A “city within a city” in Deep Ellum, housing above a fire station and a library combined with a recreation center are among the ideas considered at a Sept. 19 meeting of the Dallas City Council's Government Performance and Financial Control Committee. contained within.
City Councilman Chad West, who chairs the GPFM Committee, recently said during budget discussions that the city owns approximately 50,000 acres of land, including large parklands and untouchable Dallas Water Utilities assets. I mentioned that there are.
“But what will happen to the remaining assets?” West asked in an email to supporters. “We know that the City Hall parking lot beneath the fountain needs a radical renovation or could someday collapse.” Is it time to consider relocating government buildings and freeing up prime real estate for long-term rentals for housing, economic development, and open space? What about Deep Ellum's service facilities? Various sectors What happens to the other luggage that has been in storage for decades?”
West said Dallas doesn't have a “dedicated housing czar or person in charge across departments to maximize real estate assets.”
“I think the time has come to consider how to manage real estate books going forward,” he added.
Dallas real estate assets
Assistant Director of Public Works Ashley Eubanks made a presentation at the Sept. 19 commission meeting.
The Real Estate Bureau oversees real estate acquisitions, transfers, rentals, tax liens, surplus property, abandonments, licensing, and more. Eubanks said the department tends to be “transaction-oriented” rather than actively seeking deals.
Ward 9 City Councilor Paula Blackmon said the city will need to make some changes to its operating practices to lower the tax rate.
“That means we may need a mixed-use community on our own property,” she says. “It’s time to rethink and think outside the box and become less bureaucratic, less transactional and more visionary.”
Councilman Jesse Moreno said he wants to encourage departments to “examine” real estate listings and decide which ones can be sold or rented, rather than continue to put Band-Aids on dilapidated properties.
“There will be a significant number of abandonments [in District 2]'' Moreno said. “My understanding is that it would normally go back into the general fund. We would look at reinvesting in a nexus zone on that property to improve infrastructure, improve sidewalks, make that project more visible.” People are investing in that specific area. Let's try to put that money back into the general area.”
The committee discussed why the real estate sector falls under the category of public works. Assistant City Manager Robert Perez said San Antonio has a similar structure, but Fort Worth has a Land Management and Building Services Department. Some real estate departments will be merged into the economic development department, committee members said.
Mr. West pointed out that the real estate sector is doing an excellent job of carrying out the task assigned to it.
“If this department were an economic development department, it would be focused on economic development,” he said. “Wherever it's placed, that's going to be the focus. Strategically, as far as I know, there's no department that does strategic thinking or planning. If there is, I feel like that's where it should go. You have the transactional element, but what's frustrating to me is that there's no strategic element attached to it.”
Lots of land, lots of opportunities
The GPFM board has an opportunity to ensure the city “pushes out and revitalizes properties in locations where they can generate more tax revenue, and hopefully ease the burden on some taxpayers along the way.” said Mr. West.
Public Works Director Ali Hatefi said city officials discussed establishing a committee or task force to work with city officials to identify underutilized assets and develop a master plan for development. He said that
Moreno suggested adding housing above the fire station to maximize space.
“As we consider these options, we want to make it clear to the public that parkland is being treated differently,” Moreno said. “We will continue to protect public green space. There are different criteria if we want to develop or sell these parcels to private developers.”
Blackmon asked how the city could monetize the property it owns and determine if the space could be used for mixed uses, such as a library and fire station.
“How can you change your vision? How can you reorient it to see it from its highest and best use?” Blackmon told utility officials. “If we can't turn things around in two years, let's talk about how to turn things around in two years. When we built cities, we built them in silos. We're breaking down the silos, and I think this is a great opportunity for our own real estate to start changing that.”
West said he hopes the council and city staff can agree on a common vision and support each other in getting that message before the public.
“The political reality is that when you're talking about a cool concept of putting housing on top of a fire station or putting a library on top of a rec center, if you're going to do it, you're going to need a city council member to do it. It's going to be… Otherwise, unless you're presented with a ton of irrefutable data, you're going to say, “If we don't do this, we're not going to meet our housing goals,'' West said. “We had a kind of strategic vision and frankly said, 'We don't mind building eight stories of housing on top of redoing the North Oak Cliff Library, because we need affordable housing. You can do it through your own district if you want, but I think you need to have the political cover to say, “We have to do this to meet our housing goals.'' If you say, 'Hmm,' then it's hidden from me. ”
Perez said those conversations are happening at the highest levels of city government, including mixed-use combined housing, libraries and fire stations.
“We understand the idea of breaking down silos,” he said. “Those conversations are happening. Maybe we just need to get better at sharing those ideas in committees like this.”
