Regional transportation planners are gearing up for a potential lawsuit by a prominent real estate firm over plans to install a high-speed line that links Dallas to Fort Worth.
During its regular meeting scheduled for Thursday, The North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Transportation Council is expected to request $1 million in local funds, in preparation for a potential suit by Hunt Realty Investments over the high-profile plans for a DFW bullet train.
The request follows 16 correspondences from attorneys representing “Hunt-related entities” since October centered around the elevated rail plans.
Hunt Realty said in March that one of the proposed routes for the train, known as “Alignment 2B,” would slice through the southwest corner of downtown Dallas, where the firm owns the more than 20-acre Reunion property including the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Reunion Tower.
That would thwart plans for a $5 billion development on land surrounding the Hyatt.
The DFW rail, which could ferry up to 30,000 passengers daily, is separate from a proposed Dallas to Houston high-speed rail line. Those plans have been in the works for more than a decade, but transportation planners want to connect the lines to provide a “one-seat ride” to passengers.
“The so-called ‘Alignment 2b’ would undeniably threaten, irreparably harm and severely damage the Reunion development as well as the potential for new economic activity adjacent to Dallas’ new $3 billion Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center,” attorney Eric Gambrell wrote in an October letter to the council.
The alignment would connect the federally-approved station in the Cedars to both the Eddie Bernice Johnson Union Station on the southwest side of downtown, and the Hyatt Regency, via a sky bridge.
The route would also interfere with a Reunion master agreement in place between the city and the Hunt family since 1975, the letter argues.
In June, the Dallas City Council voted to withhold support for construction of any above-ground rail lines through downtown, pending the results of an economic impact study. But Hunt’s attorneys argue that plans to move forward with environmental assessments are “in defiance and disregard” of the June resolution.
Still, transportation planners, through letters from their attorneys, have said moving forward with environmental assessment ensures both route options will be available at the conclusion of the study.
The transportation council has provided Hunt’s counsel with more than 2,500 pages of documents so far, according to its Thursday agenda. Staff are recommending the council allocate $1 million in funds in $250,000 increments for additional legal support.
NCTCOG officials and a representative for Hunt Consolidated both declined to comment on the matter Tuesday.
