City Hall Roundup: Dallas Has Poorly Managed Its Real Estate Assets, Council Members Say
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From a once-pristine building that was overtaken by squatters to a multimillion-dollar structure intended to house code inspectors but wasn’t up to code, the City of Dallas has failed in its efforts to manage 5,800 real estate assets, council members agreed at a recent committee meeting.
Director of Facilities and Real Estate John Johnson reviewed several case study properties during Monday’s Government Performance and Financial Management meeting and offered suggestions on how Dallas can address challenges like “inadequate communication, siloed acquisitions, and unfunded operations.”
Councilman Chad West, who chairs the GPFM Committee, said the City can and must do more through a strategic plan for its real estate assets.
Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn suggested that some departments overseeing real estate assets aren’t qualified to do so. She also balked at the notion of “siloed acquisitions.”
“No, it’s not siloed. It’s all under the city manager. Period,” she said. “None of these have happened without the city manager. The city manager has put them on the agenda … If it’s on the agenda, I’m assuming they’re recommending it … There is somebody who is connected to this. Unfunded operations? No. Again, the city manager is funding these operations, and if they’re not, that person is not doing their job. That is literally part of their job.”
Dallas’ real estate section has not been managed properly, Mendelsohn added.
“I don’t think it’s the fault of somebody who’s literally doing the work in real estate,” she said. “It’s part of a broader picture of, why do we even have this many assets, why haven’t we monetized the land that we have, why haven’t we built the housing in the places we can and sold it so we can pay some of our other obligations? That’s why we hire a professional city manager.”
A nationwide search is currently underway for Dallas’ top administrator. T.C. Broadnax left for Austin earlier this year and Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has been serving in the interim. Tolbert has not said publicly whether she is seeking the permanent post.
711 S. St. Paul
Family Gateway Shelter and Resource Center has not only been plagued by problems in the building it currently leases from the city, but operators are still dealing with fallout from a building they haven’t occupied since last fall.
CEO Ellen Magnis recounted at Monday’s GPFM meeting how a May storm damaged the roof at the nonprofit’s current building on Preston Road and mold prompted the temporary closure of Family Gateway’s childcare center.
Magnis said she questioned whether delays in repairing the roof were caused by city officials trying to determine how they would pay for it.
“I think it may be appropriate looking forward to determining whether there are sufficient emergency funds in place to empower city staff to activate quickly in the face of weather or other urgent crises,” she said. “It may also be worth an exercise in tagging city assets as to whether or not they are critical to emergency services, which our facility certainly is.”
Mendelsohn said “the entire episode” was shameful and disappointing.
Interim Assistant City Manager Donzell Gipson publicly apologized for how Dallas handled the storm damage at Family Gateway.
“The bottom line is this: We weren’t responsive enough at the front end,” he said. “There are lessons learned here. Hopefully, we’ll do a better job of contract management … This was not our finest moment.”
The committee also talked briefly about the former Family Gateway building at 711 S. St. Paul in downtown, which was overrun by squatters and vandals while vacant after the nonprofit’s departure last year. The building is set to be auctioned on Oct. 2 and could be demolished.
7800 N. Stemmons Freeway
The $14.2 million building at 7800 N. Stemmons Freeway was purchased with the intent of housing offices for Development Services and Code Compliance but it didn’t have a certificate of occupancy and did have numerous fire code violations. It’s now not-so-lovingly referred to as “the lemon on Stemmons.”
Employees moved in, complained about the conditions, and were later moved back to the Oak Cliff Municipal Center. The matter has been reviewed by an ad hoc council committee and the subject of recent executive sessions.
Johnson said in the Sept. 23 GPFM meeting that the Stemmons building challenges elevated opportunities for process improvements such as the feasibility for intended uses versus property limitations, the need for pre-purchase due diligence on comprehensive architectural and engineering assessments, and adequate allocation of maintenance resources for City facilities with private tenants.
Hampton Road and Independence Drive
The facilities at S. Hampton Road and 4150 Independence Drive were acquired through 2017 bond funds. Hampton was originally planned for use as supportive housing for the formerly unsheltered.
“The path forward is still being determined,” Johnson said last week, adding that the future use of the property is under consideration by the Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee.
Councilman Zarin Gracey, who represents both sites, has asked that the Hampton property be sold.
A Notice of Funding Availability was issued in July for developers interested in creating permanent supportive housing at Independence Drive but no one responded, Johnson said last week. The project will be re-advertised, he said.
9999 West Technology Blvd.
The site at 9999 West Technology Blvd. was purchased by the Dallas Public Facility Corporation and is slated to be a two-phase, mixed-income multifamily complex.
The property is currently at 50% in the demolition process. Assistant Housing Director Darwin Wade said it’s taken a long time because there are a lot of materials that have to be separated and hauled away. They hope to have demolition at 80% by the end of the month.
Councilman Jesse Moreno expressed an interest in developing “exit strategies” for buildings that are in the process of changing hands.
The GPFM is scheduled to meet again at 1 p.m. Oct. 28 and will receive monthly updates on the status of city-owned property.
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The Hampton site planned to house homeless is next to an elementary school, public library, senior apartments and across the street from a large city park and residential neighborhood. Dallas kept it a secret from the neighbors and they found out about it when it leaked on Nextdoor.com. The neighbors in that area and people that go to the park are extremely against it. The 2nd homeless housing site planned in District 3 is around a whole bunch of apartments with a whole lot of crime problems to include shootings and robberies, sometimes worse. There were people living there that were on the brink of being homeless, but able to get by. Dallas gave them 30 days notice they had to move when they bought the property, some of them ended up homeless because they could not find another place they could afford to move to.
The Department is using the money to high paying positions to put their pals in who aren’t even qualify. That’s what you ought to be investigating, every leader in that departments. All of those underqualified workers making nearly six figures for doing nothing. They are looking out for their pals rather than the City buildings.