Neumann: More Low-Income Housing ‘Not the Right Recipe to Bring Oak Cliff Forward’

At last Thursday’s Trinity River Project photo contest award ceremony at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, City Councilman Dave Neumann gave us the whys and what fors on his decision to recommend against a controversial redevelopment of the Parks at Wynnewood low-income apartment complex. Look for the full story in this Friday’s edition of Oak Cliff People. Until then, here’s Neumann — in his own words — explaining why 40 more years of low-income housing won’t work for Wynnewood Village Shopping Center or the surrounding North Oak Cliff neighborhoods:

Why did you recommend the city council’s housing committee remove support for the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs tax credits Bank of America Community Development Group was asking for? (The 9 percent tax credit represents an estimated $14.7 million, according to city staff, and would have also been paired with a $1.5 million HUD grant awarded by the city. The city council’s housing committee voted unanimously April 19 to remove all support for Bank of America’s proposed redevelopment aimed at low-income seniors. Neumann is not a member of the housing committee.)

Neumann: It was a byproduct of community feedback. It is a byproduct of over two months of discussion from neighborhood groups: Wynnewood North, Wynnewood, Beckleywood, and Elmwood; and the owners of the Wynnewood Village Shopping Center. And, collectively, the feedback I got was this was not in the long term best interest of the community.

The city has a long-term commitment that we do whatever we can to make [Wynnewood Village] shopping center successful because the surrounding residential areas depend on it.

We are hopeful that Kroger reinvests. We are hopeful that we find a tenant for the center core of the shopping center. We would love a theater if that would happen. The market place has to determine that.

We are engaging Centro — the owner of the shopping center. So, I thought it was important they were aware and gave me their feedback as it relates to the housing project as well as other economic development issues.

The collective wisdom was that 40 more years of low-income housing was not the right recipe to bring Oak Cliff forward. Oak Cliff is making great progress. We need to keep the momentum moving moving forward. That is not part of the recipe to have us move forward.

We have great single-family neighborhoods and we need to strengthen the neighborhoods. Our district has a significant investment already in all different levels of income of citizens that live here. I just don’t feel in the end … that that would be a good thing for Oak Cliff.

How did Bank of America receive the news?

Neumann: They were disappointed.

I called Brian Roop, Bank of America Community Development Coporation’s project coordinator for the Parks at Wynnewood, seeking comment last week. Roop has yet to return the phone call.

However, John Greenan, executive director of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation — which was co-developing the project with Bank of America, was available for comment. You can read his comments and those from Wynnewood North neighborhood association president Lynn Sulander in Friday’s edition of Oak Cliff People.