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Dallas questions purchase of now-vacant $14M building
The Dallas City Council is hiring outside help to figure out what went wrong with the purchase and move-in of the now-vacant building meant to house the city's permit office.
DALLAS - In the ongoing saga over the city of Dallas’ permit office that had to close down due to code violations, a new memo shows the city is looking to pay more money to fix the $14 million mistake.
The Dallas City Council is hiring outside help to figure out what went wrong with the purchase and move-in of the now-vacant building and what the city needs to do next.
According to the memo, the city will pay the Dallas Economic Development Corporation $100,000 to interview city staff involved in the purchase of the building and move out, do an accounting of all the expenditures to date and ultimately recommend if renovating the building is still feasible.
The 11-story office tower bought for $14 million now sits unused by the city of Dallas.
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PREVIOUS STORY: Violations close Dallas permit office building
The building was supposed to be an upgrade for employees who work in the permitting office, but the building is now closed because of dozens of code compliance and permit failures.
"We must learn what has gone wrong," said Cara Mendelsohn, chair of the Dallas City Council Ad Hoc Committee on General Investigating and Ethics. "Accountability is needed, and we must ensure the mistakes made don't happen again."
Council members want to know how the city's new building permit office could have 39 fire code violations after employees moved in.
Assistant City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry blamed the employees for the sudden closure of the building last month.
"Some members on the fifth floor were starting to wander around even though we sent communications to please stay on your floor. They didn't," he said.
Another city official admitted that important reviews did not happen.
"There's been confusion," a city administrator admitted. "We hold ourselves accountable for that confusion and those delays."
Now, the city is seeking outside help to figure out who was involved in the purchase, how much money the city has spent and how much more it will cost to bring the building into compliance.
John Stephens is the board president for Dallas EDC, the corporation being hired. He says it is a prudent step by the city.
"What we're gonna do is provide the information to the city to make those decisions," he said. "Our goal here is to fully inform them as fully as possible."
"Will this agreement prevent the city from throwing good money after bad?" asked FOX 4 Reporter Lori Brown.
"I think the city is focused on spending money wisely," Stephens said. "That's certainly what we hope to enable them to do."
The Dallas EDC board of directors is set to vote on this proposal by the city on Wednesday. If they agree to work with the city, they will need to prepare and deliver a report about the property by July 31.