City council members passed the grant at their meeting on Wednesday.
鈥淚 hope we don鈥檛 lose them to another suburb,鈥� said Council member Tennell Atkins, who represents far southern Dallas. 鈥淲e are a city that is in competition with the suburbs and the region.鈥�
The money comes with some strings attached:
- If the company retains at least 1,100 jobs in Dallas, it can get up to four million dollars. Retail employees do not count toward that total.
- Neiman can get an additional one million dollars from the city if it creates at least 300 jobs by the end of 2026.
- Contractors, part-time workers, and interns do not qualify as a 鈥渏ob.鈥� The positions must be full-time with benefits and receive a W-2 form from Neiman Marcus.
- The average wage for employees at headquarters sites must exceed $49.00 per hour, not including overtime, benefits, or bonuses.
- At least 35% of headquarters employees who are retained must live in the city.
Neiman Marcus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ordinance the city passed on Wednesday was amended from its . Council member Paul Ridley proposed being stricter with Neiman, and not allowing the company to periodically burn off its job creation and retention obligations during the grant period, which ends on December 31, 2031.
鈥淚f Neiman鈥檚 complies with the employment requirement, they have nothing to worry about. They keep the money,鈥� said Council member Paul Ridley, who represents a chunk of central Dallas. 鈥淏ut if they don鈥檛 comply, then they should have to repay the amount of the incentives to the city. We鈥檝e done this in many other economic development projects.鈥�
His amendment passed nine to six.
The grant also includes up to $250,000 for 鈥渆xpedited permitting and fee reimbursement鈥� connected to any move to Cityplace tower or improvements to the current Neiman Marcus headquarters in downtown Dallas.
Neiman, an iconic Dallas business, filed for bankruptcy after the onset of the pandemic in May 2020 and .
The agreement must be finalized by March 31, 2023.
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