The Oak Cliff Advocate reports that the Dallas City Council’s economic development committee has approved a $11.25 million subsidy of the divisive Alamo Manhattan project that plans to bring an Uptown-style mixed-use development to the Zang Boulevard-Davis Street intersection:

The money comes via a tax-increment financing reimbursement. The committee approved it on 5-1 vote, though City Councilman Lee Kleinman (not a member of the committee) was on hand to question why property in as hot a slice of real estate as is North Oak Cliff should need government money to succeed:

“When is Oak Cliff going to stand on its own?” he asked, during the joint meeting of the Council’s economic development and housing committees. Oak Cliff City Councilman Scott Griggs was quick to answer: “Oak Cliff does stand on its own, and so does Southern Dallas.” Griggs pointed out that Kleinman, as an investor in Sylvan Thirty, personally profited from TIF funding in our neighborhood.

Nice comeback from Griggs, even if Kleinman makes a fair point. But, as evidenced by deals like when the Richards Group got money to help finance the building of its headquarters in the heart of Uptown (just one example), when it comes to cities subsidizing business projects via tax breaks, that genie has long since left the bottle.

The full city council will be asked to approved the deal at its Feb. 24 meeting.