DALLAS — Dallas City Council members approved a $49 million aid package to help fund a new mixed-use development in the west end of downtown.
The West End Lofts Project is a proposed mixed-use, mixed-income project oriented for transit, being located near the West End DART light rail station as well as Dallas College.
“This is an exciting project that will convert underutilized/vacant historic buildings and surface parking lots into active residential and commercial uses abutting the West End DART light rail station and across the street from El Centro College,” said City Councilmember Paul Ridley (District 14), a member of the City Council’s Economic Development Committee, in a statement. "With the reconstruction and expansion of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and impactful projects such as West End Lofts, we can expect to see significant positive changes to the west side of downtown Dallas over the next several years.”
The project is estimated to cost about $103.2 million and will include 154 mixed-income apartments with 56 efficiencies, 25 one-bedroom, 69 two-bedroom and four three-bedroom units in the 805 Elm Street building. These apartments will be income-restricted, leased only to households earning at or below 30%, 60%, 70% and 80% of the area family median income.
Also planned are residential amenities, a plaza and promenade, and about 140 parking spaces in the 711 Elm Street parking garage.
"The West End Lofts development is about more than apartments to us. It is a chance to revitalize and transform an area of downtown with a brand new pedestrian plaza, street-level retail, workforce housing and the preservation of two pieces of Dallas history," said Zachary Krochtengel of Sycamore Strategies in a statement. "The City of Dallas has been an essential and invaluable partner to us, and we are extremely grateful for their support."
Interim Dallas City Manager Kimberly Tolbert called this development an important project to provide much-needed affordable housing and ground floor activity with the West End Historic District.
"It is exciting to think of adding housing stock that will be occupied with individuals, families, and their pets, helping to grow the live-work-play spirit of downtown Dallas," Tolbert said in a statement.
