Vacant Oak Cliff Hospital Poised for New Life as Mixed-Use Village
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There’s been plenty of disagreement lately over what to do with a certain city-owned property in Dallas. Much less so for 2929 S Hampton Rd. in Oak Cliff.
Officials entered the city into a purchase and sale agreement with developer Monte Anderson’s Options Real Estate late last month, potentially putting to an end a multi-year saga over the future of the decommissioned hospital building that has been sitting vacant since 2014.
Anderson said his team plans to preserve and repurpose the existing hospital structure rather than tear it down.
“We’re going to retrofit the building,” Anderson told CandysDirt.com.
Under the preliminary concept, the 121,826 square-foot facility’s upper three floors would be converted into small- and medium-sized apartments. The ground floor would be transformed into a mix of retail, office, medical, and service-oriented uses similar to projects Anderson has previously developed in southern Dallas and DeSoto.
“The hospital building is really in pretty good shape, especially structurally,” Anderson said. “All the hospital rooms already have plumbing in them. That’s a big expense when you’re converting.”
Redevelopment at the site has been a long time coming. The city first bought the former hospital property in 2022 for roughly $6.5 million, but plans to turn it into a homeless housing and services site drew significant opposition from nearby residents, who argued the location was inappropriate because of its proximity to a library, elementary school, public parks, and surrounding neighborhoods.
After a few years of debate and community pushback, officials abandoned the idea and instead sought redevelopment proposals for the 14-acre property, as previously reported by CandysDirt.com.
“This gives everybody a win,” Anderson said. “The city council gets a win for a mistake they made buying it, and I’m assuming it was a mistake. And the neighborhood gets a win because they get a developer who will respect them.”
Some $60 million of investment is expected to go into Anderson’s project, which will not rely on Public Facility Corporation or Housing Finance Corporation support. The transaction itself totals roughly $6.9 million, pending due diligence before finalization.
Considerable community input went into the city’s decision to enter into an agreement with Options Real Estate, including 195 surveys and four community meetings, according to Council Member Zarin Gracey’s (District 3) newsletter.
“This sale proves that District 3 is ready for quality economic development. It took time, but we did it together: the residents, the Councilmember, other elected officials, city staff, and a developer who truly believed in the community vision,” the newsletter reads.
Anderson said he is exploring partnerships with non-profit organizations, possibly Habitat for Humanity, to construct owner-occupied townhomes and other housing products on portions of the surrounding parking lots.
“Mixed-use village, that’s what you’re going to see there,” he said, noting he wants to connect the project to the two big green spaces across the street: Kiest Park and the Oak Cliff Natural Preserve.
Anderson has long advocated for what he calls “incremental development” and “gentlefication” — a neighborhood revitalization approach centered on small-scale, locally owned businesses and housing rather than large, master-planned projects. Over the past two decades, he has helped redevelop properties including the Texas Theatre, Belmont Hotel, Tyler Station, and projects in Duncanville and DeSoto. His philosophy emphasizes creating opportunities for residents and entrepreneurs to own property and build wealth within their communities.
“The community wrote lots of letters [in support],” he said about the 2929 S Hampton project. “It was a combination of things that got us this project, not only the bid price, but what we were going to do, what our commitment was to the community, to the neighbors.”
