city, and this new store is an important step in the right direction.”
Southern parts of Dallas have been hurting for private investment, and food deserts have been a particular source of concern for neighborhood residents and officials. A food desert is considered an area where the closest grocery store with fresh food is more than a mile away.
Money from the 2017 Capital Bond Program helped get the new Target going. Some $4 million in the program was reserved for “food security investment” through the support of community gardens, healthy food markets in food deserts, and other related commercial and retail projects.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Target to Oak Cliff,” said Council Member Chad West (District 1). “I want to thank former Councilmember Scott Griggs for proposing 2017 bond funds to make this project happen, thank the residents who voted for the bond, and thank Target for bringing its beloved store to our neighborhood. Along with Sprouts, D1 residents now have two new grocery store options added in less than a year.”
The Target at Wynnewood Village spans 110,000 square feet and will employ more than 160 people.
Central Library Gets a Shoutout
Dallas’ own J. Erik Jonsson Central Library is being recognized by the Texas Center for the Book at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for some of the items in its special collections.
Central Library was featured in the center’s Lone Star Libraries series, which put a spotlight on two of its especially rare materials: an original copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence (yes, that one) and a copy of William Shakespeare’s First Folio.
“When the Declaration of Independence was ratified, they had the one document that everyone signed, and we all know about that. That’s in the National Archives,” said Dallas Public Library Director Manya Shorr. “But they had to figure out how to tell everyone who lived in the colonies that we were now a nation, and so they printed about somewhere between 80 and 100 copies that were unsigned, and they sent them out to the colonies. And the copy we have is one of those original broadsides.”
Only around 25 of these copies remain, and the one Central Library has is the only one housed west of the Mississippi.
“People come from all over the world to see what we have,” said Shorr. “To display America’s founding document during our country’s 250th anniversary year is thrilling.”
Central Library is the biggest library building in Texas and the second largest in the United States. It was designed by Fisher and Spillman Architects to complement Dallas City Hall and opened in 1982. As previously reported by CandysDirt.com, staff are considering retiring the building’s basic library services as part of a system-wide overhaul, but they’d like to preserve its special collections and other features as part of a “reimagining” of the structure.
