The construction of the new emergency operations center in Dallas set to start in May

Dallas, Texas – Dallas County is gearing up to begin work in May on a brand-new center for handling emergencies, with a total cost of $40 million, as reported by officials.

This new building, spreading over 37,000 square feet, will house an office, a storage area, a storm-safe zone, and provide parking for about 200 cars. The building part alone is expected to cost around $26 million to put up, and the whole project should be finished in roughly 20 months. The emergency operations center (EOC) will take up space on 4.8 acres across three pieces of land at 1010 W Mockingbird Lane, 7101 Envoy Court, and 7141 Envoy Court, with Kaizen Development Partners managing the construction.

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This building is going to be a key spot for the county judge and the team handling emergencies to work together, making important decisions and communicating with other emergency groups during crises, said Assistant County Administrator Jonathon Bazan. To build this, the county will demolish an old office building of about 67,000 square feet at 1010 W Mockingbird Lane and another space of around 12,000 square feet at 7101 Envoy Court.

The $40 million budget covers buying the land, the cost to build, and all the stuff inside like furniture and tech gear. The money for funding the project comes from the American Rescue Plan Act. Currently, the county’s emergency center is in a shared building at 2121 Panoramic Circle. Dallas County got the land for the new spot in November 2022 for roughly $6.4 million.

This wasn’t the only place official took into consideration. Before settling on this project, the county looked at a five-acre spot at 8733 Stemmons Fwy., which would have cost about $10.8 million. But the seller went with a long-term lease to someone else, based on a briefing from November 2022.

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Meanwhile, Dallas County is also working on a new $52 million Health and Human Services building. This project, taking up 65,040 square feet, is expected to be done by August 2025. It’s going to be near a huge $5 billion children’s hospital being planned by UT Southwestern and Children’s Health.