There's a new chapter in the ongoing breakup saga between the city of Dallas and Neiman Marcus, the luxury retailer which is closing its longtime location in downtown Dallas at the end of March.

When Neiman Marcus parent company Saks Global announced its decision to close the store, they attributed it to a dispute with one of the landlords, regarding a small parcel of land on which the store resides.

According to a release, the city of Dallas now has the deed for that property in its possession, which it is willing to donate to Neiman Marcus, and is hoping this will persuade Neiman Marcus to stay, please please stay.

The release says that members of the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus — a group that includes downtown developer Shawn Todd of Todd Interests, Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, and members of Downtown Dallas, Inc., the advocacy group for downtown — plan to meet with Saks Global executives to discuss the future of the store.

Tolbert says the City is now in possession of the deed for the Slaughter property that was at the root of Saks Global’s decision to close the store.

“I want to thank the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus for their continued efforts to ensure ongoing operations of the Downtown flagship store," Tolbert says. "The City of Dallas now officially holds the special warranty deed for the parcel that Saks Global Properties said was needed to keep Neiman Marcus’ Downtown store open."

Neiman Marcus has already removed the signage from its downtown Dallas location.Photo courtesy of C. Troy Mathis

“I also want to thank the Slaughter family for their donation, and their desire to preserve the prosperity that this iconic brand contributes to Downtown’s vibrancy," Tolbert says in the release. "With the deed documents now in hand, I am looking forward to hosting Saks Global Properties and Investments CEO Ian Putman and his team on Wednesday morning at City Hall."

Dallas and Saks Global have been engaged in a back-and-forth over the future of the store.

• On February 18, Saks Global announced its intent to close the store.
• On February 25, downtown leaders rallied to try and prevent Neiman Marcus from closing.
• On February 26, the owner of the piece of land which Saks Global said had been a problem committed to donate the land.
• On February 27, Saks Global said it would be closing the store regardless. In fact, they've already removed signage from the building.

Since the dispute began, statements from the city have generally been met by responses from Saks Global, with the back-and-forth playing out in the public sphere on websites like CultureMap Dallas. Which is to say that there may well be something forthcoming from Saks Global soon.

In any case, Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) President & CEO Jennifer Scripps says that the lease issue is now no longer an obstacle.

“The ground lease matter that was causing complications “beyond [Saks’] control” has now officially been resolved," Scripps says.