Pacific Elm Proposes Bryan Tower as new Dallas City Hall

A downtown Dallas office tower is angling to become the city’s next seat of government.

Pacific Elm Properties submitted the 40-story Bryan Tower to Dallas officials as a potential replacement for Dallas City Hall, inserting the vacant downtown property into the city’s growing debate over whether to renovate or relocate its aging municipal headquarters.

Pacific Elm CEO Billy Prewitt confirmed to the Dallas Business Journal that the Dallas-based firm offered the entire 1.1 million-square-foot tower at 2001 Bryan Street to the city and to CBRE, which is managing the search for a possible new City Hall site. City staff have already toured the vacant building, Prewitt said.

“The City Hall debate is complicated,” Prewitt told the outlet. “But depending on what the City Council decides, we feel that Bryan Tower would be a pretty compelling option.”

Dallas-based Pacific Elm is positioning Bryan Tower as a cheaper alternative. Built in 1973 and recently added to the National Register of Historic Places, the tower is currently vacant and undergoing planning for an adaptive reuse overhaul.

Because the building is empty, Prewitt said major mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems could be replaced quickly without disrupting tenants. The historic designation could also unlock tax credits covering up to 45 percent of redevelopment costs.

The property significantly exceeds the city’s projected needs. A study by Dallas architecture firm Corgan found the city is seeking roughly 500,000 square feet of office space for administrative functions and another 150,000 square feet for emergency operations.

Bryan Tower’s surplus space could house additional civic users, such as Dallas Area Rapid Transit or Dallas College, Prewitt suggested.

The proposal arrives just days after Dallas City Council voted 9-6 in the early hours of March 5 to begin formally exploring relocation options. The resolution directs the city manager to study potential costs, evaluate building options and estimate what the city could fetch by redeveloping the current City Hall site.

The 47-year-old City Hall building, designed by famed architect I.M. Pei, faces mounting infrastructure problems. A recent analysis commissioned by the Dallas Economic Development Corporation found many of its electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems are nearing the end of their useful lives.

That report estimated it could cost more than $900 million to renovate the building, and up to $1.4 billion to keep the facility operational for the next two decades when temporary relocation and post-renovation upgrades are factored in.

Bryan Tower also carries a bit of Dallas pop culture history. Exterior shots of the building served as the fictional home of Ewing Oil during the first season of the TV series “Dallas.”

— Eric Weilbacher