Crime Drops in District 8 as New Development at RedBird Rises: Is There a Connection? 

Can the revitalization of the Shops at RedBird, fueled by millions of dollars in city incentives  “save” District 8 from crime and poverty?

Some say it already has. Some say southern Dallas and Oak Cliff don’t need saving. And some say it goes a long way when residents take pride in their community. 

CandysDirt.com set out early this year to look at “shopping center crime”  — parking lot smash-and-grabs and catalytic converter theft. Our scope evolved as residents began talking to us about safety concerns in their residential neighborhoods and venues unique to each of Dallas’ 14 council districts. 

We knew that the old RedBird Mall had a history of being one of the more unsafe spots in town, whether by perception or reality. Then we heard from many during an April 12 Dallas City Council meeting that it’s home these days to one of the more popular mixed-use developments in the city. 

District 8 Crime Statistics

Incumbent District 8 Councilman Tennell Atkins, who is running for re-election May 6 against Subrina Lynn Brenham and Davante “Shawt” Peters, was endorsed by the Dallas Police Association Political Action Committee and Dallas Fire Fighters Association. 

A majority of the council has championed Police Chief Eddie Garcia and his Violent Crime Reduction Plan.

Crime has decreased by about 8.83 percent in District 8 since this time last year. Property crimes are down 11 percent, crimes against persons are down 11 percent, and assaults are down 12 percent, according to the Dallas Police Department crime dashboard. 

However, District 8 has seen a spike in homicide (53 percent), property damage/vandalism (6 percent), and robberies (15 percent). 

The data can be a little misleading. For example, a 53 percent increase in murders sounds like there’s a huge homicide problem in District 8. Dallas police have said one homicide is too many, but a further look at the stats shows that the number of homicides in southern Dallas jumped from 13 on this date in 2022 to 20 so far this year. 

Two men were shot and killed in the Redbird area near Westmoreland Road last month. The day after the homicides were reported, as residents were gathered in the parking lot for a candlelight vigil, a drive-by shooting at the same location wounded four victims, according to CBS News. 

The Redbird community is described as an upper-to-middle-class cluster of neighborhoods including Wynnewood Hills, Elderwoods/Elderoaks/Twin Oaks, and Glen Oaks.

An open records request filed by CandysDirt.com on April 15 seeking crime statistics specific to RedBird Mall over the past five years had not been filled by late April 23. 

Citywide homicide numbers are up in Dallas, with 100 murders reported so far this year, compared to 91 this time last year. That’s a 9.89 percent increase, according to the crime statistics dashboard. 

The Shops at RedBIrd

During an April 12 Dallas City Council meeting, elected officials unanimously approved a $5.8 million incentives package for developer Peter Brodsky and Albertsons Companies to build a new Tom Thumb grocery store. 

“For many years you looked at RedBird Mall — we used to call it Dead Bird,” Councilman Atkins said during the meeting. “Now it’s RedBird. This grocery store is something we’ve been fighting for — for three years — trying to make it a reality.” 

The 50,000-square-foot grocery store at Camp Wisdom and Westmoreland roads could be ready for shoppers by 2026 and offer up to 90 local jobs, according to a press release issued by the City of Dallas earlier this month. 

Several council members have been negotiating for a grocery store at RedBird, and it simply couldn’t be done without an economic incentive package, officials said. 

RedBird is within a Tax Increment Financing District, which means that a portion of the tax increment collected from new improvements within that zone is reinvested back into the area. 

District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn voted in favor of the project but questioned the expense to the city.

“I know that we offered $3 million at one point and didn’t have any takers,” she said. “I just want to go back and account for how much we’ve actually invested in this project and this area.” 

In 2016, a $2.4 million grant was awarded to the developer. A $10 million grant and a $12 million, 15-year, interest-only loan were awarded in 2018. Other loans and grants were awarded to businesses on the RedBird campus in addition to TIF funds, Mendelsohn said. 

“When I count it up I’m coming up with over $49 million in grants and TIF, $18 million in loans, plus quite a few traffic signals,” she said. “We also modified some agreements to be favorable to the developer. We have invested an enormous amount of resources into this project, and I think it’s doing well.” 

The Palladium Class A apartment building and employment center Chime Solutions, also developed by Brodsky, have received incentives for locating at RedBird. The $200 million mixed-use development is one of the largest commercial projects in southern Dallas, according to the city press release. 

Still, there’s a risk for businesses in the area because the momentum is only just starting to build, explained Economic Development Director Robin Bentley.

“Credit to Tom Thumb and Albertsons for stepping up and taking this risk for the city,” she said. “They have the same concerns every other grocer has in southern Dallas. It’s much easier to open your eighth store in the suburbs than take a chance on southern Dallas. We’re hopeful this store, like our other investments, will set the market and prove the model for future stores.” 

New Development Linked to Lower Crime? 

A study conducted in 2019 by researchers looking into the effects of Pittsburgh’s public-private real estate investments found that such improvements increase property values and decrease arrest numbers. 

During the 1990s, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded more than $6 billion in competitive grants called HOPE VI to spur neighborhood redevelopment. We add to HOPE VI research by examining the impacts of a large set of public-private real estate investments, including HOPE VI, made over a 16-year period in a distressed Pittsburgh neighborhood called the Hill District. Specifically, we estimate the effects of the $468 million additional public-private investments that Hill District received compared to a demographically similar neighborhood on sale prices, rental prices, and crime. We find large and statistically significant impacts of the public-private investments on residential sales prices, commercial sales prices, and on rental prices, but only a marginally significant yet meaningful decline in non-violent arrests.

Does Large-Scale Neighborhood Reinvestment Work? Effects of Public-Private Real Estate Investment on Local Sales Prices, Rental Prices, and Crime Rates

As we learned with declining crime stats in bordering District 1 — which includes the northern part of Oak Cliff — when a community takes pride in its neighborhoods and is engaged with local law enforcement, crime can trend downward. 

Vacant buildings and blighted areas can be a draw for criminal activity. A well-lit, activated area like The Shops at RedBird can have a positive impact on the surrounding residential areas. 

“This is an opportunity to turn the page and have a fresh start,” Brodsky says on the RedBird redevelopment website. 

“The redevelopment of The Shops at RedBird is rooted in a collective desire to create a new and authentic heart to South Dallas,” the site states. “By re-envisioning this once-thriving center, the new vision seeks to create a dense mixture of retail, office, hotel, community health clinics, and multifamily space while also encouraging walkability throughout the site.”