Developers dig into affordable housing near Dallas’ Fair Park

Two developers with South Dallas roots have poured their hearts into a new affordable housing project that’s now underway.

Dallas Housing Foundation founders Scottie Smith II and Kevin Hemphill broke ground on a project that will transform the site of a former homeless encampment into dozens of affordable homes, the Dallas Morning News reported. Construction has started for the first ten units, which will be ready for buyers by the end of the year.

The project is in South Dallas’ Jeffries-Meyers neighborhood near Fair Park. Duplexes will comprise two floor plans ranging from 1,500 to 1,600 square feet, and each will have three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a two-car garage. Prices will start in the low $200,000s and go up to $285,000. The homes would normally cost between $350,000-$400,000, but a $1.4 million development subsidy approved in 2020 allows the developers to keep prices low. 

“Any family that’s able to get on this street and be a part of this emerging community will build a lifetime, they won’t be throwing their money away,” Hemphill told the outlet. “For our people, brown, Black people, 97 percent of our wealth is in our home. No home, no wealth.”

Hemphill and Smith founded the Dallas Housing Foundation in 2019, realizing they shared a similar vision to revamp a historically disinvested part of the city. That same year, the city approved the company’s purchase of 34 units across 17 buildings through the city’s land-transfer program at a discounted price. The Dallas Housing Foundation acquired the residences in 2021.

A single person making up to $89,000, and a four-person household that makes up to $127,000 should qualify to buy a home in the new development. Some buyers could be eligible for the city’s homebuyer assistance program that funds down payments up to $50,000, the outlet said

For Smith and Hemphill, the project is all about improving a community that’s been riddled with crime, drugs and poverty in the past. The home ownership rate within the 75215 ZIP code, which includes Jeffries-Meyers, was 32 percent as of 2021, and the median household income was just $32,000. Smith and Hemphill are part of a larger effort to improve the area’s long-term outlook.

—Quinn Donoghue 

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