District 11 Debates: Should the LBJ Corridor Be Lined With Apartments Instead of Offices?
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Commercial apartment developers have their eyes on the south side of the golden LBJ Freeway corridor, running between Preston Road to the west, and Hillcrest/Coit to the east. They aim to replace aging late 1970s-era office buildings — occupied most recently by Brinker International — with two seven-story apartment complexes totaling 420 apartments, or 57 per acre. This is upzoning in an area dominated by mostly single-family homes, many of them luxury. The nearly 7.5-acre property currently holds three black glass office complexes on the north side of Hillcrest Plaza Drive. They are adjacent to the new county government center and tax office, finished in 2018, at the intersection of Hillcrest and 635/LBJ.
The applicant is RD Investment Properties (also known as Related Group). For the increased density and height, RD is requesting a zoning change for a planned development district. The firm is represented by Jackson Walker. Skyline Pacific Properties, headquartered in San Francisco, is the current owner. Related Group has built and managed more than 100,000 condominiums and apartment residences. Their portfolio is impressive and includes high end, five-star high rise properties mostly across Florida. I have seen their St. Regis Residences in Miami, as well as their Ritz Carlton Residences in Tampa, both are luxury condominiums.
For this spot, Related Group plans luxury apartments. They are seeking neighborhood input and advocating transparency in the process. The company is sinking more than $200,000 into an LBJ corridor study to convince adjacent neighborhoods and stakeholders that the area just inside the LBJ corridor, nestled into an established neighborhood, needs density.
However, their initial application for the zoning change was unanimously denied by the city planning commission on Dec. 2, but they hope to come back.
Residents wonder whether North Dallas really needs more apartments, especially in this location, with Midtown’s soon-to-come 10,000 rental homes, food and entertainment options, 20-acre park and (eventually) a DART light rail connection down the road?
“With million dollar homes behind this, it’s like the developers just stumbled upon a pot of gold,” says Bruce Wilke, a stakeholder who resides in the Hillcrest Forest Neighborhood Association and is a former Dallas Plan Commissioner.
In what may be a first test of her brand new leadership, District 11 City Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz began polling those homeowners as part of a 635 Corridor Study. On Feb. 22, the process began. In a Zoom meeting, Schultz made it crystal clear that she is not, as many have said*, an advocate for apartments:
Next came a Town Hall meeting Monday, March 7. For both meetings, Schultz enlisted help from two consultants/urban planning firms to run the floor, which some residents say they found curious:
AECOM is a huge infrastructure consulting firm, which recently relocated its national headquarters from LA to Dallas. Clients include One World Trade Center and The Port of Los Angeles Waterfront, among others.
Rayo Planning is a young, progressive, urban planning group boasting female and minority leadership, that has been very active and effective in parts of South Dallas, including the battle of the horrific Shingle Mountain. The firm is also heavily invested in social justice causes and neighborhood determination: Rayo’s co-chairs are Jennifer Rangel and Evelyn Mayo
“It’s really just cruel that it’s taken them this long. We don’t know what clean-up means,” Evelyn Mayo, chair of Downwinders At Risk, said in September. “We don’t know when they are talking about it, and we don’t know how long this is going to take. So without that level of detail it’s just words.”
Brinker’s quiet, wooded, almost secluded office property is hardly a Shingle Mountain. Rayo also seriously underestimated how many would show up to the meeting in a small room at Churchill Recreation Center.
Note to Rayo: North Dallas Homeowners Show Up for Meetings
At least 75 turned up, but the room would only hold 49 by fire safety rules. Thus at least a third were turned away. Schultz says another meeting is planned for March 27 at 4:30 p.m., at King of Glory Church 6411 Freeway.
It was also unclear as to who exactly attended the meeting: There were no name-tags depicting addresses or neighborhoods.
From the start, Schultz made it clear this was exploratory mode: a collaborative process to determine what the stakeholders — property owners — want. Off the record, some homeowners have said Schultz is asking them if they might tolerate apartments.
Most property owners at this meeting said they do not want apartments. At one point, Schultz even asked, sounding a bit parental, “So we don’t want anything different? We only want the same?”
“There are very valid reasons for not wanting apartments on the south side LBJ Freeway,” said Wilke, president of the Hillcrest Forest Neighborhood Association. “58 of 60 emails I received were opposed to it.”
The buildings Related Group are looking to replace with apartments are zoned for a maximum height of 30 feet and are considered to be a relatively low impact use near single family homes, especially million dollar plus single family homes. Related Group wants seven stories.
“I don’t think any of those residents, when they bought their homes, thought there would be seven-story apartments behind them,” said one stakeholder.
The three Brinker buildings are currently unoccupied. However, with active leases still in place, the owners are covered until at least November.
Schultz heard from a slice of stakeholders who attended the meeting. Their objections, noted below, range from disturbing the tranquility of a highly-valued, residential single family neighborhood to more traffic and noise, to less security. One of the more interesting requests was for a sound wall barrier from LBJ.
Homeowners shared their concerns during the meeting:
Property values: Homeowners say apartments tend to lower nearby homes’ property values. Previously, a prospective apartment builder who was eyeing a set of offices on Hughes Lane, located midway between Preston Road and Hillcrest Road, tried to sell a plan for building apartments clustered to the freeway edge and place parking lots behind the buildings as a buffer. But homeowners retorted then that apartment parking lots can be noisy 24/7 and detrimental to nearby homes and its values.
Traffic: Apartments will bring more people and traffic to the area with the addition of approximately 800 new living units. This will force more traffic onto the side streets like Hughes Lane and Churchill Way, which would be objectionable to the neighborhood, residents in attendance said.
Noise: Hinke Schroen on Churchill Way, president of the Preston Citadel Neighborhood Association, said: “After 6 o’ clock, and on weekends, we feel we have our neighborhood back.” Offices prior to Covid operated mostly on 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedules; apartments operate 24/7.
Precedent: If the city says yes to apartments on one or two properties, the city will probably have to say yes to more, which could result in a solid apartment stretch from Hillcrest to Preston Roads, and the potential addition of 3,000 apartments to this corridor, homeowners estimated.
New Building Heights: The current commercial properties are zoned as maximum two-story neighborhood offices, a relatively low impact. Neighbors never dreamed tall office towers or restaurants would be neighbors, they say, adding it’s unfair to current homeowners to change the zoning.
Occupancies and crime: Stakeholders were concerned that high rental rates on a one-bedroom apartment could require residents to double up. Rents have risen 18.7 percent in Dallas this year and could require tenants earn incomes of at least $72,000 a year. Would extra cars parked in parking lots induce crime and car thefts, which have risen in Dallas and District 11?
This story will continue…
*Full disclosure: I ran against Jaynie Schultz for the District 11 City council seat she won in 2021.
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Thank you for publishing this summary of the meeting. I attended the meeting and am very concerned at the prospect of such tall and intensive development in the area. Another thing to consider is that even though THIS particular development MAY start out as luxury apartments it may decline to non-luxury apartments due to the negatives of living along an expressway. And, even if the FIRST development starts out as luxury, once the camel’s nose is in the tent subsequent apartments likely will NOT be luxury apartments as the capacity of the market to absorb luxury apartments is limited. Let apartments be concentrated in the redevelopment of Valley View — NOT in our single family neighborhood.
Who wants to live in a high rise and listen to traffic and smell traffic exhaust from their balcony?
The idea of luxury and LBJ freeway in the same sentence is a puzzle. I frankly don’t see why anyone looking for a luxury property would consider this. I’m also curious if anyone at all is worried about infrastructure– the added demand on a grid that is not able to support the use we have presently? Then consider schools. If there are apartments, there will be families. Do we have schools, public or private to support this increase? There are a myriad of problems with this concept. I hope the neighbors win this one.
We will have a new DISD school at Midtown… but then also 10,000 new units!
There is a rumor amongst my commercial real estate friends (I’ve been a commercial real estate broker for over 30+ years) that our Rep. Schultz is seeking property along the south side of LBJ between Preston and Coit for a “homeless shelter”. This is absolutely unacceptable. She won’t admit it or talk about it; but, she has brokers scouting for property for this use. Why won’t she admit it????
I agree with all these points, but as devil’s advocate, where DO the apartments go?
I live in D11 and voted for Shultz in the runoff. I wonder of she surveyed people beyond the wealthy home owners. There is more to D11 than the comfort of the wealthy. What is being done about affordable housing that is not dilapidated and housing security for those in need. I’d like her to give as much energy to those people as she does this project. I am not for “luxury” apartments, considering the crime and poor condition of the “luxury” City North apartment complex, which is right on 635-W, between Coit & Preston, but these people need somewhere to live. Where will they go if this project becomes a reality?
She is (correctly) surveying the people who live closest to this potential development.
Jaynie is correct in surveying the residents who live closest to the proposed re-development. After all, when they bought their “million dollar” homes they had a much different product nearby. She is doing an excellent job of gauging neighborhood support and doing what the neighborhood wishes in this process. I do think she is to be commended on this process thus far.
We hope this apartment thing doesn’t happen!
10,000 apartments are scheduled right across 635 at the former Valley View Mall site According to Dallas Business Journal:
“Last year, Dallas City Council unveiled a presentation to go with the rebranding of what was formerly entitled “Dallas Midtown.” While the pandemic stunted progress, the development is now slated in this latest iteration to include more than 10,000 mixed-income residential units, a city council district office, office space, a 20-are park, quality DART access and more.”
https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2022/02/02/developments-reshape-north-texas.html?ana=TRUEANTHEMFB_DA&fbclid=IwAR1M-Y_cbi7c1hK-x4ZURQ6xIKJTDvBfQ6lZrVaQYvLV-mc2cwlcqJXwzmo&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A%20Trending%20Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook
@Shelby S, there are 10,000 planned apartments going into the Valley View redevelopment which is literally like a mile from the plot of land being discussed here. So they go there, where the infrastructure is being reworked to accommodate a large influx of population, cars, etc.
This reply is primarily focused on Carol Welwood’s comments, but not intended to be a personal attack. I hope all the interested parties will read this reply in its totality. I attended the first meeting hosted by Jaynie Schultz. I live in the neighborhood, and like most (or perhaps all of you) I am not particularly interested in seeing 5 or 7 story high rise apartments in our neighborhood. What I find very disturbing was the level of vitriol demonstrated during the meeting, almost all without a basis of fact. It seems the majority of attendees came to the meeting with a preset agenda, with their minds made up (even without understanding the purpose of the meeting). This meeting was put together by Jaynie to hear the homeowners opinions and concerns regarding potential development ideas being put forth by real estate developers. It is an opportunity to be proactive in the development of the community’s desires and concerns, hopefully in an effort to work in a collaborative manner with any developer who purchases the property; rather than a reactive stance, as Jaynie stated the goal of this first meeting. What I do not care for is posting of “rumors about this or that” and why someone will not just “admit” that the rumor is true. Rumors have no position in these discussions, nor do false accusations. If anyone can present hard proof that Ms. Schultz is looking at engaging a real estate broker to identify land to be used as a potential homeless shelter, then present the evidence. If someone CANNOT present the evidence, then please stop posting those accusations. Clearly this topic has raised the level of emotions, which never serves good purpose when making serious or critical decisions to a neighborhood. Stick with the known facts, and present additional facts as they become known. Opinions are welcome as the meeting validated, but rumors have no position in future discussions. Full disclosure: I DO NOT KNOW Ms. Schultz personally or professionally, but I did vote for her. I do not know Candy Evans or Carol Welwood personally.
Wayne, appreciate your insight. I don’t think there was vitriol at least at the last meeting on Monday, I think you have to understand (and maybe you do) that these are homeowners concerned about maintaining their property values and neighborhood. They pay thousands of dollars in taxes. I drove north this morning on Preston to Beltline and when you see the depressed areas of so many dilapidated apartments and gas stations, it’s most depressing. I think home owners don’t want that repeated. For what it’s worth, I am most definitely pro density but in the right areas.
In short , NO!!!!!! I want neither apartments, luxury or otherwise, and I do not want a corridor for the homeless.
No apartments along LBJ. The traffic in that area is deadly now. They would also ruin the value of our homes. We will not need them when the old Valley View is completed.
Wayne,
Perhaps the area of concern is the group selected to conduct these meetings, Rayo Planning. If you have reviewed their website and all their materials, it is apparent THEIR agenda is affordable housing. If the mission of the group conducting the meetings is being a proponent of affordable housing it doesn’t seem like the process is entirely unbiased.
In this case, the “known facts” are that this group in its own words on its Facebook page states:
“In order to address the core of today’s inequities we believe that the entire story must be told. Therefore, we are pleased to share that we provided two educational sessions on “Community Transformation, Racist Policies & Grassroots Urban Planning” to students and professionals.”
Rayo noted “We partnered with Dallas Truth Racial Healing and Transformation and presented to their Racial Equity Now 2021 cohort.”
When a process that can have a tremendous impact on our neighborhood is led by a group that has a definite agenda it is a matter for concern.
To Mia’s Mom:
Thanks for your feedback, as well as Candy Evans’ feedback. I reviewed the website for Rayo Planning closely. Frankly, I think their stated mission is a valid mission, and one that has not received the level of scrutiny deserved. I am not without reservation when it comes to affordable housing concepts in a neighborhood such as ours, but I would like to reserve judgement based on future meetings. The individuals who conducted the meeting from Rayo Planning acted as scribes for the neighbor’s input, and I do not believe I heard any of the representatives attempt to influence or inject any suggested answers, including affordable housing. I paid $20K+ in home owner taxes for 2021 so I am well aware of the value of homes in our neighborhood. I personally believe “affordable housing” does not have to equate to apartments or condos that would suddenly turn into dilapidated housing in the near term. An enclave development of lower value homes (duplexes, townhomes, zero lot line homes, condos, etc.), executed in a well thought out manner, and one in which the development would still blend appropriately with the current community does not seem like an impossible task to me. Again, I am not saying I endorse an affordable housing project at the moment, but want to see what continues to develop at the meetings. I also do not believe the development project that was first rejected, was an “affordable housing effort”. I am listening to everyone’s opinions, which may or may not be respected by a potential developer. I believe to achieve a positive community relationship with a developer the homeowners (including me) need to be realistic, yet still driven by a legitimate interest to maintain our property values. I would hope any project would integrate well with the current culture of our neighborhood.
First and foremost, this is a terrible idea. We can talk about it all day, but in the end, all you need to do is look into San Francisco or Los Angeles and this will answer all your questions with regards to adding an affordable housing project to a single-family residential area. They ruined CA and now they want to do the same in Dallas. That’s the agenda, plain and simple. The implications will be severe: increased crime, vandalism, robbery, drugs, you name it. The question you all need to ask is “Why are they picking out pristine neighborhoods to fill with affordable housing projects?” Again, refer to CA. What they have done with West LA and the surrounding areas as well as San Francisco is despicable. The residents of those multi-million-dollar houses are struggling with crimes and drugs, which they are now surrounded with. And that’s what the progressives are pushing for. Fight for you neighborhoods and for the value of your properties.