An 11-story office tower in Dallas was purchased to house the new headquarters for city officials who issue building permits, but a permanent certificate of occupancy was not granted before the workers moved in, city records show. It became clear.
The city issued a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building's fifth floor at 7800 N. Stemmons Freeway in December, the month Development Services Department employees began moving in. However, no other certificate of occupancy had been issued for the remainder of the building. City records listed them as pending inspection as of Friday.
This was announced by a spokesperson for the State Fire Marshal's Office. dallas morning news He announced Friday that he received a complaint about the building on Jan. 25. The complaint was forwarded to Dallas Fire and Rescue, which declined to comment on the building.
The state fire marshal redacted the name of the person who filed the complaint, but identified the author in the complaint as the spouse of a city employee who worked at the Stemmons building. The spouses alleged that the building had several problems that threatened the safety of employees, including leaking toilets and urinals, inoperable elevators, and fire alarms that did not sound throughout the building. He also noted that the building lacked a final certificate of occupancy.
“As a concerned citizen, I am surprised that members of the public need to obtain the necessary certifications and documents to occupy space and operate within the City of Dallas,” she said. her complaint. “Why aren’t these requirements upheld and required for the safety of our own employees?”
The closure of the building, which the city has spent at least $21 million to purchase and renovate since 2022, has forced employees to be allowed to return to their old offices in Oak Cliff.
In an April 9 email, Assistant City Manager Majid Al-Ghafri told the Dallas City Council and other officials that the building will undergo improvements to its fire suppression system, IT equipment, elevators, connectivity and other areas. said further work was needed. Al-Ghafri said it was unclear when employees would be brought back into the building.
City spokeswoman Jennifer Brown said. news On Friday, it was announced that the fire alarm and sprinkler systems were working at the time of the February inspection.
“A re-inspection in April found that the fire alarm coverage was inadequate, so a fire watch was installed,” Brown said. “Having a fire watch that complies with Dallas fire code standards will help keep your building in compliance while you address these issues.”
According to city regulations, fire surveillance is a temporary monitoring system that monitors a building or part of a building to identify and control fire hazards, detect fires, sound the fire alarm, and notify the fire department. It's a measure.
Records show the building did not have a final certificate of occupancy on any floor. A temporary certificate issued for the fifth floor states that approval was required from the site inspector and fire department. It is not clear from the record how long the certificate is supposed to last.
According to city records, certificates of occupancy were sought for the entire building on Feb. 29, for the entire building's common spaces on March 21, and on March 6 for the first, second, third and fourth floors. A temporary certificate of occupancy was requested.
City records show nothing has been issued pending inspection.
City Councilman Jesse Moreno, who represents the area where the building is located, said he could not recall city officials raising any concerns about the property before the City Council approved the purchase in August 2022.
“One of the frustrating parts is we're spending a lot of money and moving staff back and forth between buildings, which is not a good working environment,” Moreno said. news. “And if the city can't get its own CO (certificate of occupancy), you can see how frustrated the public is trying to do business in the city.”
The move to the building is expected to help improve and streamline services provided by the Development Services Authority, which has struggled to issue permits in a timely manner. As of 2022, the department was taking months to issue permits.
Brown said the public's ability to obtain permits is not affected by going back and forth from one building to another.
She asked questions about how many people worked at the Stemmons Freeway building, how many floors were occupied and when employees were forced to move to the Oak Cliff Municipal Center on East Jefferson Boulevard. He didn't answer any questions. 1980s. Brown also would not say whether other city employees were working in the building.
The city began a phased move into the Stemmons Freeway building in December and estimated the process would be completed by February.
said Linda McMahon, president and CEO of the Real Estate Council. news Members of her commercial real estate advocacy group began talking to her about closing the building on Wednesday. He said city officials have told the group in recent months that renovating the building would likely cost more than planned.
“It's not really shocking to us, because you can't really take a building that old and put lipstick on the pig, so to speak, and move people in,” McMahon said. . “Such buildings will need to be significantly upgraded to be able to manage new technologies.”
As of Thursday morning, a sign posted on the glass door at the building's entrance warned: “No Trespassing.” The front desk employee said: news After a visit by the city's fire department on Wednesday, the building was ordered closed and employees working inside the building were ordered to leave due to possible structural problems, according to reporters.
The Dallas City Council approved the purchase of Rich Tower and a nearby parking garage in August 2022 for nearly $14.2 million. The office tower was built in 1981, and the five-acre site had a market value of nearly $14 million as of last year, according to Dallas Central Appraisal District records. The city took over ownership in September 2022.
Moreno said he has not heard of any structural issues that would have forced city officials to vacate the property, but he remains concerned about whether the city did sufficient due diligence before moving forward with the purchase.
“Even if there are no structural concerns with the building, there is still concern that there has not been a proper assessment or detailed assessment to consider all of these issues that we are currently facing.” Moreno said.
