Hensley Field Master Plan Calls For More Than 5,700 New Housing Units in District 3

In the final Dallas City Council meeting of 2022, elected officials donned ugly holiday sweaters and approved the master plan for a project that could provide much-needed homes, businesses, and transportation connections for District 3. 

District 3 Councilman Casey Thomas called the Hensley Field Master Plan his “legacy project” and said it will be a model for the future of Dallas.

The Long Road to Redeveloping Hensley Field

The 738-acre site has been vacant for years. An idea was floated in 2018 to use the former naval air station near Grand Prairie as a homeless encampment, but there was widespread opposition. 

Thomas said the site is District 3’s crown jewel. 

“We have an opportunity to make something beautiful at this location,” Thomas said. “It’s almost like a blank canvas.”

The mixed-use development will be almost a “city inside the city,” added District 8 Councilman Tennell Atkins. 

This is one of the greatest projects to happen in Dallas under the leadership of the current Dallas City Council, said District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz. 

“This is such a treasure in our city, and to have this master plan move forward with the idea of this being almost an ideal community, that’s what Hensley Field can be for our generation,” she said. 

The Dallas City Council adopted the 60-page Hensley Field Master Plan on Dec. 14. 

A Battle Won in The Fight For Affordable Housing

The master plan shows a $390 million project, funded in part by federal dollars and the 2017 city bond issue, that includes entertainment venues, a marina on the adjacent Mountain Creek Lake, and the magic word that’s music to the ears of the Dallas real estate community: housing. 

District 1 Councilman Chad West highlighted the housing that will be provided at Hensley Field. The plan calls for single-family homes, apartments, and condominiums “with a diverse spectrum of missing-middle housing types, including duplexes, townhomes, stacked flats, cottage courts, and live-work units.” 

“This is a way we can use modern ways of living to make sure people enjoy where they’re living and not have to always be correcting the mistakes of infrastructure that we made 50, 60 years ago,” West said. “What a big win for housing. This is an opportunity for us to cut into the housing gap.” 

At least 20 percent of the homes will be designated for purchase by households earning below 80 percent of the Area Median Income and for rent by those earning less than 60 percent of AMI. An additional 10 percent of the homes will be priced for buyers and renters earning between 81 percent and 121 percent of AMI. 

“It’s a transformational project, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this body to approve a master plan for basically a vacant site with a few buildings that will be preserved,” said District 14 Councilman Paul Ridley. “[It will be created]  with a unique vision for 6,800 units of housing, a large percentage of which will be affordable.”

Despite proposals that could add between 5,783 and 8,414 residences, the Dallas area is still suffering from a deficit of available homes. Some estimate that the city is missing somewhere in the neighborhood of 80,000 housing units.

Hensley Field Master Plan

The 20-year plan covers three different mixed-use scenarios, including an option for a major corporate user. 

Waterfront greenways, a loop trail, neighborhood parks, and a working urban farm also are outlined in the plan. 

The possibilities, council members said, are endless. The master plan was designed by the city’s Planning and Urban Design department staff and Austin-based McCann Adams Studio. 

Meg Gould, assistant director of the Dallas Film and Creative Industries Office, spoke in favor of including a film studio on site. 

“Being centrally located and easily accessible from both coasts, Dallas is an ideal location for filming projects,” Gould said. 

It could take a decade to complete the first segment of the three-phased project, officials said.