The billion dollars quoted as the price of keeping City Hall is mostly not repairs. This page takes the figures apart, line by line, from the consultants' own presentation.
The consultants laid the number out in parts at the Finance Committee on February 23, 2026. Only about a third pays for repairs.
Linda McMahon, CEO of the Dallas Economic Development Corporation, opened the briefing with the headline: “Bottom line to repair City Hall will cost $906 million.” She then said what goes into it.
| What the $906 million pays for | Amount |
|---|---|
| Repairs to the buildingThe condition assessment's own figure, priced assuming the building is empty while the work happens. | $329.4M |
| Moving everyone out for five years“That cost assumes that City Hall operations would move to another location for five years during repairs.” A five-year lease somewhere else, plus the cost of fitting out that space. Asked about it directly, the consultants confirmed the figure assumes the building is fully vacant the whole time — not phased work around occupied floors. | $113M |
| Fitting out the repaired building“That repair number only delivers a totally repaired City Hall, but it delivers an empty shell.” Interiors, furniture, fixtures, and technology. | $165M |
| Twenty years of interestThe cost of borrowing the rest over a 20-year bond, folded into the headline figure. | $299M |
| Total | $906M |
Figures as presented to the Finance Committee, February 23, 2026 (Legistar entry). The first three are stated in the briefing; the financing line is what remains, and the Dallas Morning News reported it at $299–360 million across the range. The $906 million also carries a 5 percent contingency.
Push every assumption to its high end — more modernization, a pricier temporary home — and the same stack reaches “just over $1.1 billion.” Add twenty years of operating expenses, $277 million for utilities, maintenance, and security, and you arrive at the $1.1–1.4 billion that gets quoted as the price of keeping City Hall.
The building's repair bill is $329.4 million. The other $577 million is temporary space, furnishings, and twenty years of interest. Any replacement would carry costs of its own, but no published comparison places them side by side.
AECOM's assessment sorts the repairs into four categories. This is the whole table.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Core building systemsElectrical $96.9M · HVAC $39.5M · plumbing $31.5M · fire suppression $21.4M · emergency generators $20M · freight elevator $2.4M. Largely original to the building's 1972–77 construction. | $211.7M |
| Garage structural repairsConcrete deterioration and water intrusion in the underground garage. The report found no global structural instability. | $64.2M |
| Roof and exterior envelopeExterior envelope $36.9M · full roof replacement $7M. | $43.9M |
| Interior construction and finishesCorrective repair only — localized damage, aged materials, water damage. Not redesign. | $9.6M |
| Total | $329.4M |
AECOM's own estimate table. The report notes it excludes ADA work, program modernization, and technology upgrades; it is a planning-level estimate in 2028 dollars, before design fees, permits, contingency, and financing.
City Hall's repair bill is discussed as if it were unthinkable. Here is what the same city has committed to buildings within a few blocks of it.
And the building itself:
Those projects are not offered as mistakes. They show that Dallas finds money for buildings it chooses to fund.
These numbers back the argument on the Why page. What to do with them is on the How page.