Park News

DART Rail stop at Dallas' Victory Plaza gets green space upgrade

Behold the green space. Also, how about that office building.

DART

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Victory Park station, where you get off for events at American Airlines Center, has a new greenspace. Called Victory Station Plaza, it's a one-acre public green space adjacent to the DART Victory Station and across the street from the American Airlines Center.

More pertinently, it's adjacent to Victory Commons One, a new Class-A office building from Hillwood Urban, part of Hillwood, Ross Perot Jr's development company.

Hillwood Urban partnered with DART to build the greenspace, which was completed on November 19 — simultaneously to the completion of the Victory Commons building, which btw they say will offer a unique urban office environment, with outdoor rooftop terrace providing views of the Dallas skyline, plus a ground floor tenant lounge and coffee bar. Tenants only? Boo.

The plaza is the size of a football field and occupies land that was previously a parking lot. It's wedged between the above-mentioned new office building and a parking garage.

It's not much more than a patch of green with a few trees, but it's an improvement over the previous sea of cement that faced commuters as they got off the train, even if it comes to us only as the byproduct of a Hillwood new build.

A release says the green space can be used by DART commuters, arena sports fans, office workers, and Victory Park-area residents.

DART’s Victory Station opened in 2001 and hosts a larger-than-usual number of lines including DART Light Rail Green and Orange Lines, Trinity Railway Express, as well as DART Light Rail Red and Blue Lines used for special events.

The station did feature art, namely unique elements by local artist Pamela Nelson; as with all of DART's art, it reflects the neighborhood and residents it serves.

In a statement, Nadine Lee, president & CEO at DART calls the Plaza "a fantastic opportunity to provide much needed green space to the area while ensuring our passengers have enhanced access to Victory Station."

Ken Reese, executive vice president of Hillwood Urban, calls it "a terrific partnership with DART where together, we were able to bring a great new public park into an urban environment," and says it's been in the works ever since AAC was built.

"This Park space was always part of DART’s plan for this land going back 20 years to when Hillwood originally built the AAC," Reese says. "We are excited to help make this happen and enhance the neighborhood, not to mention provide great views from the office space overlooking the park."

parks downtown

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