The Down &dirty:
- Dallas heavyweights and city bigwigs had a meeting at the downtown Neiman Marcus headquarters yesterday, begging Saks Global and a landlord to settle their beef so they can keep the historic store buzzing.
- Last week, Saks Global announced that they had to close the location due to a decade-long debate with one landowner over a fraction of the property's various plots.
- The Neiman Marcus Group owns the building and most of the land, as per Dallas County records. Saks Global hasn't responded to requests for comment on the possibility of continuing the tussle.
The Scoop:
Dallas city and influential business individuals mobilize to preserve Neiman Marcus's flagship store
The Neiman Marcus flagship in Dallas sits on several bits of land owned by different parties. Having several landlords underneath a large structure isn't unusual, and neither is a squabble brewing—as explained by Shawn Todd, founder and chairman of commercial real estate firm Todd Interests. In fact, it's uncommon for all landlords to hold agreements, with Todd pointing out that the majority of them have gone forward with Neiman Marcus in this situation.
"Downtown Dallas is littered with long-term ground leases on buildings," he said. "It's a hassle to get all the parties in one spot, so I don't wanna jump to conclusions about what's going on under this one city block building. But it seems like there are multiple ground leases, and that's not strange in any real estate situation. What appears to be weird in this particular case is that every ground lease, for the most part, has agreed to maintain Neiman Marcus."
Todd joined other business and government bigwigs to push for a compromise, including Jennifer Scripps, president and CEO of Downtown Dallas, a stewardship organization; Dallas City Council member Paul Ridley; City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert; and Linda McMahon, CEO of the Dallas Economic Development Corporation.
"We reckon it's essential for Neiman Marcus to stay in this epicenter and continue to stand as a cornerstone of our city's persona and a catalyst for ongoing growth," Tolbert said. "I'm not only the city manager of Dallas, but I'm not comparing this as a problem the city can solve alone. ... The Marcus family has given a lot to the city through generations. And in that spirit, we're happy to have some of our finest business leaders jumping in to do what's best for Dallas."
Regarding the recent visit of HBC chief Richard Baker and Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick to Dallas, Todd stated they left behind a portrait of a founding Marcus family member. These gentlemen are now invited back next week to meet with the landowners.
"And I'm asking him to put that portrait of Mr. Marcus on his plane because I wanna put it right here - right here - so it can stand for another 117 years, just like this building has been standing," Todd said. "Neiman Marcus was built with Texas money and Texas guts. We all know that Texans are fighters. We won our independence. We became part of a great Republic of Texas. Texans are faithful, we're faithful to a fault. We have a long memory. But the good news for Mr. Baker is that we're all here today to sort out a problem. Texans are problem solvers."
- Despite the ongoing dispute, Neiman Marcus owns the building and much of the surrounding land, as stated in Dallas County records.
- Marc Metrick, the CEO of Saks Global, was recently in Dallas with HBC's chief Richard Baker, and they left a portrait of a founding Marcus family member behind.
- The Neiman Marcus flagship in Dallas sits on several pieces of land, owned by various entities, creating a patchwork of ownership.
- Shawn Todd, founder, and chairman of commercial real estate firm Todd Interests, explains that squabbles between landlords are not unusual in real estate business.
- The government officials, including Jennifer Scripps, president and CEO of Downtown Dallas, and Dallas City Council member Paul Ridley, are trying to mediate the conflict to ensure Neiman Marcus remains in downtown Dallas.
- Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, the city manager of Dallas, emphasizes the significance of Neiman Marcus for the city's identity and growth, yet acknowledges that the city alone cannot solve the problem.
- In an effort to finalize the situation, Metrick and Baker have been invited to return next week to meet with the landowners to discuss the ongoing disagreement over the Saks Global location.
