Vacant Hall St. Lot Could Bring Affordable Housing And a Grocery Store to a Food Desert

Most will agree: adding grocery options to any neighborhood is a positive development. However, neighbors have to wonder: At what cost?  

The One City View project is an estimated $108 million development on 5.4 acres of vacant land at 1823 North Hall Street. The proposed project, which is located on the Northwest corner of Flora and North Hall Streets, will include a Kroger grocery store as well as 375 new apartments — 20 percent of them affordable units. The project is buoyed by a public-private partnership between the developers and the City of Dallas.

The Players

The developer is SEK Hall Street, LLC; a joint venture of Kroger Texas L.P. and SE Hall Street Partners, LLC. If approved, the city partnership would provide tax abatement and be formalized as “Neighborhood Empowerment Zone No. 19.”

The tax abatement is proposed to be 90 percent of the increased value of the property; the projected abatement value is $3.8 million over a 10-year period. The land is currently valued at $10.6 million.

The City of Dallas previously owned the land and this might be a sticky wicket — the 20 percent affordable housing component is deed restricted and the minimum required.

A Dallas County property records search returns transaction activity in June of 2015; the transfer from the city to TRG Hall Street LP, and less than a week later, another deed showing TRG Hall selling to Kroger Texas. It looks as if the developer is following the minimum requirements as presented in the deed.

A Food Desert?

The area is classified as a food desert — the measure being a low-income census tract with more than 100 housing units are without a car and being more than one-half-mile from a supermarket.

The 20 percent affordable units are split; 10 percent will be rented at 60 percent of area-median-income and the other 10 percent will accept housing vouchers.

The food desert claim is worth exploring; the Tom Thumb at 2727 Live Oak and the CityPlace Target stores are both seven-tenths of a mile away. The Walmart Neighborhood Market at 2305 N Central Expressway is even closer at four-tenths of a mile away.

Neighborhood Empowerment Zone, Market Value Analysis

The Neighborhood Empowerment Zone designation comes from Chapter 378 of the Texas Local Government Code; the goals being to increase affordable housing, economic activity, social services, education, or public safety. The designation relates to commercial properties within the designated zone. The city currently presents two formalized zones; however, the numbering of the zones might indicate more in process.

The city’s Market Value Analysis (MVA) identifies this area as a mix of categories “C” and “G”; category C having a median sales price of almost 400,000 dollars and category G being approximately one-quarter of that value. The project bridges the gap between these areas, provides affordable housing, and fresh food options.

When

The proposed project is scheduled for a public hearing by the Dallas City Council on October 13, 2021. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. and the project is Item 54 on the agenda.