Resistance Mounts Against ‘Shady’ Tax-Exempt Public Facility Corporation Projects 

Two housing projects seeking funding through the Dallas Public Facility Corporation have drawn the ire of neighbors and City Council members alike.

At a Tuesday meeting of the Dallas PFC Board of Directors, 11 residents raised concerns or outright opposed the controversial projects through which developers get a 75-year tax-free lease in exchange for providing affordable housing units. 

Both developments — Ojala Partners’ Standard Silver Line proposal and Sycamore Strategies’ proposal at Cypress Creek and Forest Lane — were deferred to the next PFC board meeting, which is set for March 28.

Roadblocks to Engagement on Public Facility Corporation

There likely would have been more opposition, but a posted video conference link did not work for many who wished to attend until the error was corrected three hours into a four-hour meeting. A CandysDirt.com reporter accessed the meeting by phone and heard from several interested parties that the advertising and accessibility of the meeting were less than transparent.

It’s also difficult to provide commentary from a meeting when the speakers did not clearly identify themselves and developer presentations could not be viewed. 

Cara Comes Out Swinging Against PFCs

Prior to Tuesday’s PFC board meeting, District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn came out swinging against a proposal in her district by Ojala Partners, which already has two approved PFC projects in the pipeline. 

“This project would remove city, county, and school district taxes with an exemption for 75 years, even as more children would need to be served and this area is already targeted with extra resources from the city,” Mendelsohn said in reference to the Standard Silver Line proposal. “How could we afford to pay for services when we give up the tax revenue?”

The projects raising the most public fury include: 

• Standard Silver Line in partnership with Ojala Partners to be located at 7825 McCallum Blvd. 
• Cypress Creek at Forest Lane in partnership with Sycamore Strategies to be located at 11520 North Central Expressway. 

A video stream of Tuesday’s board meeting will be posted Thursday. 

Standard Silver Line

Mendelsohn rallied the public to fight the project on McCallum Boulevard near Coit Road. The proposal calls for the redevelopment of an existing apartment complex from less than 500 units to approximately 700 units. 

“It is already affordable housing,” Mendelsohn said. “Isn’t the PFC goal to put affordable units in places that the housing doesn’t exist?” 

The area is also one of the highest crime areas in District 12, she added. 

“Isn’t the PFC goal to put affordable units in safe areas?” Mendelsohn asked. “It is part of a federally qualified U.S. Census tract, noted for low-income residents and single mothers. There is a strong concentration of poverty in this area and more units will make it less safe and desirable.”

There is no transportation benefit and no new amenities proposed in an area that already has a “massive concentration of affordable housing,” the councilwoman wrote on her social media pages Monday. 

“The current rent IS LESS than what is proposed,” she wrote. “This deal makes housing LESS AFFORDABLE and leaves the city, county, and school district without any property taxes.”

Cypress Creek at Forest Lane

Sycamore Strategies’ proposal for Cypress Creek at Forest Lane drew the ire of District 10 Councilman Adam McGough, who, in a Feb. 24 memo, called the project “shady and surreptitious.” 

“From the very beginning of this project, it has been handled outside the course of normal procedure and without needed community engagement,” McGough wrote. “I am disappointed and disturbed to learn of the steps our city manager has taken to direct staff to move a project forward without including the council representative or the community. The community has been excluded and disrespected from the beginning. That is why there was vast opposition to this project two years ago.” 

That’s right, two years ago.

The project was approved in 2021 despite McGough’s opposition. Development was delayed when it was discovered that deed restrictions prohibit housing construction on the site. The way around that, however, is to sell the land to the city, lease it back tax-free from the Dallas PFC, and go forth with developing and managing the project. Developers said Tuesday there’s an urgency attached to the project because tax credits will expire next year.

William Roth, who owns an office building adjacent to the property, spoke against the project during Tuesday’s meeting, specifically referencing poor public policy in disregarding property rights that have been in place since the 1970s.

McGough Pulls no Punches With PFC Board

McGough also addressed the PFC board on Tuesday. 

“I am working to find out additional details, but as of this moment, I understand that the city manager is working on a process to add an item to an upcoming Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee meeting agenda, even after I requested that Chairman [Casey] Thomas not place an item on the agenda, about which the community hasn’t been informed, as well as to an upcoming full-council agenda,” McGough said in his memo. 

“This appears to be another deceitful slight to this community by city management and staff. All involved should, at the minimum, pause all discussions underway until the surrounding communities, including Hamilton Park and Northwood Estates, along with other stakeholders are engaged in a meaningful way. The lack of transparency is shameful and unacceptable.”

District 10 City Councilman Adam McGough

The project is proposed as a four-story midrise product with a wrapped parking structure and 189 residential units. 

The unit mix would consist of 68 one-bedroom units, 101 two-bedroom units, and 20 three-bedroom units, according to the proposal. 

“The units will include energy-efficient appliances, granite countertops, in-unit washer/dryers, and other Class A features,” states a Feb. 24 memo from Assistant City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry issued to the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee. “The Market Value Analysis (MVA) market type is uncategorizable as the land is not currently developed with residential uses. The development is well-located in close proximity to multiple job centers such as Medical City Dallas, big box retailers, grocery stores, and transportation. The Forest Lane DART Station is less than half a mile away. This is a centrally-located development that will be well-suited to serve the needs of the mixed-income tenants it intends to serve.”