Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson wants the city to leave City Hall and redevelop the land, calling the building’s repair costs too high.
“The numbers have now been proven multiple times to be accurate and it would be very costly to stay and so I would be in favor, for sure, of us saving the taxpayers considerable money by leaving this obsolete building,” the mayor said in an online clip from the interview. “That would make this location available for development, which I would also support because I believe that would be a very, very big part of the future of downtown and its revitalization.”
Johnson’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The mayor’s comments were made after a Wednesday briefing in which consultants told the City Council leaders that repairing and modernizing the building could cost between $532 million and $611 million.
City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert told council members there is no clear funding source for the repairs.
Johnson’s position adds momentum to the debate over City Hall’s future. Consultants warned that the building’s aging infrastructure and code deficiencies make limited repairs unrealistic, leaving leaders with a stark choice: spend hundreds of millions to stay or explore relocating city operations.
After being informed of the mayor’s stance, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gay Donnell Willis told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday that while she needs more information on available properties before deciding, she understands Johnson’s perspective.
The repair estimates, which could climb higher, make it “not a prudent use of taxpayer dollars” to invest in the current building, she said.
“This will be a huge tab to be borne by the Dallas taxpayer to stay at City Hall,” she said. “It’s perfectly OK for him to express his opinion. And though we don’t have all the financial pieces in place, a picture is becoming pretty apparent.”
Johnson in the same interview said he was committed to keeping the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center, despite the team on Tuesday announcing plans to move to Plano. The mayor said his understanding is that the agreement for the hockey team to move north isn’t finalized.
Tolbert “is still in regular daily contact, basically, with both teams about options, with respect to the Stars in particular, to stay at the American Airlines Center,” Johnson said. “That is still a goal of mine, for them to be at the American Airlines Center.”
The discussion comes after a week of setbacks for downtown Dallas, including Neiman Marcus’ announcement that it will leave its flagship store and the Mavericks’ plans for a new arena district in North Dallas.