Generation Housing Partners Buys Church for Redevelopment

An affordable housing complex is coming to the southern Dallas site of a church.

Dallas-based Generation Housing Partners acquired the 6.5-acre site of the former Templo De Alabanza church in West Oak Cliff with plans to build a 200-unit apartment complex dubbed HiLine Illinois, the Dallas Business Journal reported. The project cost is expected to reach $70 million, according to the firm. That’s $350,000 per unit.

The site, at 4710 West Illinois Avenue, had been marketed since May 2023 by Weitzman brokers Scott Smith and Corbin Tanenbaum. The church, owned by the same congregation since at least 1984, plans to relocate to Carrollton in the next two months, citing demographic shifts as many of its members have moved north.

The development will feature two four-story buildings and include 40 one-bedroom units, 100 two-bedroom units and 60 three-bedrooms. Rents will target residents earning between 30 and 70 percent of the area median income, with some market-rate units also in the mix.

Oak Cliff’s Far West area has few apartment options for students and faculty at nearby Dallas College Mountain View campus, the developer said.

The development aligns with Dallas’ Far West Oak Cliff area plan, launched in 2023, which encourages the reuse of underutilized properties. Also along a high-frequency Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus line, it could be a rare example of transit-oriented development in southern Dallas.

Construction is expected to cost about $37.4 million. The capital stack includes a $35 million mortgage from the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation. The firm also got low-income housing tax credits, approved by the city, and gap financing grants from Dallas’ Notice of Funding Availability.

Generation Housing Partners has been involved in public-private housing projects across Dallas, including the Estates at Ferguson and Tenison Lofts in East Dallas.

HiLine Illinois will also include a pool, clubhouse, tennis courts and shared-use laptops for residents. Work could begin within weeks.

— Judah Duke