Housing Infrastructure Could Get Hundreds of Millions In 2024 Bond Election, But What About Actual Houses?

The City of Dallas is proposing a $300 million investment into housing infrastructure over the next 10 years, officials announced during a presentation last week on the 2024 bond program. 

The discussion sparked a lively debate about whether infrastructure translates to actual homes — and one Dallas developer told CandysDirt.com that the city could solve its housing problem by financing locals to build on existing sites rather than pouring public money into more poorly maintained streets and drainage projects. 

“If they would finance local entrepreneurs committed to building quality affordable housing in ADUs, duplexes, and fourplexes, that money would go a lot farther,” said Monte Anderson, founder and CEO of Options Real Estate. “This is too much money, and too much money makes us stupid. If you just had $10 million, think of what you could do.”

The council last approved a bond package in 2017 which included 10 propositions totaling $1.05 billion. The five-year program was extended because of the COVID-19 pandemic and is now scheduled for completion by September 2023. 

An election is tentatively planned in May 2024 for a new, $1 billion set of projects to be funded by city bonds, said Director of Bond and Construction Management Adriana Castaneda.

“We considered the potential capacity of $1 billion, and [the proposal reflects] 10 different propositions,” Castaneda told the Dallas City Council in an Aug. 17 briefing. “One of the projects that we have as part of this scenario is a potential housing infrastructure proposition, a standalone proposition, for approximately $150 million, with the intent of the City of Dallas potentially investing $300 million over a 10-year period. This housing infrastructure is intended to align with the city of Dallas housing goals by investing in infrastructure including but not limited to streets, traffic, and storm drainage improvements to promote housing opportunities in areas of need.”

Bond Projects

Funding from the bond could also be allocated toward:

• Street improvements
• Transportation improvements
• Park and recreation facilities
• Flood protection and storm drainage facilities
• Library facilities
• Cultural arts facilities
• Economic development 
• Homeless assistance

Projects are selected based on technical criteria and council policies, Castaneda said. A 15-member citizen task force will be appointed to oversee bond projects. 

Hunger Games

District 1 Councilman Chad West said the Child Poverty Action Lab estimates that Dallas has a deficit of at least 26,000 affordable and available housing units for households that earn under 30 percent of the Area Median Income level.

“We had some residents of District 1 that were getting pushed out of their apartments,” West said. “The lack of housing for people in that category was insane. We couldn’t even find anything in Grand Prairie for them. It took multiple efforts by multiple people to find housing for just 10 people in my district.” 

West emphasized that the bond proposal is for infrastructure rather than actual houses. 

“I don’t see anything toward direct affordable housing creation,” he said. “Are we assuming that our infrastructure investment is going to attract private investment? I am concerned about all our housing money going toward infrastructure. That will become a fight, a ‘Hunger Games’ among the bond task force and it will become a Hunger Games at the council level — redistricting all over again. I would like to see us include as part of our housing initiative direct funding toward affordable housing creation that is outside of the infrastructure politics.” 

Castaneda said the proposal is just for discussion purposes and council feedback will be incorporated throughout the process of crafting a ballot.

Anderson, who was not at the council briefing, used a colorful term to demonstrate that he’s not a fan of the proposal. 

“It’s bull—,” he said. “A lot of cities will go into areas like our South Dallas and upgrade those lots and not charge you if you build there. You have deteriorating apartments at RedBird Mall. What we need is to finance local owners and developers to do their own work. We need to teach people to fish and help them with financing, no giveaways. Let’s figure out how to build off what we’ve got. We need to look at infill. Let’s figure out how to build more density on existing infrastructure rather than creating more infrastructure we can’t keep up with.” 

West said the lack of specificity in the city’s housing policy is a problem.

“Without a housing policy that commits to year-by-year housing goals, we can’t say, ‘We’ve got to use the bond to reach that gap.’ We don’t have a housing goal. There’s no goal,” he said. “That’s why we’re where we’re at today with housing, with no attainable goals.”

Housing And Homelessness

District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn also weighed in on the need for affordable housing options, not just infrastructure. She also addressed the $10 million proposed allocation for homeless solutions.

“In 2017, we allocated $20 million. Homelessness has skyrocketed,” Mendelsohn said. “We are beyond full capacity at all our shelters. We continue to have single-room occupancy as a missing element of housing, and it really targets that 30 percent of AMI and lower, who seem to have nowhere to go. We talk about affordable housing, and we absolutely need it, but we are missing this 30 percent and lower. We’ve got to focus on making sure our most vulnerable have some place to [live].” 

District 7 Councilman Adam Bazaldua also supported more funding for homeless solutions and housing. 

“Infrastructure is not our only need,” he said. “We have got to be more aggressive with preservation and keeping people in place. That is a huge component to our housing crisis. People get flipped. They can’t afford to stay there. They leave. They can’t afford to repair their homes.”

District 2 Councilman Jesse Moreno said he wanted to have a solution in place before committing more funds to homelessness.

“We have to find a way to help people before they are homeless,” he said. “Right now, unfortunately, a lot of our programs prevent us from offering services to those same individuals. It’s going to cost more money and be more difficult to get them into homes once they’re on the street. We need to do a better job of keeping those individuals in place in their homes. I am fully supportive of a housing bond that will keep our residents in place, especially in our high-opportunity areas.” 

West added that in order to prevent the infrastructure allocation from turning political, the city should provide specific information on expenditures and how those dollars will translate into housing creation. 

“I want to see the correlation of dollars to the number of houses that are going to be created,” he said. “I’d really like to see an outside expert model that data, the housing we’re going to see, and when we’re going to see it. Otherwise, I could see the city just winging it and we’ve got no commitment other than just a goal and a wish.”