Dallas City Council gives convention center project management contract to Inspire Dallas
DALLAS - The Dallas City Council signed off on a $71 million contract with a firm to be a project manager for the nearly $3 billion Dallas Convention Center Project.
The firm, Inspire Dallas, was established in April and is led by Jack Matthews, the developer of the Downtown Omni, as well as several other Dallas developments.
Matthews is now in charge of representing the city of Dallas and delivering, on time and on budget, a $2.8 billion convention center rebuild.
"We have a very experienced and local team," Matthews said.
Members of that team stepped up to the microphone Wednesday urging council members to hire Matthews as their project manager.
His proposal promised more than 50% of his subcontractors would be minority and women-owned businesses.
Dallas voters approve $1.5B plan for new convention center, Fair Park renovations
Dallas voters approved Proposition A, which calls for a 2% increase to the city's hotel occupancy tax to help fund a new $4 billion convention center in Downtown Dallas and pay for renovations to historical buildings at Fair Park.
This project will be his biggest yet, on the heels of a similar renovation in Florida.
"The convention center will allow us to build on our most recent experience," Matthews said. "We built the first phase of the Broward County Convention Center."
His Dallas projects include the Galbraith, an eye-catching 15-story apartment building with 200 units reserved as affordable housing.
But his most recognizable project is the Downtown Dallas Omni.
"Omni Hotel was ahead of time and under budget. Can't guarantee either on this because we don't have either yet," Matthews said.
Cara Mendelsohn was the only council member to question the deal.
She expressed concerns about the amount of the $71 million contract.
The city's search process was a request for qualifications, not a request for actual bids.
"This is massive amount of money, for project manager essentially," Mendelsohn said.
The CEO of Visit Dallas, Craig Davis, urged council members to award the contract to Inspire Dallas. He said there is $823 million of convention center business already booked for a center that does not yet exist.
"There are razor thin margins of error, request timeline, not be delayed by this vote," Davis said.
Now the concepts have to be turned into actual plans through architecture and engineering.
Construction is scheduled to start next year, with a completion date of 2028.
The construction will be done in a phased approach so that the convention center can remain open during construction.