The City of Dallas has made notable advances in addressing the long wait times for commercial permitting that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the Colorado-based fried chicken chain Birdcall expressed its intention to occupy a space in Lakeridge Village, previously the site of a Chase Bank building.
However, after attempting to file for commercial build permits twice without success, Birdcall ultimately withdrew its plans, leaving suite #100 available for lease.
District 10 Council Member Kathy Stewart commented on this situation, stating, “I think they pulled out because they had been able to expand in other areas more quickly, which is our loss, and is a good example of what we wouldn’t want to have happen again… They were unfortunately caught in that period of time where it was just taking too long.”
The concern about commercial construction permit delays gained traction in Dallas, particularly after the pandemic.
By 2021, the median wait time for a commercial construction permit exceeded 300 days.
These delays were largely attributed to permit tracking issues, software complications, and staffing shortages, as highlighted by The Dallas Morning News in 2022.
Despite a statement from the City permitting department claiming that inspection staff levels did not change significantly from 2019 to 2022, the problems persisted.
In response to these challenges, Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert initiated a significant restructuring by merging the Department of Development Services with the Department of Planning and Urban Design.
In a memo on June 21, 2024, Tolbert expressed ambitions to enhance workflow and coordination, stating, “This new department will house all land use and permitting functions in one organization… and create a new team focused entirely on customer and team excellence.”
Following the merger, a new online permitting dashboard was launched, providing real-time data on commercial permit turnaround times.
By November 1, 2024, Tolbert announced a median issuance time of 114 days for commercial building permits, a significant reduction from the nearly year-long average in 2021.
This improvement was partially credited to the closing of “stale permits,” which are applications inactive for over 180 days.
Out of more than 10,000 stale permits identified during a review that began in September, only 200 remained by the process’s end.
Further enhancements to the permitting process included the rollout of DallasNow, the new online software that integrates permitting, planning, platting, inspections, and engineering into a cohesive platform.
Additionally, online inspections were introduced to expedite initial timelines.
Despite these advancements, the permitting department’s dashboard indicates a troubling rise in median turnaround time for 2025, climbing to 184 days.
As of February 2025, this figure reached 218 days, with 75% of these delays attributed to applicants, according to the dashboard data.
Meanwhile, suite #100 in Lakeridge Village remains vacant, representing the ongoing challenges in the permitting landscape.
Council Member Stewart remarked, “This is just such an impediment to our even wanting to do business in the City of Dallas… Every council member was acutely aware that this was a top priority and needed to be addressed.
From my perspective, our city manager has addressed it.”
Although the City of Dallas has demonstrated substantial efforts to improve the commercial permitting process, the persistence of these delays points to the need for continued focus and solutions.
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