City Hall Spring Break Roundup: Neiman News and Zoning
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Dallas City Council is on a two-week break, but that doesn’t mean nothing is going on at City Hall or officials are just sitting around twiddling their thumbs.
Here’s some of what happened this past week and what’s on deck:
Tolbert Teases Saks Global With ‘Financially Beneficial’ Opportunity
Dallas city officials and local stakeholders are not giving up trying to convince Saks Global from shuttering Neiman Marcus’ beloved flagship store on Main Street.
On Friday, The Dallas Morning News reported that City Manager Kimberly Tolbert and members of a downtown consortium had written a letter to Saks Global’s executive chairman requesting an in-person meeting to discuss an opportunity she promised the company would find “financially beneficial.”
“We understand that you have previously publicly stated your desire to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown flagship, but we believe that by keeping it open a few months longer, you will have time to capture the opportunity we wish to discuss,” reads the letter.
The store is slated to close at the end of March.
It’s worth pointing out that Saks Global may very well owe the City of Dallas millions of dollars for closing Neiman Marcus Downtown, which was supposed to stay open through 2031 as part of a $5.25 million incentive package deal.
CandysDirt.com reached out to Saks Global for comment on the letter but did not receive a response by publication.
Earlier in the month, a contentious back-and-forth unfolded when Saks Global accused the consortium of using the press to compel the company to abandon its plans to close the store.
“Our decision to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas store is final and we are moving forward as such,” the company said.
Local leaders responded to the accusation by declaring they would take their case to Saks headquarters in New York City, if necessary, suggesting the company had no real good reason to shutter the store after the city acquired a troublesome land lease Saks Global had suggested was the sole reason for the planned closure.
The consortium’s letter asked for a meeting within 10 days.
D.C.’s the Place To Be
As previously reported by CandysDirt.com, Mayor Eric Johnson visited Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to share his take on the nation’s housing shortage with the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
But Johnson wasn’t the only Dallas official at the Capitol this week.
Council Members Adam Bazaldua (District 7), Zarin Gracey (District 3), Gay Donnell Willis (District 13), Cara Mendelsohn (District 12), and Jaime Resendez (District 5) traveled to D.C. with Office of Government Affairs staff to discuss the city’s legislative priorities with members of the Texas congressional delegation.
A staff memo outlined a number of the city’s priorities, which include preserving tax-exempted bonds, expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, increasing Urban Area Security Initiative funding, and maintaining current levels of taxpayer spending on core local government programs.
Zoning Implementation Gets New Guardrails
Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley informed the Dallas City Council on Friday of process improvements Planning and Development Department staff developed for zoning implementation.
The process improvements stem from the massive permitting blunders that occurred in Elm Thicket/Northpark over the last few years. Staff erroneously issued permits to several builders who began work on homes that didn’t meet zoning requirements adopted in 2022.
Some of the improvements highlighted by Bentley include increased departmental communication and coordination, delayed effective dates for zoning updates, and enhanced staff training and quality control.
Technology enhancements are also on deck, with DallasNow (the city’s new land management system) launching in early May and database integration already underway.
Specifics on the process improvements can be found here.
Meetings Coming Down the Pipeline
There’s a few meetings in the coming weeks to keep your eye on.
On March 17, the board of directors for the Mall Area Redevelopment TIF District will meet to consider recommending spending $1.8 million in district funds to help pay for the city’s acquisition of a strip mall property opposite the former Valley View Mall site.
Coupled with roughly $9 million of bond money, the draw on district funds would help lay the groundwork for a future park.
Members of the City Plan Commission are set to meet at City Hall on March 20 to resume deliberations on parking reform, fleshing out exceptions to a proposed ordinance that would eliminate parking minimums citywide.
That same day, the Dallas Park & Recreation Board will take up the issue of some $1.2 million in utility services reimbursements Fair Park First owes the city.
Multiple notices of default related to the owed reimbursements have been issued to Fair Park First, which has been under scrutiny for purportedly misusing millions of dollars in donations.
The Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee will convene on March 26 to review a new diagnostic report published by the Planning and Development Department.
PDD drafted the report to outline existing challenges in the Development Code and possible solutions that can be implemented in line with last year’s ForwardDallas update.
Relatedly, a new website was launched to help keep Dallasites aware of developments in the zoning reform process.
Update: This article was updated at 10:39 p.m. on March 17, 2025, to note that Council Member Gay Donnell Willis (District 13) also went on the trip to Washington, D.C.
