Dallas City Council delays vote on buying convention hotel land
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, April 24, 2008
By DAVE LEVINTHAL and RUDOLPH BUSH
The Dallas Morning News
dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
rbush@dallasnews.comThe Dallas City Council has delayed until May 14 authorizing purchase of a $42 million tract of downtown land on which to build a Dallas Convention Center hotel.
Several factors, city officials say, contributed to the delay. First, some council members cited concerns with the land's proposed purchase price, arguing it's unreasonably inflated and based on flawed appraisals. The 8.34-acre tract, which now contains a parking lot, is bounded by Young, Market and Lamar streets, and valued by county tax assessors at about $7.5 million.
Gina Norris, an executive with the Dallas real estate investment firm Crow Holdings, on Wednesday presented the council with two of its own land appraisals, which she said stand at $29 million and $33 million.
Crow Holdings has sharply criticized the city's convention center hotel plans.
"Obviously there are differences of opinion about the value," said A.C. Gonzalez, a Dallas assistant city manager. "Ultimately, at the end of the day, it comes down to what a willing buyer and a willing seller are willing to transact."
Additionally, other council members suggested waiting to OK the land purchase until the city staff selects a winning convention center hotel plan from among five developer proposals under consideration.
And finally, the landowners, Cincinnati-based CP-Dallas L & Y LP, have extended City Hall's existing exclusive option to purchase the land. The city now has until June 20 to buy the property without penalty. The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau is funding the option agreement.
Mayor Tom Leppert said that despite the delay, he believes the plan for a convention center hotel is still on track. Conceptually, such a hotel, at 1,000 rooms, would help the Dallas Convention Center regain its status among the nation's elite facilities, he argues.
"We're working through a process, and I think it's the right process. What we did was make sure we didn't get out ahead of ourselves," Mr. Leppert said.
The mayor said he still hopes the hotel can be operated as a "100 percent private" enterprise but added that further investment of taxpayer money could be required. Top city officials also envision ancillary development on the 8.34-acre plot, such as retail and entertainment facilities.
"This is too large an issue to feel we have to trigger it by June 20. We're not about to buy land speculatively without a plan," District 3 council member Dave Neumann said.
District 14 council member Angela Hunt, who has long expressed skepticism about the plan, lauded the delay.
"I'm troubled by the appraisals," Ms. Hunt said, adding that she's not flatly against building a convention center hotel. But "I've got to see the facts that it'll be a net economic benefit to the city ... and we don't know that."
The council unanimously authorized implementation of an electronic campaign finance disclosure system.
By year's end, all Dallas political candidates who raise or spend more than $1,000 annually must use campaign finance software that the city is developing to report their contributions and expenses. The city will compile the data in an online, searchable database.
"It puts more transparency in the election process," Mr. Leppert said.
DART board
The council also delayed for a month a controversial vote over Dallas' last open seat on the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board. As it stands, the council is almost evenly divided over whether to return former DART board member Joyce Foreman to the transit agency after ousting her last year or whether to appoint Urban League chief executive Beverly Mitchell Brooks to the seat.
The vote was delayed Wednesday because the city attorney's office was investigating a potential conflict of interest related to Dr. Brooks' work.
The council did OK the appointment of personal injury lawyer Angel Reyes to another seat on the DART board, leaving Dallas with one vacancy.
More recycling
The council also voted to expand Dallas recycling drop-off sites 13-fold. The plan calls for the city's 36 igloo-shaped street-side recycling receptacles to be replaced by up to 500 "bright, new, larger single-stream recycling containers" located primarily near apartments and condominiums, city facilities and other high-traffic areas.