Cara Mendelsohn

Office of Homeless Solutions Fine-Tunes AIDS Healthcare Foundation Housing Pilot Program

By April Towery / November 23, 2023 /

The Dallas Office of Homeless Solutions proposed a pilot program in September that would house the homeless in partnership with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, costing the city about $3 million.  A location for the housing development in City Council District 6, selected by the AHF, is already operational. City staff recommended partnering on the existing…

Three Panels Are Reviewing Dallas’ City-Owned Real Estate, But There’s no Strategic Vision

By April Towery / November 21, 2023 /

City officials have again promised a “deep dive” into plans for repurposing 50,000 acres of city-owned real estate, but they don’t have a strategic vision, and three different panels are evaluating the assets.  Those three panels — the Trust for Public Land, the Ad Hoc Committee on Pensions, and the Dallas Economic Development Corporation —…

Study Shows That Dallas Has a Lot of Housing, But it Also Has a Lot of Poverty

By April Towery / November 18, 2023 /

Following a Tuesday review and discussion of the Child Poverty Action Lab’s study on the Dallas rental market, members of the Dallas City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee came to a couple of conclusions. The city has a lot of housing opportunities, but it also has a lot of poverty.  The committee, chaired by…

Dallas City Council Criticizes Poor Project Management of Still-Unfinished Homeless Housing at Former Hotel Miramar 

By April Towery / October 25, 2023 /

Dallas has owned the former Hotel Miramar since 2020 and is finally nearing the finish line to provide permanent supportive housing for the homeless — but nobody was popping bottles at the Monday project briefing.  That’s because the site at 1950 Fort Worth Ave. has been vacant for years. The costs have risen exponentially since…

Housing Committee Is Skeptical of ‘Pilot Project’ Homeless Facility in District 6

By April Towery / September 25, 2023 /

The Dallas City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee heard last week plans for a pilot program that would take dozens of unhoused individuals and house them at a former hotel in District 6 partially funded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.  Committee members did not entirely embrace the idea, as there already are buildings flagged…