Dallas mayor dismisses claims businesses are losing confidence in downtown as ‘a bunch of bull’
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson pushed back against claims that businesses have lost confidence in the city's downtown, calling the narrative "a bunch of bull" as officials considered incentives tied to a proposed $1.3 billion office tower development in his email newsletter published Tuesday.
Local ABC affiliate WFAA 8 reported that Johnson said Dallas has led in post-pandemic economic recovery, highlighting that it has attracted major business investments, including a new Goldman Sachs campus expected to employ approximately 5,000 people and Frontier Communications' relocation of its headquarters from Connecticut to Dallas, and Morgan Stanley considering an expansion.
"Morgan Stanley choosing Dallas as a new regional hub would be a huge win for the fast-growing Y'all Street sector of the city," Johnson wrote in his email newsletter.
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The article also pointed out that Nasdaq, the Texas Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange are "coming to town."
Johnson acknowledged that Neiman Marcus did close its downtown store, but it still plans to invest in its NorthPark Center location, about 13 minutes from downtown Dallas, and that Fifth Third and the Dallas Mavericks will still be in the city, but not in Downtown.
"FIFA chose Downtown Dallas — over many other interested cities — as the home of its international broadcast center for the World Cup and selected the region to host more matches than any other," Johnson said in the newsletter.
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"Does that sound like a loss of confidence, or does it sound like winning," he asked. "The truth is that Dallas is safer, stronger, and more vibrant than it was before this Administration inherited a city that had uncompetitive tax rates, increasing crime, and police ranks that had been decimated."
He pointed out, however, that there is still more to be done.
"The work is not finished," Johnson wrote. "The City Council will soon consider asking voters to approve a public safety bond package to give Dallas a police academy worthy of its police department and to shore up the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System to finally resolve a lingering mess that past leaders left behind. This year’s budget also figures to be a challenging one, and it will be important to work closely with the city manager to make appropriate cuts and to ensure that public safety remains the top priority."
In April, Gov. Greg Abbott praised Texas for being named the Best State for Business for the 22nd year in a row by Chief Executive magazine.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson for further comment, and was referred back to his newsletter.
