Proposed Dallas Convention Center hotel has many questions that need answers

by Staff of North Dallas Gazette

Some say a glass is half full; some say it's half empty. But others don't even get to look at the glass. That seems to be the case with the proposed Dallas Convention Center Hotel. The $500 million tax-payer owned hotel complex has already been approved by the Dallas City Council, but it has not gone to a public vote, neither has it been vetted thoroughly in the community. The only people aware of the pros and cons of this project seem to be the Dallas City Council members, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and taxpayer advocacy groups. But with Dallas taxpayers holding the bag on the profit or loss, it's time that all City of Dallas residents are apprised of the situation, so they can decide for themselves if this is a profitable venture for their tax dollars.

This isn't a new project. It has been on the table since the 1990s. Dallas began losing convention business to other cities that had hotel complexes adjacent or adjoining their convention centers. Although Dallas boasts a large number of hotels in and around the downtown area, convention attendees have to be bussed from their hotels to the center. The city's stance on the issue is that with a hotel complex located next to the convention center, the city would win more conventions, thus increasing business revenue for the city. It also sees it on a larger scale, with the hotel being a catalyst for development of adjacent retail, food and entertainment complexes, bringing vibrancy to downtown and creating jobs.

Leading the opposition is Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel, led by Anne Raymond. Her group is a small coalition of area hoteliers and real estate executives from Harlan Crow's Crow Holdings, owner of the Hilton Anatole. When the plan for the hotel was brought up in the 1990s, Trammel Crow wrote to then-Mayor Ron Kirk and the City Council opposing city support for the hotel, saying it would detract from the operation of the Anatole Hotel. But right now their opposition is more about how tax payers may be adversely affected if the project fails, as in the case of the tax-payer owned St. Louis convention center hotel, which cost less than Dallas' proposed hotel, but is already two payments behind. This group has collected 60,000 signatures from Dallas residents petitioning for a referendum to decide on the hotel. Ms. Raymond said "people in Dallas are concerned about the risks of this project, and once they learned what is at stake, they were all too happy to sign the petition."

The 60,000 signatures are enough to get this on the ballot for vote May 2009. But will all residents of Dallas be reached, and will they have enough information to make an informed decision? Proponents of the project shouldn't assume that the minority community will buy into the same argument that this will "create jobs" - the same line espoused by former Mayor Ron Kirk when plans for the Trinity River Project and the American Airlines Center were on the table. What jobs will be created? What businesses will open? And exactly how will this help Dallas residents, especially those in the southern sector, where there is less commercial and residential real estate, less jobs and more poverty than other areas of Dallas?

Dallas residents and business owners can't afford to wait until May to know the intricacies of this project, because the city council is proceeding with plans, which means construction will begin soon. Residents need to know now how this will affect them. It's time for the minority leadership they elected to city council to be there for their constituents, especially in the all-too-often overlooked southern sector. If the council members in the southern sector are so keen to see this project go through, it should be because they want it to benefit those they represent. They need to look out for their constituents and those organizations that represent professional business interests within the community, namely The Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce and The Black Contractors Association. In turn, these organizations need to be at the doors of the city council seeking contracts, winning bids and finding a place for their businesses in the hotel complex. They also could come together with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Contractors Association, to try to quantify the actual economic impact within these respective communities.

Residents in South Dallas deserve accountability from their council representatives, and that includes those representatives knowing exactly what type of jobs will be created and how their constituents can benefit. Getting a definitive plan from the Hotel Association of Greater Dallas is a good place for them to start. To give merit to the argument that this will create jobs, they need to review the results of the American Airlines Center and the Trinity River Project to see how many and what type of jobs were created, and their overall economic impact on the city. The Dallas Convention Center Hotel stands to have an enormous impact on the city. The minority representatives on the city council are obligated to know its impact on their constituents, and they are obligated to help them make an informed decision regarding this project.