Hotel News

Kimpton signs on to run the hotel in historic Deep Ellum building

The energy of the Kimpton Pittman Hotel will glow far and wide.

Photo courtesy of Kimpton

The Deep Ellum mixed-use development called the Epic now has a hotel partner: San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.

This is the historic Knights of Pythias Temple, more recently the Union Bankers Trust Building, at the corner of Elm Street and Good Latimer Expressway.

According to a release, it will be called the Kimpton Pittman Hotel, named for William Sidney Pittman, the architect who originally designed it in 1916, and it will open in 2020.

It'll include 165 guest rooms, more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant-bar-and-lounge, outdoor patio, pool, and fitness center.

This announcement by Kimpton follows the Dallas City Council's June 14 approval of $2 million in tax breaks.

The Epic development already includes The Hamilton, a luxury apartment tower with 310 residences and 290,000 square feet of office space, highlighting the project’s focus on residential and commercial revitalization of the area.

The project is a partnership between Kimpton, Westdale — the real estate company that already owns a lot of property in Deep Ellum — and VineTower Deep Ellum, LLC, which is developing the hotel in partnership with Westdale.

Kimpton CEO Mike DeFrino says that Deep Ellum is "a perfect match for our unique take on boutique hospitality."

The design will retain the original Beaux Arts structure and the integrity of the fourth-floor ballroom where blues musicians such as "Blind Lemon" Jefferson, Robert Johnson, and "Lead Belly" Ledbetter performed.

Kimpton’s Global Senior Vice President of Design Ave Bradley will spearhead the interior design and architecture for the hotel, in partnership with Busta Studios and Perkins+Will architects.

This hotel will join the Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt in Austin which opened in November of 2015 and was recently named the best hotel in Texas by Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards.

Kimpton's last presence in Dallas was in 2017, when it was ousted as the management company for Park Cities property Hotel Lumen, which was rescued by the Headington Companies. Kimpton previously ran the Hotel Palomar at US-75 and Mockingbird Lane, until 2014, when it was taken over by Hilton; the Palomar is now the Highland Dallas Hotel.

hotels

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics