Dallas Convention Center hotel forum goes on without city dignitaries

by Jacquinette Murphy of North Dallas Gazette

The citizens of Dallas in the Southern sector were left hanging by their elected officials at the Community Forum hosted by Dallas Quick Response on Monday, December 8, 2008. Mayor Tom Leppert, Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Dwaine Caraway and District 8 City Councilman Tennell Atkins were among those said to have confirmed their attendance of this public discussion about the Dallas Convention Center hotel held at Concord Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas. However, the only indication of the City officials presence throughout the evening was an empty table with printed name cards and three empty chairs.

Instead of the planned knowledge exchange forum, the political action group, Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel and former Dallas city councilman Al Lipscomb shared insight on the City's plan to commence the building of this $550 million structure.

After presenting the stated benefits such as the booking of several larger conventions and the emergence of Dallas as a destination place, Anne Raymond, director of Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel, shared some of the risks to Dallas citizens of delving into the hotel business. Specifically, she stated the fact that the development and the mortgage cost is significant, it is 100 percent taxpayer-financed, and the current lack of viable entertainment and retail business surrounding the site would result in a less than profitable venture.

“Hotels follow development and there is nothing to do in downtown Dallas after 9 p.m. There are a lot of things that need to be done before we build a hotel.” The current city attractions, such as the American Airlines Center, are not centralized enough to create the convenience needed to accommodate convention delegates and Dallas city visitors.

The political action group wants the taxpayers to vote on the issue in the next city election. They succeeded in collecting 60,000 signatures in 15 days from taxpayers who want the right to vote on the proposed citizen-financed hotel to have a referendum on the ballot in May.

Leppert implied in earlier coverage of this issue that the hotel is a key component in catapulting Dallas to the tourism level of destination cities like New York City, Chicago or Las Vegas. “It is not a question of ‘if you build, will they come?’. If we build it, they will come.”

Lipscomb does not see a need for another hotel in this area of the city. He was present to support the motion to abort the plan to build the hotel. “If we had one million hotel rooms vacant last year, we would be doing the public a disservice [to approve a citizen-financed hotel].”

Raymond agreed with Lipscomb. “Leppert’s push to build a deluxe upscale destination hotel in downtown is the center of the initiative to make Dallas a destination city.” However, Raymond stated, “We did not elect our city council to build a hotel.” Additionally, Raymond cited her decades of experience in the hotel industry as the backing for her position. “This is not economically viable for the taxpayers. The cost is exhaustive. [The City] does not have a profit mentality. When it gets into government, it is just get it done. The dollars do not matter,” she stated.

According to Raymond, the hotel will lose $20 million a year at its current state. Other proposed losses presented by Raymond were the absence of hotel tax on the property, occupancy or sales paid to the Convention Center Bureau as is paid by other area hotels. The high cost equaling higher rates for hotel customers than competitive chains are also noted.

Joyce Foreman, a business owner in the downtown area, confirmed her position during the forum: “I can tell you what Downtown is like ‘after business hours’; it is a ghost town. We need to be careful about our position on this. It is not about jobs. It is about buddying up with someone thinking that you are going to get something. I think that the taxpayers have been hoodwinked.” Foreman also stated that she has served on the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce Hotel Committee during the push to expand the convention center to attract more conventions to the city “This did not happen. We have a city council that is driving the issues for us and not representing us.”

Raymond agreed, “We feel that the proper role of the government is to subsidize hotels and not place the expense of them on the backs of the taxpayer. If the only place that you can get the money to do this is from taxpayers it tells you something is wrong”.

While the opposition was strong against the building of the hotel and the budget required to complete the project, Kermit Mitchell, venture capitalist with dual residence in Dallas and Boston, interjected a unique idea into the decision ring. “What would be wrong with a minority-ownership in the city hotel?” According to Mitchell, if the price is 500 million dollars, a minority stake holder could obtain a $100 million worth of shares and re-issue it to other minorities to bring increase back to their communities.”

In the spirit of transformative government, Levar L.D. Thomas, the chair of the Coalition of Concerned Democrats expressed his stance on the hotel issue. “If the hotel is being paid for by the taxpayers, then it should be put up for a vote. If you build a hotel on a bad foundation, you will see what will happen.”

The current location of the hotel is set for the southwest corner of Young St. and Lamar Blvd - adjacent to the existing Dallas Convention Center. It is to be a four-star hotel with approximately 1,000 rooms, 1,000-square-feet of meeting space, restaurants, lounges and coffee kiosks. The existence of this anchor of the City is said to generate revenue and further the efforts to revitalize retail, and entertainment business.. It is claimed to also increase the number of visitors and create more jobs in the downtown area. If the plans continue as scheduled the hotel groundbreaking could begin as early as April 2009.

“We can not stop it, but we can educate you on it.” summed Raymond. “The Mayor wants to move ahead to vote on the hotel before the taxpayers have the time to vote,” began Raymond. “We want to expose the risks so that the people can make a decision. The Democratic process is not wrong.”

Initially, the opponents thought the addition of the referendum to the ballot would garner more time for the community input, but instead they have seen the process escalate. Raymond stated that if needed, legal action would be an option to halt the progression of the hotel construction, but she also stated that the development agreement had not been signed as of yet.