Council to Vote Next Week on Downtown’s West End Lofts, a ‘Transformative’ Mixed-Use Project

Editor’s Note: The Dallas City Council approved a $49 million subsidy for the West End Lofts project on Dec. 11.

Three downtown Dallas properties are poised for redevelopment into a “transformative” mixed-use, mixed-income, and transportation-oriented development near the West End light rail Dallas Area Rapid Transit station. 

Sycamore Strategies developer Zach Krochtengel is the man behind the $103.2 million plan for West End Lofts. He’s assembled 805 Elm St., 711 Elm St., and 211 N. Austin St. and will go before the Dallas City Council on Wednesday to request tax increment financing funds. Two of the three properties are in the City Center TIF District. 

“It’s got a number of public benefits, some of which include the rehabilitation of two mostly vacant historic buildings, two surface parking lots, and deeper and more affordability on the residential side than the TIF district requires,” said Interim Economic Development Director Kevin Spath. “This is a high-opportunity area. One of the parcels is currently not taxable and with this project, it will become taxable.”

The project will also activate ground-floor retail space and is immediately accessible to the Dallas College El Centro campus. 

“It will provide much-needed eyes on the street to help mitigate against the bad things that tend to happen around the light rail station,” Spath said. “More residents, more users will help drive more demand for retail and services in the West End Historic District.” 

The City Center TIF Board recommended a subsidy of about $28.3 million, and the developer is asking for an additional $20.7 million economic development grant. Earlier this year, the Dallas City Council approved a resolution of support for the project’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit status. 

An extensive briefing with lots of background information and renderings of West End Lofts is posted here.

Housing at West End Lofts 

The plan for West End Lofts includes the renovation of one of the Elm Street properties and new, ground-up construction of a six-story building for a total of 154 units. Sixty-three units will be income-restricted at the 30%, 60%, 70%, and 80% Area Median Income levels. 

About 26,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space is planned along with a plaza and promenade between the two buildings. 

“I think it’s a transformative project for the area because it brings activity, especially ground-floor activity, to the DART rail station and the proximity around El Centro College, Dallas College’s downtown campus,” Krochtengel said. “It gives services for the students that are taking classes down there. That ground-floor retail is extremely needed in that area, especially as it relates to the [Kay Bailey Hutchison] convention center coming and the DART rail station becoming more and more active.” 

Krochtengel said he hopes to partner with Dallas College as much as possible and plans to break ground in about a year.