City Hall Roundup: Neiman Meeting, Parking Minimums, and People Power

Dallas City Council was on break again this past week, but other municipal bodies and staff were hard at work. Here’s some of what’s been going on at City Hall since our last roundup:

Tolbert Secures Meeting With Saks Global

City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert’s tease of a “financially beneficial” opportunity appears to have gotten Saks Global to sit down for a meeting to discuss the future of the historic Neiman Marcus store downtown.

The meeting is supposed to happen sometime in the next several days, but Saks stressed that its plans to close the iconic location on March 31 are set in stone.

City Hall Spring Break Roundup: Neiman News and Zoning

“We’ve always been open to speaking with the City Manager of Dallas, and we look forward to doing so next week. Our plans for the Dallas downtown store have not changed, and we maintain that the media is an unproductive medium for our discussion,” a Saks spokesperson said in a statement to KERA News.

The city has not disclosed any details about what it plans on offering Saks Global in exchange for keeping the store open.

One point of leverage the city may have in negotiations with Saks is the company’s possible violation of a $5.25 million incentive package agreement related to its corporate headquarters in Dallas, which is also being shuttered.

Part of the agreement required Neiman Marcus Downtown to stay open through 2031.

CPC Puts Finishing Touches on Parking Reform Proposal

Members of the Dallas City Plan Commission met on Thursday to flesh out more exceptions to staff’s proposed elimination of parking minimums and advance the matter for city council’s consideration.

In a narrow 7-6 vote, commissioners approved an amended proposal that contains numerous carveouts to staff’s blanket ban on parking minimums.

CPC has been working on updating the city’s parking code for five years. Thursday’s vote marked the culmination of that effort, a process that drew considerable public input on both sides of what turned out to be a very contentious issue.

Proponents of keeping parking minimums argue that they prevent already existing spillover issues from getting worse. Opponents, however, claim reducing or abolishing them encourages public transit and rideshare use, leads to decreases in drunk driving, and lets developers build more housing for cheaper.

“Overall, I think we have compromised enough to where this is a good ordinance, and I’m very happy to support it,” said Commissioner Tony Shidid (District 5).

Commissioner Melissa Kingston (District 14) voiced concern about certain property owners being given vested rights that would be difficult to claw back if changes need to be made in the future.

“I don’t think we’re doing our residents, some of our businesses, or our city a service with what we’re putting forward,” she said.

Sands Stands Down on Casino for Now

Just cause it didn’t happen in Dallas doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve space in our roundup.

On Thursday, raw people power at Irving City Hall compelled Las Vegas Sands Corporation to drop its bid to have 182 acres of its property by the old Texas Stadium site rezoned for casino gaming.

As previously reported by CandysDirt.com, residents have been protesting the casino element of Sands’ planned destination resort for weeks, arguing that the social ills presumed to accompany commercial gambling are not worth the potential economic benefits.

Sands may very well still build some hotels, but its resort plans are scrapped for now.

“To build something of scale, I need to economically have it make sense and that requires gaming,” said Mark Boekenheide, Sands’ senior vice president of global real estate development, per Dallas Business Journal. “That is a component that helps pay for all of the other stuff.”

Casino Resort Clears First Zoning Hurdle in Irving

Sands said it was planning to put $4 billion behind the resort. The project was estimated to produce as many as 9,000 jobs and at least $85 million in tax revenue for the greater area.

Meetings Coming Down the Pipeline

The Dallas Housing & Homelessness Solutions Committee will meet on March 24 to discuss issuing $7 million in gap financing for the development of a 48-unit permanent supportive housing complex at Wycliff Avenue and Dallas North Tollway.

Committee members will also consider property acquisitions for affordable housing.

That same day, the Government Performance & Financial Management Committee will review staff’s proposed 2025-2026 budget for the Dallas Central Appraisal District and receive an update on city-owned property in the Cadillac Heights neighborhood in East Oak Cliff.

‘We Need Housing Desperately’: Pepper Square Mixed-Use Passes CPC, Headed for Council

Dallas City Council meets on March 26. While there’s plenty on the agenda, we’re zeroed in on the controversial Pepper Square redevelopment proposal.

As previously reported by CandysDirt.com, CPC advanced the project last month over the protests of homeowners associations and residents who oppose the proposed 984 apartment units.

Now, council members are on deck to consider the project. Stakeholders and activists are expected to turn out in force at City Hall.