DALLAS — While the City of Dallas is in a huge financial hole, legal wrangling is keeping it from selling one of its most valuable assets. It's a nondescript parking garage at Preston Road and Northwest Highway that may be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a developer.
For a piece of property that could be worth that amount, the aging two-story garage at Preston Center is not much to speak of. But it's an important garage nonetheless, said Kathy Lynd of Preston Luggage & Gifts.
"Big deal," she said. "At lunch time, it is so crowded here. Actually, we need more parking area."
The City of Dallas has owned the land for more than 50 years, and business owners say the 800-space garage is vital to their businesses.
"Local and national developers will be champing at the bit to get involved with this project," said Bud Weinstein, an economist with the Cox School of Business at the Southern Methodist University.
But, wait — not so fast.
It's true, the city is interested in selling the property and says it would require that a new development replace any lost parking.
In a statement to WFAA, the city said "the redevelopment or sale ... could benefit the citizens of Dallas and the area property owners with a reasonable level of public parking for the center being maintained in the garage."
But the surrounding businesses and landowners are opposed. After relying on the garage for 50 years, they say they have a right to determine what happens to it.
"If I've got a property right and you're going to affect that property right, then you need to either compensate me for the damage that's going to be caused to the property or give me something in return so that I know my property is not going to be harmed," said Clint Schumacher, a property rights attorney.
Right now, the city and 74 separate defendants are locked up in lawsuit over the future of the land. The most effective scenario is all parties coming to a mutual decision — but that could be tough.
"A property that has a number of restrictions held by a number of different neighbors is very hard to put to a different use later," Schumacher said. "It's hard to get that many people to let you change the use of an existing property."
But, money talks. In addition to selling the land, a piece of property that currently generates no taxes would suddenly be home to a $100 million to $200 million taxable property.
"It's a win for the merchants because they get more traffic, and it's a win for the City of Dallas because the City of Dallas gets more revenue," Weinstein said.
E-mail: dschechter@wfaa.com
