‘Hotel From Hell’ Rezoning Makes Way for St. Jude Center to House Homeless in Lake Highlands
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A former extended-stay hotel on the north side of Vantage Point Drive west of Greenville Avenue was rezoned Wednesday, making way for St. Jude Centers to redevelop the site and provide affordable transitional housing.
Staff and the City Plan Commission previously recommended approval of the zoning change from Multiple Commercial District to Mixed Use District.
The item was deferred five times over the past year as term-limited Councilman Adam McGough attempted to work with neighbors to find a resolution for the 2.9-acre site — previously known as a hub of criminal activity and deemed “Hotel from Hell” by residents in the area. Read the staff case report here.
“This is something we’ve delayed numerous times, and I believe for a valid and good reason,” McGough said Wednesday. “This has been one of the most dangerous properties in our entire area. Yes, this is just a zoning change, but it has lots of implications for other impacts in our community. It’s something the community has engaged in and was very clear that they did not want to reward the previous property owner that had been so bad and allowed such horrible impacts in our community. I do believe that what is being presented now is a much better option. [St. Jude] has offered and continues to allow the community to speak into what the final project will be.”
A previous plan pitched by Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center founder Mark Melton was taken off the table, but it wasn’t clear why in Wednesday’s meeting.
The Plan for 99 Vantage Point Drive
Real estate investment manager Joseph Dingman, representing St. Jude Inc., part of the Catholic Housing Initiative, said St. Jude has developed properties in Districts 11 and 13 and hopes to have a similar venture in Lake Highlands.
“They offer permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless people paired with intensive case work, resolving the problems that cause homelessness to begin with, and rebuilding community among the residents,” Dingman said.
The St. Jude centers are managed by Catholic Charities, which also provides casework and programming in collaboration with other agencies.
St. Jude plans to purchase 99 Vantage Point and do a major renovation of the space. According to city records, the hotel has 136 rooms across 70,828 square feet.
Dingman said St. Jude plans to open the property as St. Jude Vantage Point in early 2024.
“In our hands, the property will look better, and the operation there will be helpful to the community, not a burden,” he said. “We’ll be taking folks out of encampments, not causing lots of police calls to the property. St. Jude Center will have someone on-site in charge 24 hours a day. We screen residents and won’t take those with violent crimes of record.”
St. Jude got involved in the project in May and has gathered support from neighbors, Dingman said.
District 10 resident Adam Lamont, founder of Dallas Neighbors for Housing, spoke in support of the rezoning.
“What’s there now is not really much,” Lamont said. “This is, for me, an opportunity to invest in this place and also in the individuals who need assistance through the proposal. I also see it as an opportunity within this larger corridor.”
Chris Carter, who ran in a failed election bid for McGough’s seat earlier this month, said the adjacent homeowners and businesses are adamantly opposed to the rezoning. Carter was ultimately escorted from council chambers for repeatedly making disparaging remarks about McGough.
Kathy Stewart, who won the D10 seat May 6, was also present at the meeting but did not address the council. She’ll be sworn in on June 19.
Council Support for St. Jude Center
Council members unanimously supported McGough’s motion to approve the rezoning.
There’s a sense of community and quality of life among the residents at the St. Jude Center on Forest Lane in District 13, said Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis.
“It is clean. It is orderly,” she said. “While at first there was neighborhood opposition, it is now very much supported by a neighborhood that sees a property can be kept up, secure, lit, and also contributing to the good of the community.”
Willis further noted that she was confident in St. Jude’s quality of work and the track record it has in District 13.
District 1 Councilman Chad West said he’s toured the D13 center and it looks “just like any other market-rate housing facility.”
“It’s very nice, well-kept,” he said. “It blended in with everything else that was shiny and pretty in that area. I’m excited to see this come through and hopefully add to our stock for affordable housing.”
District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz said she’d like to see more St. Jude Center facilities throughout Dallas.
“I think that the model of taking properties that have been dangerous and are criminal in our city and reusing them for good is a model we ought to actually seek out,” she said.
