More than 400 submissions received for future of Dallas City Hall, review begins

City staff to release ideas publicly as debate grows over redevelopment, reuse, and arena proposals

Dallas leaders are beginning to sort through hundreds of public submissions that could shape the future of City Hall, as questions grow about redevelopment, reuse, and potential ties to a new downtown arena.

More than 400 responses were submitted to the city’s call for ideas over the past four weeks, with the deadline closing just days ago.

The submissions focus on what should happen to the iconic I.M. Pei-designed building that has anchored the southern end of downtown for nearly five decades.

Dallas Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley said the city is still working to understand what was submitted.

“It just closed yesterday at 2, so it’s hard to say at this point,” Bentley said.

Bentley updated a Dallas City Council committee Monday, saying the city received 418 total submissions and is now preparing them for public release.

“We know the public is very anxious to see what was submitted,” Bentley said.

City staff plans to spend the next 10 days organizing the responses before making them available. The call for ideas included both redevelopment of the City Hall site and “adaptive reuse,” which would preserve the building while giving it a new purpose.

Some proposals were expected even before the submission window closed.

The Dallas Mavericks, who are seeking a new arena in either downtown or North Dallas, indicated they planned to submit a redevelopment proposal shortly after the portal opened.

A group of University of Texas at Arlington architecture students also developed a concept that includes a new downtown arena while keeping City Hall intact.

City leaders are still determining how formal proposals, if any, will be evaluated.

Dallas City Council member Bill Roth raised questions about the process during Monday’s briefing.

“Is there a process evaluating these different plans and presenting them, or is this still in the works?” Roth said.

Bentley said the city will first assess the submissions before deciding on the next steps.

“Once we see what it is and kind of get our arms around it, if there are any actual proposals, I have a feeling a lot of them are just feedback, but if there are proposals, then the Eco Dev team and I will be working through those,” Bentley said.

At the same time, the city is preparing for additional discussions about the building’s future. Two briefings are planned this month to outline what a phased repair of City Hall could look like.

A decision on whether the city will remain in the building is expected before the City Council recess in July.

The broader conversation is also tied to the future of professional sports in Dallas. The Mavericks and Dallas Stars both play at the American Airlines Center, where their lease is set to expire in 2031, adding urgency to discussions about potential new arena sites.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.