Dallas City Council approved $31.4 million in TIF funds for south Dallas housing development. Downtown area at Sunset August & September 2019Last week, the Dallas City Council approved funding for a 270-acre mixed-use housing development in southern Dallas called University Hill. It will be located near the University of North Texas Dallas campus and was approved for up to $31.4 million in tax increment funding.
Affordable units must be distributed geographically by unit size and “must avoid disparate impact against protected classes,” for example by limiting affordable housing to one-bedrooms units, which would leave families with children out of the bargain. Dallas council member Tennell Atkins, who represents District 8 where University Hill will be built, said this project has been in the works for a long time, starting with needed sewage and wastewater development in the area.
Atkins said the TIF funding for this development is an investment in the area by keeping money in the neighborhood, which is in dire need of housing.But while Atkins is excited about this new development opportunity for the neighborhood, Sandy Rollins, the executive director of the Texas Tenants Union, has reservations about whether the housing that will be set aside will actually be affordable for those who need it. Thus far, she says, the TIF program hasn't delivered much on that front.