As is, such a project would be required to include retail space, but the developer, Slate Properties, is asking that the requirement be waived through a zoning change.
That sounds like a bad deal for the neighborhood, according to Katrina Whatley and more than a thousand others who signed a petition she started against the project. Whatley lives in the area, and if homes are going to be demolished to make way for another apartment building, the least the developer can do is offer the community some retail space with it, Whatley said. That’s why she started the petition about three months ago.
Last October, Whatley received a letter about the proposed zoning change because it would occur within 500 feet of her property. The property in question is on the next street south of her. “So, it’s super close,” she said. She emailed Rob Baldwin of Baldwin Associates, the representative for the developer, stating that she didn’t think the zoning change was a good idea. Since then, she’s been checking daily to see when the proposed zoning change will receive a hearing.
Slate Properties didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Baldwin said he was surprised by the neighborhood's reaction because the developer is proposing to build less than what is already allowed on the property. Under current zoning, it could erect an eight-story building.
Baldwin said the structure will be built with retail uses in mind for the future, but the builders don’t think the area is ready for more retail, noting that other retail space nearby sits vacant.
“We are proposing to do what we call retail-ready uses on the ground floor,” Baldwin said. But for the time being, that space would be dedicated to something called live-work units where someone could open up a small retail store or professional office. This is if the proposed zoning change goes through, but Baldwin said the developer will likely move forward with the project even if retail space is required.
Whately started a petition about three months ago to keep the retail requirement in the project. “It kind of caught fire,” she said. As of Aug. 1, there were more than 1,700 signatures on the petition, and the effort has been covered by Candy’s Dirt and the Advocate Magazine. Representatives of the developer told the publications that over the last two years they’ve met several times with the Lake Cliff Neighborhood Association to discuss the project.“It’s all going to be gone for some modern seven-story building." – Katrina Whatley, petition organizer
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Whatley said she and her neighbors never heard of the meetings. “So, it feels like it was done behind closed doors,” she said. But what came out of those meetings is that neighborhood residents told the developer that they didn’t want retail space included in the project because of the traffic it could create. Whatley claims otherwise. “The apartment complex is seven stories, 253 units,” Whatley said. “That’s where the traffic is. It’s not a handful of small retail places.”
“The thing to me that gets me the most is that these developers keep coming in here, tearing things down … putting up these buildings that nobody likes and no one here can afford. They’re erasing our history,” Whatley said. “It’s all going to be gone for some modern seven-story building. And it keeps happening.”
Building 253 multifamily units may seem like a good idea as Dallas and the rest of the country face a housing crisis, but Whatley questions whether anyone in the neighborhood would be able to afford these new apartments. There are already many new apartment residences in the neighborhood, and some of the smallest ones are going for $1,700 per month, she said. The biggest ones are renting for more than $3,000. “So, the developers are putting up these places because I guess there’s a need, but who can afford that?” Whatley said. “No one that lives here currently. That’s what I hear a lot.”
Current zoning allows for the homes to be demolished, Whatley said. “So, my fight is not against that, even though I am completely against them doing that,” she said. “I’m trying to pick my battles where I think I might be able to make a difference.”
That’s why she’s fighting for the inclusion of retail space. “The only thing that would be good for the people in this neighborhood is to have some places to walk to,” she said. "But it’s at least something. Like, don’t take everything away from us. At least do something for the neighborhood.”
Baldwin said that he and the developer are still trying to work with the community to reach an agreement on the project. If everything goes according to plan, the proposed zoning change could go to the City Plan Commission this month and be before the City Council in September.
