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There was a buzz March 12 at Urban Market, and it had nothing to do with the beer and wine samples at the front of the store. Downtown residents were gathering near the meat and cheese section, where chairs were set up in front of a microphone. An elderly couple sat patiently, claiming back-row seats in anticipation of hearing Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert give an "update on downtown."

Leppert arrived shortly after 7 p.m. wearing a blue blazer, no tie and accompanied by his wife, Laura. He greeted several folks with a handshake and a "Hi, I'm Tom." Grabbing the mic, he asked how many among them lived in downtown. Almost all of the nearly 75 audience members proudly raised their hands. Leppert told them he wanted to turn Dallas' downtown into the finest in the country "with the exception of New York." Calling the crowd "pioneers of downtown revitalization," Leppert described his plans to turn his vision into reality.

He outlined three anchors to the future of downtown revitalization: the Arts District, Victory/Uptown and the convention center area. In just two years, the Arts District would be the finest of any in the nation, he said, and in four years, the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park would highlight the continued success of Victory/Uptown. The third anchor, he said, was the convention center area, which he emphasized was "an important element not only for downtown but for all the city."

The mayor spoke with passion in his voice and a grin on his face, stretching out his long arms as if to punctuate his big ideas. The crowd seemed captivated, heads bouncing up and down in agreement like bobbleheads. But he was just warming up for his big sales pitch:

Despite more than $1 billion invested into the convention center, more than 1 million square feet of exhibit space and Dallas annually ranking among the top convention sites in the country, Leppert said the Dallas Convention Center "is fundamentally uncompetitive in today's environment." He said building a convention center hotel is the solution.

"It is the right thing to do to keep ourselves competitive in an important industry. It's the right thing to make sure we keep having investment in the downtown," he said, as if still on the campaign stump. "And it's the right thing to make sure we have a strong tax base throughout the city."

And then he talked about "tiers."

For Dallas to be a Tier 1 city, it needed a hotel attached to its convention center like other Tier 1 cities such as Las Vegas or Orlando. Without a hotel, it would drop to a Tier 3 city because many of the Tier 2 cities already were building them. The American Heart Association, he added, had already canceled its 2009 annual mega-convention because Dallas lacked an attached hotel.

For those downtown residents who didn't care about Dallas' tier level, Leppert offered another reason to support the project: A hotel meant jobs, restaurants and retail for downtown—and it would keep their residential areas attractive.

Leppert spoke in generalities, but offered just enough insight and information to sound as though he had mastered the subject. His Harvard MBA cum CEO image, carefully crafted by top political advisor Carol Reed during his 2007 mayoral campaign and the Trinity toll road referendum, seemed to win over the audience.

After he wrapped up his speech, Leppert took questions from the audience, discussing, among other things, Deep Ellum, dirty sidewalks and the homeless. But the conversation quickly returned to the convention center hotel, which Leppert estimated would cost $300 to $450 million and would require some form of public financing. Few seemed to wince when Leppert spoke about basis points, tax abatements and debt service—perhaps because they may not have understood that he was asking taxpayers to pick up the tab. For those who were following him, Leppert insisted that the risk of operating the hotel would not fall on taxpayers; and no, the city wasn't getting into the hotel business either.

So just where did Leppert want to build this hotel, asked one downtowner?

"I actually want it to go wherever it is recommended and wherever the facts say that it will be the most effective for the convention center and for downtown," he said.

The answer amounted to little more than political sleight-of-hand.

A month earlier, the city council by a 10-2 vote approved spending $500,000 on an option to acquire 8.375 acres of land in front of the convention center for $42 million, which would presumably be the site for the hotel. The city's chief financial officer Dave Cook explained that the property, owned by Cincinnati-based Chavez Properties Ltd., could also be used for more convention center parking or meeting room space. The city, however, commissioned two appraisals for the property (View one appraisal in its entirety). Both valued the land—over the doubts of council members Mitchell Rasansky and Angela Hunt—at $40.1 million. And on March 7, the city issued a Request for Proposals from real estate developers to submit "a full detailed proposal for a hotel development on the Chavez parcel." Proposals for alternative sites would be considered, the RFP stated, but only if a proposal was submitted for the "Chavez parcel." Because the proposals are confidential, it is unknown whether the six developers, who are each bidding on the project, will insist that the city give them the land as part of their development deal, or require other public subsidies to build and operate the hotel.

Write Your Comment show comments (13)

  1. We should really accept this hotel. It will be good for the city and it's future. I am sure Mayor Leppert is looking out for us.

    Is it true that the Dallas Observer had a chance to purchase this land? What happened ?

    Sounds like sour grapes.

    Comment by wick olson — April 16, 2008 @ 06:51PM

  2. Tom Leppert is a "Transformer". I'm guessing something else is being worked behind the scene. This hotel is bad news for Dallas and the way Tom is pushing it, is truly "more than meets the eye."

    Comment by Matt Minyard — April 17, 2008 @ 09:11AM

  3. First off I know y'all can't determine your banner ads, but in an article pointing out DMN conflict of interest, there was a banner ad for the Glass Cactus the same page mentioning the Gaylord. Maybe you were proving your point to Gaylord is doing alright w/o help?
    But more on issue my problem is not with the idea of the council discussing a hotel but at the way in which the council is handling it. Secrecy is never good government.
    If you want conventioneers (sp?), simply get the city council to give tax abatements to the strip clubs, the PD to allow drinking on the street and have good-looking hookers hang out near the hotels we already have.
    That or build a football stadium near downtown.

    Comment by ashvega — April 17, 2008 @ 09:52AM

  4. Seems to me the obvious solution would be to restore and reopen the the old Statler Hilton. 700+ rooms right downtown and if restored to its original 1950's space-age modern look inside and out it would be quite a draw. Lots cheaper than building a new one and would also help cure the blight of downtown.

    Comment by IamZardoz — April 17, 2008 @ 12:44PM

  5. According to the investigation from http://www.biloves.com, The Netherlands, South Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, Spain are the gayest countries. I don't know why there isn't U.S.

    Comment by jolly — April 20, 2008 @ 10:02AM

  6. Are people dumb or dumber???!!

    IT ALWAYS WILL FALL ON THE TAXPAYER unless it is 100% private enterprise in otherwords NO GOVERNMENT/NO CITY/ NO NO NO TAXPAYER FINANCING.

    If it is so badly needed then why arent the private companies running to it!?

    And if it is tier 1 like his royalness states, then what other ( HE MENTIONED ORLANDO, THINK DISNEY AND LAS VEGAS, THINK....LAS VEGAS) NEW TAX FUNDED OPERATIONS WILL BE NEEDED??!

    Folks, these great sounding coverups are getting old and stale and only the ignorant are continuing to fall for it.

    Comment by franklin — April 20, 2008 @ 11:32AM

  7. This is the biggest scam going, you dumb hicks! So I guess it's not surprising it will benefit a guy named Hicks. Every city under the sun has asked for and/or built one of these and they are all sucking wind and taxpayer funds. The report's already been written three years ago and your idiots are going around saying what a great idea it will be like they thought of it themselves!

    See http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2005/01cities_sanders.aspx

    Yeah, you need x-hundred hotel rooms near the White Elephant, paid for by the taxpayers, so that you can attract 15 more conventions a year to a downtown no one wants to be anywhere near after 6:00. (Hmmm, that's around 60 nights -- I guess the other 300 nights, the new facility can just kill off all the other hotels in town by saturating the market. But hey, it's another gig for the politicians and the construction and engineering firms. Maybe you can all hire Faulkner USA and they can give you a >$50 million cost overrun just like San Antonio. Wouldn't that be awesome?

    Hey Wick, if you leave your face on the kawks of old men from Highland Park long enough, they will eventually spooge on you and then you'll be too busy gagging to give us the party line so be careful there my little WASPy pony, we wouldn't want D magazine to have to do an HIV issue.

    Convention center hotel: It's for the children (to pay for)!

    Comment by StatelyPleasureDomes — April 20, 2008 @ 09:52PM

  8. Why does this article linked from the news section have 7 comments but the one linked from the front page only has 4?

    Comment by Duh — April 22, 2008 @ 12:47AM

  9. As I know, many ppl are afraid to face their peers so they don't want to come out in real life. Just like some of my friends, they would like to choose some online service, something like http://www.biloves.com

    Comment by grace — April 22, 2008 @ 02:16AM

  10. Here's the really telling thing in all of this:

    "Belo Corp. owns Belo headquarters on Record Street, The Dallas Morning News building and the WFAA building on Young Street, along with nine downtown properties within walking distance of the convention center. The nine properties totaling more than 5.2 acres are on the tax rolls for more than $9 million."

    Nine properties on 5.2 acres in the same vicinity are taxed at only $9 million, while this parking lot is appraised at $42 million. Some folks are sure saving a lot of money on their taxes. I wish I could get these kind of deals.

    Comment by Tim Reeves — April 23, 2008 @ 05:29PM

  11. From what I know about Leppert and the Trinity Vote, anything he wants for Dallas will only benefit him personally and will not serve the city in the long or short term.

    Comment by Donnat — May 5, 2008 @ 12:03PM

  12. From what I know about Leppert and the Trinity Vote, anything he wants for Dallas will only benefit him personally and will not serve the city in the long or short term.

    Comment by Donnat — May 5, 2008 @ 12:03PM

  13. If Dallas can not repair its streets,hire police officers,have effective code enforcement,or revitalize downtown , how are they going to operate a hotel? Partner with a private firm for a hotel? They aree 8 years behind on collecting their rent from Smirnoff which owes the city over $800,000.Where did these "tiers" come from?? What is the current occupancy rate of hotels? The city should not be involved with a private business enterprise.I am even more curious as to the property appraisal for Belo Corp..While all of the DCAD were up, it seems like Belo is getting a deal. Exactly why is that??? I think Dallas taxpayers should be able to access the commercial property tax appraisals. Unless,of course, the city has more to hide from the citizens.

    Comment by Steve — May 13, 2008 @ 05:29PM

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