Frazier Courts Set for Transformation with Awarding of Tax Credits
- Demolition of old buildings under way
September 2, 2004 (Dallas)—The Housing Authority of the City of Dallas, TX (DHA) received nine percent tax credits from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) to revitalize
one of DHA’s oldest, largest and most troubled sites. The vision for the southeast Dallas area is the beginning of a plan to reinvigorate the “Golden Triangle,” which includes Frazier Courts, Turner
Courts and Rhoads Terrace public housing developments.
“DHA has been before the TDHCA board several times in the last couple of years because we believe this is a community in dire need of transformation and it is also a neighborhood that is worth
preserving,” said Ann Lott, president and CEO.
“It is important to me that we make changes in the Frazier Courts community and make good on our promise to the residents who live there. My goal is to go beyond the basics of safe, decent and
affordable housing; I want the children to be proud of the area where they live and call “home.”
The 1950s buildings are in such disrepair there is not much DHA can do to renovate them—they must come down. HUD provided DHA with $20 million and the agency must leverage it with another $40
million to make this $60 million commitment to the southeast Dallas neighborhood.
The five-phase plan calls for demolishing 550 units and replacing them with 314 multifamily and 40 single-family homes. The nine percent tax credits totaling $5.4 million, will be used for 76
townhouse-style units; The developments include 38 public housing, 22 low-income housing tax credit and 16 market-rate units.
DHA aggressively sought the funding because The TDHCA process is competitive—private and public agencies alike were vying for the same dollars. DHA also has received a commitment from the city of
Dallas for $282,000 of Community Block Development Grant money for the project, and the agency will continue to seek additional funding, Lott said.
The nine percent tax credits will allow DHA to provide new construction of 76 units and substantially rehabilitate a blighted neighborhood. The tax credits are critical to assisting DHA in
deconcentrating poverty through mixed income mixed financed developments.
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