A Dallas City Council committee will meet Tuesday to discuss the future of Dallas City Hall as new estimates show repairs for the deteriorating downtown building could be well above $345 million.
A staff presentation released Monday afternoon ahead of the council’s finance committee meeting estimates the nearly 50-year-old building’s maintenance needs for water damage repairs, garage structural repairs and a host of other issues range from at least $152 million to more than $345 million.
“The City is at an inflection point: either begin addressing the significant investment needs or accept the potential risks, costs, and disruptions of deferred maintenance,” reads the presentation, which is expected to be given Tuesday by Assistant City Manager Donzell Gipson and John Johnson, facilities and real estate management director.
The document warns that deferring maintenance could lead to costly emergencies, service disruptions and even temporary closures of the building.
Political Points
Last year, city officials estimated at least $60 million was needed for critical repairs, but council member Chad West, who chairs the finance committee, recently told The Dallas Morning News that he’d been told needed repairs could top $100 million. The presentation said additional expense is anticipated for work required to comply with current code.
West told The News on Monday that the latest repair estimates are just “city staffs’ best guesses,” not based on a full inspection.
“I wasn’t surprised necessarily,” West said when asked about his reaction to the revised potential repair bill. “But I was more disappointed than I had been to realize the level of deferred maintenance that had been allowed to build up over decades.”
He specifically pointed to estimates that the city needed up to $145 million to repair its two-level underground parking garage and possibly more than $10 million for upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act as among the top issues that jumped out to him.
When asked if he was confident whether the building can be fully restored, West said he wasn’t sure yet.
“The fact that we don’t have a complete estimate at this point for all of the various conditions is very telling,” the finance committee chair said. “Staff has come up with a maximum amount that the costs could be, but I wonder if it could be even more once a third party digs into the full condition of the entire building.”
The presentation on the state of Dallas City Hall lays out three potential paths forward: making minimal repairs, fully restoring the building or exploring alternatives like leasing space, selling the property or building a new City Hall.
Johnson told The News recently that the $60 million-plus repair estimate for City Hall last year was based on preliminary data from the 2024 bond program. Since then, only design and engineering work is underway for replacing generators. All the other needs remain unfunded.
More accurate estimates won’t be known until the city assesses the building’s condition, which would provide a full list of City Hall’s deficiencies, Johnson said. A contract for a firm to perform the assessment likely won’t be awarded until 2026, he added.
The city won’t know the true cost or timeline until the inspection is done and a contractor provides a detailed plan.
According to Tuesday’s staff presentation, maintaining the status quo is likely the most expensive option. Ignoring repairs means paying more for emergency fixes and if systems keep failing, City Hall could face major disruptions or even have to close temporarily.
“Because repairs happen only after failures, total costs are unpredictable and can escalate quickly,” the presentation said.
Under the option to fully fund the repairs, the document says it could take up to two years for a full building assessment to be done.
“Identifying available funding will be challenging,” the presentation said. “Additional bond funding/capacity may not be available for several years and proceeds from surplus sales are unlikely to fully cover costs.”
If relocation is chosen, nearby downtown-area buildings like Bank of America Plaza, the Comerica Bank Tower, Renaissance Tower and Harwood Center are among close to a dozen buildings noted in the presentation as housing city departments.
City Hall, designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei and opened in 1978, has long been a symbol of Dallas’ municipal government. But the building’s mounting issues, including new projections of up to $145 million needed for garage structural repairs, up to $100 million needed to address water damage, and $40 million for HVAC upgrades, have left its future uncertain.
The City Council last month, as part of Dallas’ latest $5.2 billion budget, approved around $14.5 million for major system repairs across all city-owned buildings. It remains unclear how much of that funding, if any, will be directed to City Hall.
The building’s fate is further complicated by its prime downtown location, which has become increasingly valuable as the city plans a more than $3 billion convention center rebuild and redevelopment of the surrounding area. The Dallas Mavericks’ search for a new arena site has also put City Hall’s land in the spotlight. Some developers and city officials see the property as a potential anchor for a new entertainment district, which could include apartments, hotels and restaurants.
But preservationists argue that demolishing City Hall would be a loss for Dallas’ cultural history. The Dallas Landmark Commission voted in March to begin the process of designating the building a historic local landmark, which puts a two-year freeze on major alterations, including demolition, unless approved by the commission.
The council committee meeting starts at 1 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.