A special joint committee met Tuesday afternoon in the city council room to hear and discuss the master plans for the new convention center.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Economic Development Committee participated in the meeting, which had been rescheduled due to the severe icy weather the previous week.
Staff and consultants presented an update to the joint committee on the planning, financing, and development of the convention center.
A point of contention for the proposed convention center is the growing cost projections. The presentation highlighted that further analysis needed to happen in order to measure the “overall level of investment given persistent inflation.”
In total, the convention center project is now projected to require over $3 billion, including planning, demolition, and construction. This total includes $26 million for the demolition of the current facility and $2.9 billion for the construction of the new center, among other expenditures.
However, while costs have increased, the amount that the hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funding mechanism is expected to raise has also been elevated as well. The ballot proposition approving the funding, called “Prop A,” raised the hotel occupancy tax by 2% after Dallas voters approved it in November, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The previous cost estimate predicted a 4.1% growth rate of HOT collection which would generate $1.5 billion. However, a quicker-than-anticipated recovery from the slump of COVID shutdowns led staff to revise estimates to a 6.0% growth rate, producing a little less than $1.9 billion.
Roughly $372 million of that will be allocated to Fair Park development projects, however, as Prop A HOT collections are to be split 80/20 between the convention center and Fair Park.
Additional funding for the convention center project would come through a Project Financing Zone (PFZ), which allows additional hotel-related taxes to be redirected back to Dallas instead of going to the state. Originally, an estimated $2.2 billion of PFZ funding was expected, but now projections suggest that number will be closer to $2.9 billion.
The initial planning stage of the convention center began in 2021, and the completion of the project is forecasted for the fourth quarter of 2030.
The proposed convention center would increase the exhibition halls from 724,000 square feet to 800,000. Similarly, ballroom space will grow from 65,000 to 170,000, and meeting room area will go from 100,000 to 260,000.
Omar Narvaez (District 6) mentioned that he would be interested in setting up a financial transparency dashboard in order to promote accountability in financing and spending as the project continues.
Fiscal responsibility has been emphasized by Mayor Eric Johnson, who spearheaded the campaign for the new convention center. During his State of the City speech, the mayor warned city council members that he would make sure the collected money was used appropriately.
“We shouldn’t act as if Dallas voters just handed us a blank check,” Johnson said. “We must ensure that these transformational projects of generational consequence are completed in a responsible and in an accountable way.”
The City Council had many questions about finance, transportation, construction, and community impact, but several members had to leave, meaning that the joint committee would lose its quorum.
Rosa Fleming, the director of convention and event services, was directed to address their questions in a memo to be sent out to the City Council following the meeting.
Chair Tennell Atkins (District 8) urged the other members to submit all their questions in writing and to record any conversation they had with staff regarding the convention center.
“We are going to win, win, win, and we are going to get it built on time and under budget,” Atkins said.
“We have to get this right. We can’t leave any stone unturned,” Narvaez added.
