Right now.

Ten months after Mayor Eric Johnson suggested leaving City Hall, Dallas is spending $3 million to search for a new site. The candidate sites were due back the week of August 25. They have not surfaced, no vote on a move is scheduled, and the city is now in court over the building’s upkeep.

Coming up

Sep 16Wed
City Council — budget workshop, with votes open microphone9:00 AM · Council Chambers · register by 5:00 PM Tue Sep 15 · final adoption of the FY 2026–27 budget and tax rate · Legistar entry

Council meetings after September 16 are not yet posted on Legistar.

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Confirm on Legistar.

The timeline

Dallas spent fourteen years planning and building City Hall. In under a year, the public question changed from how do we fix the building to where do we move instead.

Nov 221963
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. In the years that follow, Mayor J. Erik Jonsson's Goals for Dallas program sets out to rebuild the city's image — with a new city hall at its center.
Jun1966
Dallas selects I.M. Pei — then also designing the Kennedy presidential library — as the architect.
1972
Construction begins on Marilla Street.
Mar1978
City Hall opens to the public.
1982
The new central library — later named for Erik Jonsson — opens across Young Street, facing City Hall.
Early2025
City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert approaches the Mavericks about the City Hall site — months before the city had put any public number on repairing it. "I've got to move out of City Hall," the team's CEO later quotes her saying. The Mavericks say they "did not originate the conversation."
Mar 32025
The Historic Landmark Commission votes unanimously to begin the landmark designation process for City Hall.
Jun 182025
The first public numbers appear — in the appendix of a deferred-maintenance briefing, eight line items adding up to $81–134 million, labeled "illustrative only." This is the number every later estimate gets measured against.
Oct 212025
The estimate grows to $152–345 million at the Finance Committee.
Nov 92025
The mayor says the city should consider relocating regardless of the building's architectural significance.
Nov 122025
Council votes 12–3 to explore relocation options.
Dec2025
Internal emails discuss touring relocation sites in ways that avoid quorum rules — meaning no public meeting, no public record.
Feb 202026
The city's consultant report lands: renovation priced at more than $1 billion, with no price attached to any alternative.
Mar 4–52026
After a sixteen-hour meeting, council votes 9–6 to explore relocating emergency operations and all other City Hall functions, and to "explore options for the disposition of the City Hall site" (Legistar entry, item 26-841A). Chad West, chair of the Finance Committee, makes the motion. The Mavericks say the vote enabled deal talks; the team and city meet within the month.
Mar 92026
The Dallas Morning News reports on roughly 5,000 pages of internal emails about the behind-the-scenes discussions.
Jun 12026
The Mavericks choose Valley View in North Dallas, taking options on about 104 acres for their arena, ending months of speculation that it would land at 1500 Marilla.
Jun 92026
A temporary restraining order, brought under the Open Meetings Act, blocks the scheduled relocation and redevelopment votes.
Jun 102026
Council denies phased repairs, 9–6.
Jun 172026
Council votes 9–5 to spend $3 million searching for somewhere else to go. As drafted, the item would have taken the money off a City Hall generator and electrical repair line; council amended it to draw on the contingency reserve instead.
Aug 122026
The Save Dallas City Hall Coalition sues the city in Dallas County district court for "demolition by neglect," asking a judge to order stabilization repairs, maintenance of the emergency generators, and an extension of the landmark protection the coalition says runs out in March 2027. No money is sought. The same day, council rejects a $100 million City Hall repair proposition 7–8 and calls the November bond election. What the suit asks, and what it doesn’t.
Aug 252026
The week the candidate relocation sites and a repair-versus-relocation comparison were due back. Neither appeared on the August 25 council agenda, at the August 26 budget workshop, or on the September 2 and September 9 agendas, and no vote on a move has been scheduled.
Sep 92026
Council meets in closed session with its lawyers on the coalition’s suit (Legistar entry, item 37). Council members say the site report has not arrived and demolition estimates came in higher than expected. No new date. The same day, the Mavericks say they have filed to rezone Valley View for their arena. The meetings where you can say something are above.

The votes on the record

Oct 212025
Finance Committee Repair estimate presented at $152–345 million · Legistar entry
Nov 122025
City Council — voting meeting Voted 12–3 to explore relocation options · Legistar entry
Mar 42026
City Council — voting meeting Voted 9–6 to explore relocation and "options for the disposition of the City Hall site" · ran sixteen hours, into the next morning · Legistar entry
Jun 102026
City Council — special meeting Denied phased repairs, 9–6 · Legistar entry
Jun 172026
City Council — special meeting Funded a $3 million site search, 9–5 · Legistar entry
Aug 122026
City Council — voting meeting Called a November bond election, 11–4. On the way, rejected a $100 million City Hall repair proposition 7–8 — the closest this question has come · Legistar entry

Minutes for the March, June, and August votes are still in draft. The March 4 roll call is on the city's own recording; the June totals are press-reported and the August 12 totals are read aloud on the city's recording, until the minutes are final. See the people who decide.