DALLAS — Editor's note: This article was originally published in the Dallas Business Journal here.
In a scenario familiar to many employers, Dallas' transit agency wants to reimagine its aging offices to make better use of space, increase morale and be more attractive to workers.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit leaders are discussing a major renovation of its headquarters building in downtown Dallas, though board members have questioned whether DART should sell or demolish the nearly 60-year-old property and move somewhere else.
DART is considering up to $55 million in improvements to its four-story headquarters at 1401 Pacific Ave., near its Akard Station rail hub, according to a Feb. 13 staff briefing to the agency's Committee of the Whole.
The agency plans to issue a request for a proposal to hire a consultant who can help with designs and cost estimates to present to the board.
"We want to have a space for employees that is wonderful to come to, where we can have our most productive conversations and achieve results, and I think we can do that in this building," DART Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Reich told the board. "Until we can get some of these pre-design services, it’s very difficult for me to assure you of what this could look like or what it could be, so I need some help on that."
The DART building totals almost 300,000 square feet and was constructed in 1965 as a Sanger-Harris department store, according to the Dallas Morning News. It had been considered for a mixed-use project in 2015, the newspaper reported.
Based on feedback from a 2023 board workshop and the projected cost of $106 million to build a new headquarters, DART staffers have tabled the option of rebuilding on the HQ site or moving elsewhere. The agency also opted not to pursue a commercial lease because of high costs and a lack of board space and public access.
"It became acutely clear that we are in a prime location, that we are on the rail location that serves all four rail lines through the central business district and provides front-door access to both employees and members of the public," said Stephanie Schuchert, a senior project manager for DART.
Instead, DART staff members turned their focus to remaining the building: discussing repair needs, improving design and function in some areas and finding ways to use the building to engage with the community.
DART's proposed ways to activate the building include the addition of a transit history museum, a cafe, a special events space or a DART "experience center" that could be used to hold events with students or the general public.
Some board members still sounded interested in considering other options. They were unclear whether there had been a firm decision to remain in the current HQ building, which is how staff portrayed what happened at the last workshop on the issue, in February 2023.
“It was some time ago, but I certainly didn’t get the perception from that meeting that we had any kind of consensus, or even close to it," said urban planner Patrick Kennedy, who was appointed to the board in 2016 by the City of Dallas. "I think we were sort of more curious about various options. I certainly don’t remember us suggesting that we were clear that we wanted to stay here."
The building is valued on tax rolls at nearly $36 million, according to Dallas Central Appraisal District records.
Reich said she doesn't necessarily want to stay in the building.
"I thought I had some direction from the board from February [2023] that I should do the most cost economical thing, which when we looked at the cost, was to stay in this building," Reich said. "I think there is a lot to be said for a build-to-suit. Now, that may be unusual for a CFO to point to the most expensive option, but you can get energy efficiency and you can get some other things out of it."
The board plans to revisit the topic at a later date.
