A new report finds Dallas with the second-most severe shortage of affordable housing – trailing only Las Vegas. This week, the Dallas City Council approved a plan to add affordable housing in an area that’s become increasingly more expensive.
The Dallas City Council approved the acquisition of an apartment complex by the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation this week and will use the site to offer affordable housing. The complex was the site of a deadly crane collapse in 2019.
According to city documents, the building at 2627 Live Oak Street now operates under the name Oak and Ellum and will begin offering rents below market rate in 90% of the 424 units.
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WATCH HEREMarcy Helfand, president of the DHFC, told NBC 5 Friday that the location is well situated near public transportation, a grocery store, and downtown Dallas and offers a quick way to add to the city's affordable housing stock.
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SIGN UP "It's very hard to find an area where you could do new construction in that part of town and make it affordable," Helfand said.
Helfand said the DHFC started looking at the site in late 2023 as a possible location for adding affordable housing.
The apartment complex was the site of a June 2019 crane collapse that killed a resident, injured four others and displaced hundreds operating under the Elan City Lights branding.
In 2023, a Dallas County jury awarded $860 million to the family of Kiersten Smith, who was killed in the collapse.
Helfand said DHFC and Waterford Property Company are partnering to acquire the property from the developer Greystar, but that the sale is not yet complete.
"The fact that the crane accident happened is probably the only thing that enabled this developer (Waterford), who is a mission-driven developer, that could make it work for them,” Helfand said.
She added that the rental rates will target working professionals, many of whom are in the essential workforce areas of police, fire, nursing, and teaching.
"Our feeling is that if they can live in the city, they're going to be more likely to accept jobs in the city," Helfand said. "And we know we have shortages of nurses. We have shortages of teachers.”
She added that current tenants won't notice any change, but those who meet designated income thresholds will be eligible for discounted rents moving forward.
