Joint Venture Will Convert Lake Highlands Apartments To Workforce Housing
An apartment complex in Lake Highlands is being converted to workforce housing as the price of housing skyrockets in the Dallas metro.
Waterford Property Co., The Vistria Group and Northern Liberties acquired Domain at Midtown Park at 8169 Midtown Blvd. through a partnership with the Dallas Housing Finance Corp. The deal exempts property taxes for 99 years in exchange for affordable units.
Under the agreement with the DHFC, the owners will set aside 51% of units for residents making 80% of the area’s average median income and 39% for residents making 140% AMI. Ten percent of the units will be leased at market rate.
“As Dallas has experienced strong growth over the past 10 years, its rents have continued to climb, like many across the country, and the city is dealing with affordability issues,” Waterford co-founder Sean Rawson said in a statement. “The cost of housing has gone up as much as anywhere in the United States and police, teachers and other essential workers are the ones who are at risk.”
The median sales price of a home in Dallas has increased 197% to $395,788 since 2018, per KERA News. Meanwhile, rental rate hikes in DFW have outpaced state and national averages.
Waterford, Vistria and Northern Liberties are among a growing number of investors looking to provide housing for low and middle-income earners. Dallas was the No. 1 city for affordable housing investment in 2023, with its annual average increasing by more than $200M over pre-pandemic levels, according to a December report from CBRE.
Still, the city remains short about 33,600 rental units affordable to lower-income residents. That deficit is expected to more than double by the end of the decade, per a June report from Texas-based nonprofit BC Workshop.
The city is also grappling with a shortage of about 60,000 for-sale homes affordable to teachers, bus drivers and other middle-income earners, per KERA.
Dallas residents will vote on a $1.25B bond May 4 that will include about $61M for affordable housing. This would fall short of the $200M recommended by housing advocates but still exceeds any previous city allocations for housing relief.
