Dallas committee directs study of City Hall repair vs. relocation after staff presents wide cost ranges

The Dallas Finance Committee on Nov. 4 directed the city manager to study options for City Hall — including repairing the existing building, leasing, buying or building replacement office space — and to return with a staff update and outside review by February 2026.

Assistant City Manager Donzel Gibson told the committee the presentation included multiple scenarios and intentionally broad ranges to reflect the uncertainty of repairing a 47‑year‑old structure. "There—s just things that there—s no way to know," Gibson said, describing the briefing slides and the rationale for showing low‑, mid‑ and high‑cost scenarios.

The committee pressed staff to clarify the ranges and assumptions behind them. Gibson said a subset of recent estimates that the staff described as "shovel ready" totaled roughly $44 million, but that other adjusted historical estimates and potential structural repairs—most notably to an attached parking garage—could…