As Dallas officials prepared to debate City Hall’s future, a commercial real estate broker helping analyze relocation options grew frustrated when his firm was not allowed to compete for the work.
City Hall emails reviewed by The Dallas Morning News show Stream Realty Partners Executive Vice Chairman Jeff Ellerman and other real estate figures providing data and financial models to officials weighing whether Dallas should leave its iconic building.
But after weeks assisting the city’s effort, Ellerman complained his firm, a top broker for office space in North Texas, was not given a chance to represent Dallas if it searched for new space.
“This is not right and nobody told us this,” he wrote in a Nov. 20 email to City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and two assistant city managers.
D-FW Real Estate News
“When asked, our team dropped what we were doing to assist in this effort,” he said, adding he believed Stream Realty would have “an opportunity to compete/participate in the representation of the city as their office broker for the City Hall project.”
Ellerman said he later learned from the city-affiliated Dallas Economic Development Corp. CEO Linda McMahon that his firm would not be eligible because the city already had procured brokerage services.
Calls and texts to Ellerman on Monday and Tuesday were not returned.
The exchanges are part of a cache of City Hall emails The Dallas Morning News has reviewed. The messages reveal not only a dispute over brokerage work but also Dallas leaders’ heavy reliance on outside experts who supported relocation options as details of the stay-or-go debate surfaced publicly.
Mayor Eric Johnson, who in late August directed city staff to examine City Hall and other municipal buildings, has defended the work as routine, aimed at gathering information before final decisions are made.
Emails from that time show early discussions about how the issue might unfold and the city’s work with key private-sector figures.
On Sept. 17, the council’s Finance Committee chairman, Chad West, issued a memo that outlined the panel’s plans to review the city’s real estate holdings, starting with City Hall.
That same day, Robert Walters, former chair of the Dallas Citizens Council, a prominent business group, emailed Tolbert a list of questions anticipating a potential City Hall move.
Among the questions: Where would the new building be located? Why does the city need one? How was the site chosen? And how much could the city receive for the building and land? The draft had no responses, which Walters wrote would be added later.
Others in the email include Ahmad Goree, Tolbert’s chief of staff, developer Eric Fleiss and Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley.
Walters told The News on Monday that either Tolbert or Bentley approached him before the committee meeting to help gather information. Walters recruited Ellerman to assist.
Walters told The News on Monday that he, Ellerman and others provided the support voluntarily and at no cost to the city.
“People will offer services all the time,” he said, adding that the analysis from Ellerman was “just factual information.”
A 2015 photo of Jeff Ellerman, executive vice chairman of Stream Realty
DMN
Preparing internal FAQs is common in government circles, where officials often work with civic and business leaders to anticipate questions before major initiatives become public.
In October, Stream Realty submitted an analysis to the city titled “Project Legacy,” comparing the cost of remaining at 1500 Marilla St. with relocating to office space elsewhere.
The firm ranks among the top for leasing D-FW office space. It leased more than 29 million square feet of office space locally in 2024.
Ellerman is a key player in D-FW real estate, and he represented Goldman Sachs on its 1 million-square-foot custom-built campus near Uptown and AT&T on its 1 million-square-foot headquarters in downtown Dallas.
Stream Realty’s Oct. 17 analysis came days before the Finance Committee first discussed relocation options.
Emails obtained by The News through an open records request show Walters suggesting city staff remove identifying details from some of the material before it is shared.
“Obviously, you won’t want to use the cover page. You also might want to delete the Stream [Realty Partners] logo as well,” he wrote to John Johnson, the city’s facilities and real estate management director.
Occupancy costs at City Hall in Stream’s analysis are similar to estimates city officials presented in the committee’s Oct. 21 and Nov. 4 meetings.
Walters said Monday that the numbers stemmed from collaboration with the city and others, and it wasn’t appropriate to have private logos on a city document.
On Nov. 10, in a letter to a council member, Ellerman and Walters joined 32 other civic and business leaders who said they supported steps to evaluate real estate and redevelopment options of the City Hall site. Also signing: Mike Ablon, Ray Washburne, Mike Hoque, Billy Prewitt, Craig Hall and other downtown property owners.
Walters said the analysis and financial models persuaded him to sign the letter. It said redeveloping the site could create economic opportunities and budget savings while helping keep downtown vibrant. Spending limited taxpayer dollars to rehabilitate a “dilapidated facility” would not be prudent when favorable office space may be available elsewhere, it said.
Stay-or-go debate
Over the following weeks, as public meetings generated feedback, emails show participants revising projections and discussing data related to the cost of staying in City Hall versus leaving for office space elsewhere.
McMahon used the name “Project Legacy” in correspondence with consultants and city officials as the EDC began assessing the building’s condition. It eventually estimated repairs and upgrades at $329 million. The cost to fully modernize City Hall was estimated at more than $1 billion over 20 years.
She moved away from the label after realizing it had surfaced publicly.
“I misspoke — we are not using the project name since this is public — we will refer to this going forward as the City Hall Project,” she wrote.
Broker dispute
By November, tensions were growing.
On Nov. 20, Ellerman wrote to Tolbert and her deputies, saying his firm had spent roughly six weeks assisting in the city’s effort.
He said he had been “assured” Stream Realty would have an opportunity to compete for the brokerage work tied to a potential relocation.
Instead, he said McMahon informed him that would not happen.
He proposed a co-brokerage arrangement with the firm selected by the city.
“Can we arrange a meeting to discuss, as this is a win/win with no downside for City of Dallas?” Ellerman wrote.
He also pointed to his civic involvement.
“No one in our business has done more for the City,” he wrote, referencing his work as founder of The Loop, a multi-use circuit trail, and as chairman of the board of the Dallas Museum of Art.
City response
Hours later, Ellerman sent a follow-up message thanking Tolbert and her staff “for the opportunity to serve the city in this endeavor.”
Tolbert responded that afternoon.
“Thank you, Jeff. We appreciate your support and look forward to working with you in the future,” Tolbert wrote. “Your contributions to our city are highly valued and applauded. Thanks for being an amazing champion for Dallas.”
It is unclear in the emails whether Ellerman received the meeting he requested.
City spokesman Rick Ericson issued a statement Monday, saying city managers appreciated the firm’s input “during preliminary conversations about city hall last year,” but “there was a misunderstanding regarding the status of the procurement process.”
The city-affiliated Economic Development Corp. decided to use real estate services company CBRE to handle the office search.
Staff writer Everton Bailey Jr. contributed to this report.
Email trail
The Dallas Morning News reviewed nearly 5,000 pages of emails exchanged over the past 12 months among city officials, consultants and others at City Hall. The messages offer a behind-the-scenes look at a range of issues, including debate over whether Dallas should repair the aging building or relocate government operations.