Swirll winery's closing a net loss for downtown Dallas, city taxpayers

Swirll, a downtown Dallas winery that offered patrons the opportunity to both make and enjoy their own vino, will close December 20, its landlord says.

With it: A load of tax dollars.

Swirll, which opened in 2005, pocketed $301,875 in downtown retail recruitment initiative funds offered by Dallas City Hall, according to city records.

Taxpayers will not get that money back, however. Swirll stayed open long enough, per city rules, to avoid returning any portion of the funds.

"They are shutting down. The business just wasn't profitable," confirmed Ted Hamilton, whose Hamilton Properties owns the Davis Building on Main Street, in which Swirll operates from a storefront. "They gave it their all. We're sad to see them go."

A woman who answered the phone at Swirll simply said, "If you want to come in and buy a bottle half off, you can by the 20th." She then hung up.

Read Teresa Gubbins' report on the closing here.

Mr. Hamilton says he'll aggressively seek a new tenant for the storefront while acknowleding that the nation's lousy economic climate won't make finding one easy.

"We'd still like to bring someone in there as soon as possible -- a quality retailer," he said.