Dallas Botched Renovations of Its New Permitting Office

Dallas has spent just over $20 million on a new building to house its Development Services Department, which handles the city’s permitting. However, the employees in the department are still stuck in their old office at the Oak Cliff Municipal Center, where they’ve been since the 1980s.

Development services employees began to move into the new building after it obtained a temporary certificate of occupancy for the fifth floor in December, according to The Dallas Morning News. But earlier this month, the city said they would have to leave, citing additional work that was needed after the 11-story office building at 7800 N. Stemmons Freeway failed a city inspection.

Now, Dallas’ Ad Hoc Committee on General Investigating & Ethics has scheduled a special called meeting on May 2 to discuss the botched move-in. The committee will also consider whether to have the city auditor conduct an audit or an investigation into Dallas’ due diligence in the purchase and renovation of the new permitting office.

In an email to residents, Dallas City Council member Chad West said he was disappointed with the whole situation.

“City facilities should be a safe and welcoming environment for all our employees.” – City Council member Jesse Moreno

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“Like many of you, I am incredibly frustrated with the recent failures in inspections at the new permit office on Stemmons Freeway,” West’s email said. He told the interim city manager about his disappointment and requested full transparency regarding how this happened. “... more importantly, we need a plan moving forward to fix the problems, pass the inspections, and enable Development Services personnel to do their jobs,” West said. “As I’ve said before, the permit office is the city’s key to construction jobs, new housing and preservation of our existing homes, and tax revenue, all of which are paramount to the city’s success.”

In a city memo on April 19, Dallas City Council member Jesse Moreno asked his own questions of city staff about how this happened. “I am deeply concerned about the developments at 7800 North Stemmons Freeway,” Moreno said in his memo. “City facilities should be a safe and welcoming environment for all our employees.”

Moreno received answers to his questions in an April 26 memo from Assistant City Manager Robert. M. Perez. He said the building went through several evaluations before employees moved in. In June 2022, the Building Services Department and Bond and Construction Management completed a site assessment. Besides two non-functioning elevators, no immediate needs were identified.

The city also hired a third-party consultant to complete a property condition assessment, which found some immediate needs, like fixes to the elevators. Later, an environmental assessment on the property found asbestos on floors one and eight. Asbestos remediation was done by Oct. 29, 2022, but those floors weren’t occupied.

It will cost another $1.4 million to continue housing the development services employees at their old building for 18 months. Between mid-December 2023 and April 9 this year, nearly 70 employees had occupied the building. Some were accessing floors that hadn’t cleared for occupancy, Perez’s memo said. He said the cost of getting the building into full compliance will be revealed at Thursday’s meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on General Investigating & Ethics.