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Good evening:
Twenty years ago this March, I rolled into Dallas in my sweet (🤨) blue Hyundai Tiburon, the smallest imaginable U-Haul cargo trailer in tow, for my first post-college job as a reporter at the Downtown-based Dallas Morning News.
In those early days of 2006, Downtown Dallas had very little to offer the 23-year-old version of me besides my workplace. I found it shocking because I grew up just outside of Baltimore, a city that built a downtown revival behind its inner harbor and two major sports stadiums in the 1990s. I also had spent time in cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago. Compared to those places, Downtown Dallas was downright sleepy, especially after dark.
Back then, more than 30 major buildings sat vacant, including the old Statler Hilton Hotel and the former central library next door, old Dallas High School, the Post Office and former courthouse building at 400 N. Ervay, and landmark buildings on Main Street that later reopened as The Joule.
What we could not appreciate at the time was that Downtown was in the early stages of a revival. It was driven by visionary mayors, developers, civic leaders, and organizations led by Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) — plus billions of dollars in public and private investment.
In the nearly two decades that followed, Downtown’s residency grew from a couple thousand to nearly 16,000. The core added more than 20 acres in green space, largely by transforming parking lots into premier parks as part of a public-private plan led by Robert W. Decherd and his nonprofit Downtown Dallas Parks Conservancy (formerly Parks for Downtown Dallas).
DDI and others worked with Dallas ISD to add public school offerings for all ages. Almost all of the formerly vacant buildings were reborn as hotels, apartments, offices, restaurants, retail and more. The revival took a generation — and it has always included detours that required recalibration.
The Dallas Morning News itself moved from one iconic building at 508 Young Street to another, the aforementioned and long-vacant former central library. From there, reporter Nick Wooten writes this weekend that following AT&T’s decision to exit Downtown in coming years for Plano, Downtown Dallas has, once again, “reached an inflection point.”
As Wooten notes, Downtown has long been transitioning older office stock to other uses and continues to be among the leaders nationally for office-to-residential conversions.
Major projects in the pipeline include a $409 million redo of Bank of America Plaza and the multi-billion dollar convention center overhaul. Dallas College is expected to pick a development team soon for an expanded Downtown campus. Nearly $30 million in 2024 bond dollars are earmarked for key transportation infrastructure projects.
This year, a whole lot of 20 something transplants will start their first jobs in and around Downtown Dallas. I have great confidence they won’t be disappointed. A whole lot of us are working every day to make sure of it.
A note to readers: Meetings of Interest is an independent newsletter curated and authored by The GoldHam Group Managing Partner Scott Goldstein and edited by GoldHam Managing Partners Sam Goldstein and Vana Hammond. The content, perspectives, or commentary presented herein reflect the views of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of any other organization, institution, or individual, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Any affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement.
📖 Table of Contents
🗞️ Highlights From Last Week’s Meetings of Interest
Dallas Landmark Commissioners OK’d rainbow-painted steps at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, a historic building that requires approval for such changes. The church painted the steps last year in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that effectively did away with any rainbow crosswalks across the state.
Landmark Commissioners also voted in support of National Register of Historic Places nominations for two Downtown Dallas buildings, the Hartford Building and First United Methodist Church.
State Fair of Texas leaders told City Council members they are considering lower prices in the wake of an attendance drop at last year’s fair, The Dallas Morning News reports.
Members of a City board signed off on funding requests totaling up to nearly $9 million in and around Halperin Park, formerly Southern Gateway, the Oak Cliff Advocate reports. The new Oak Cliff deck park spanning Interstate 35E outside the Dallas Zoo is expected to open this spring. The park was recently noted by The New York Times as a key reason to visit Dallas later this year.
Regional transportation leaders are working to resolve a reported “feud” with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) executive board, according to the Fort Worth Report. The rift stems from a perceived push to oust longtime regional transportation leader Michael Morris from his role as NCTCOG transportation director. Members of the independent Regional Transportation Council (RTC) who back Morris want to ensure they are consulted on decisions regarding the director position going forward.
📝 Memos of Interest
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Week in Dallas includes a series of free events culminating with the MLK Day Parade on Monday, January 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in South Dallas. Learn more.
Check out the complete City Manager Memo packet for Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.
🔢 Number of Interest
$126.8 million
Value of City’s fleet assets that are replacement eligible, according to this briefing.
🤝 Meetings of Interest: January 12 - 16, 2026
Monday, January 12
City Council Committee on Government Efficiency, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Committee members are scheduled to receive informational briefings on the Dallas Women, Infants and Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition program and the state of the City’s fleet assets.
The Park and Recreation Department is seeking an outside operator for the City-owned Southern Skates Roller Rink. A Request for Proposals (RFP) is expected to be issued in coming weeks, according to this memo. We’ve skated down this path before. Robert Wilonsky has been writing about Southern Skates for the better part of 20 years, including this 2017 Dallas Morning News piece from when we last tried to outsource the spot on East Ledbetter Drive.
City Council Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Violent crime fell by 12% overall in 2025, as compared to 2024, with murders dropping by more than 23% (43 fewer victims), according to Dallas Police data. Click the image above to view the complete briefing.
With 40,000 fewer 911 calls in 2025 as compared to 2024, Dallas police officers averaged faster response times to all four categories of emergencies. But the department remains far from meeting its goals for most types of calls. Read more here.
Tuesday, January 13
City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Sports Recruitment and Retention, 11 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
A new men’s professional soccer team, Atlético Dallas, has accepted a $200,000 grant from City officials to move its headquarters from Richardson to a 12,000-square-foot space in Exposition Park, just outside of Fair Park, according to this memo. The team is already set to play at the Cotton Bowl beginning in February 2027. The team is also planning a restaurant and bar, near the headquarters space. Read more.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Committee-of-the-Whole, 3 p.m., Board Room, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas, TX 75202
Briefing: Call For Public Hearings On Potential Service Cuts
Total DART ridership has grown for four consecutive years in Plano and Irving, the two biggest cities of five pushing for voters to approve withdrawing from the transit agency. This briefing includes information about the impacts should voters in all five cities approve leaving DART in May.
5.06 MB • PDF File
Board members will also discuss the latest transportation, security, and communications plans for FIFA World Cup 2026. Read the briefing here.
Addison City Council, 4 p.m., Town Hall Work Session Room, Addison Town Hall, 15600 Addison Road, Addison, TX 75001
Briefing: DART Withdrawal Election
Addison City Council members will again discuss joining a group of DART cities holding May elections to let voters decide whether to withdraw from the agency. A majority of the council, including Mayor Bruce Arfsten, voted against calling an election last month. There is no vote scheduled this week, only a work session discussion.
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Wednesday, January 14
Dallas City Council, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Item 16 is a proposed $10 million TIF development agreement to transform the vacant former Oak Cliff United Methodist Church into flexible workspaces for commercial and retail tenants, and about 45 multi-family residential units. The historic property at the northwest corner of Marsalis Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard has been vacant since 2015 and was damaged by a 2022 fire. Learn more about “The Jefferson,” an estimated $19.5 million project.
Item 17 would authorize a public hearing to be held on January 28 "to receive comments on proposed amendments and updates to the City’s Economic Development Incentive Policy.” Read the proposed changes.
Z9 is a requested zoning change to allow for a 25-story mixed-use development with hotel, multifamily, and retail uses on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the heart of South Dallas. Leaders of the church behind the plan said in emails to some area nonprofits that God gave the vision for the project, Robert Wilonsky reported for The News last year. In October, City Plan Commissioners voted 10-0 to deny the project.
Thursday, January 15
Dallas City Plan Commission, 9 a.m. Briefing, 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing, Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Dallas Park and Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
Park Board members (including me) will be briefed on the same State Fair of Texas review presented to a City Council committee last week. Department leaders are also planning to deliver an update on the White Rock Lake Master Plan.
🗣️ Quote of Interest
Did we go to the moon? Yes. [We] can figure this s--- out. It’s not that complicated. Everything can get figured out. …The Band-Aid has been ripped off. The worst part has been waiting with anticipation as to what [AT&T was] going to do. … Let’s look at this glass half full rather than glass half empty.”
