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Avida’s Highland Park tear down irks preservationist neighbors

Community backlash has builder second-guessing plans to live there

Avida’s Highland Park Tear Down Draws Backlash
Avida co-founder Rozie Samei and 4415 Fairfax Avenue in Highland Park (Google Maps, LinkedIn)

An outcry of resistance from Highland Park residents and preservationists over the demolition of a historic home in Highland Park didn’t stop Avida Custom Homes from moving forward with its redevelopment plans.

The Plano-based firm has begun razing the four-bedroom, 4,900-square-foot home at 4415 Fairfax Avenue, irking members of the community who believe the house, and others that have suffered a similar fate, represent an important era of the inner Dallas suburb’s architectural history, the Dallas Morning News reported. 

Organizations like Preservation Park Cities fear that the 1920s-built home will be replaced with something that’s out of place in Highland Park, where teardowns have become common. Some residents have posted signs on the street with phrases like “Save Our Town!” and “This has got to stop.”

Avida says historic elements of the home were lost long ago.

“It was butchered in the ’70s, and the house wasn’t salvageable,” Rozie Samei, who co-founded the company with her husband, David, told the outlet. “It’s really unfair that I’m becoming a poster child for preservation, even though there are so many other homes that have been torn down by so many other builders.”

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Compass agent Elly Holder, who represented the seller, was told that Avida’s plan was to renovate the home, not demolish it. It’s unclear how much Avida paid for the property, but it’s valued at nearly $2.7 million by the Dallas Central Appraisal District, with the land being worth $1.8 million.

Highland Park has no regulations over the preservation of historic homes. The town issued a demolition permit two days after receiving the application on Aug. 15, as all of the necessary requirements were met, Highland Park development services director Hugh Pender told the outlet.

The Sameis bought the site with plans to build a new home and live in it, but community backlash has forced them to reconsider living there. Some residents are surprised by the level of scorn the couple has received, mentioning the handful of other historic homes that have been razed without nearly as much pushback. 

—Quinn Donoghue

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Companies and People
Avida Custom HomesCompassPreservation Park CitiesElly HolderRozie Samei
Tags
Demolitionhistoric homeRedevelopment