15 July 10 - 16, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Construction Destruction In Deep Ellum, a years-long sidewalk construction project on Commerce Street is bleeding local restaurants dry. BY SIMON PRUITT L et’s play a game! It’s called spot the difference. One of these photos was taken on January 8, 2025, and the other on June 30, 2025. Notice any differences? We sure can’t, and neither can the nu- merous Deep Ellum business owners crushed by the city’s nearly $30 million sidewalk reconstruction project. The in- tentions are sound, adding new bike lanes and improving underground water sys- tems, but it’s left Commerce Street looking like a war zone, destroying the area’s park- ing and walkability. With an estimated 950 days allotted for the project, there seems to be no hope. When the deconstruction and recon- struction of Deep Ellum sidewalks began last fall, it was a long time coming. We pub- lished a story in January about the restau- rants on Commerce struggling to stay afloat with the construction. Cane Rosso feared that its Deep Ellum location, a staple for many years, wouldn’t make it through the end of the project. Management at Twisted Root said they experienced a 20-30% sales drop since November 2024. Pete Zotos, owner of St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin, reported a 19% drop. This month, we checked back in for an update. Six months later, he’s still singing the same tune. “Nothing has changed,” he told us this week. “It’s a shame, and it’s only gonna get worse when it’s on our side of the street.” “We’ve been facing many challenges at both Ruins and Armoury since the construc- tion began,” says Peter Novotny, who also owns Armoury on Elm Street. “Reduced parking and limited accessibility have taken a toll on a neighborhood that depends heavily on its walkability. The drop in foot traffic has been pretty clear, and we’ve seen a substantial decline in revenue across both locations.” Art Harvey, owner of Westlake Brewing, told us in January that there was an incident early on in the project when the construc- tion crews broke a water main connected to Westlake. When we reached back out this week, he told us that the same accident has happened three times now, forcing the brewery to turn away customers. “For the last two months, we’ve at least seen crews working on more than one of the eight blocks of the Commerce construction at a time,” Harvey says. “It still seems terri- bly inefficient, though. I’ve watched them dig what seems to be the exact same hole in front of our business no less than 15 times.” The grievances don’t stop there. Harvey also pointed out that he’s seeing his regulars less, foot traffic is noticeably down, and he’s had to keep Westlake’s roll-up windows shut because of the noise. “As I look out our front door right now, a pile of shovels, brooms and buckets covers half the sidewalk in front of my door, even though most of the work is happening on the far side of the street,” he says. “It’s just not an inviting situation for pedestrians.” In September, Dallas City Council mem- ber Jesse Moreno, who represents Deep El- lum, told NBC 5 that he intended to put together grant funding opportunities for small businesses needing relief. When our January story was published, no discernible progress had been made on that plan. We reached out for an update, and he sent us a statement on January 9, reiterating his plans to help small business owners with tempo- rary funding. “I stand committed to ensuring that we explore all options to help these businesses survive,” he said in the statement. “I had reviewed the possibility of using funding from the Small Business Center, which has unfortunately been discontinued by City leadership. I am optimistic that we will re- vive such programs soon, and it is my hope that we can utilize this necessary City re- source for the vulnerable Deep Ellum busi- ness community.” Simon Pruitt | CITY OF ATE | t Dish Construction status in July 2025. Simon Pruitt Construction status in January 2025. >> p16 Mike Brooks Pete Zotos owns St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin, which is struggling from construction on Commerce.
