What do you do with a crime-ridden extended-stay hotel in close proximity to a major highway and a DART station that has been dubbed the “Hotel From Hell”?
If Mark Melton is involved, it’s likely to be used for affordable housing.
A letter of intent was signed last week by Volunteers of America to purchase the 2.9-acre property on the north side of Vantage Point Drive near Greenville Avenue.
Melton, the founder of the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, has personally taken on the Dallas County justice of the peace courts that hear eviction cases. He’s worked to rehouse hundreds who have been displaced. And when he heard about a property that could be used for permanent supportive housing with wraparound services, he looked for a solution that would serve the community.
“[Volunteers of America] would rehab the whole thing, convert it into multi-family, and take it down from 136 units to 105,” Melton said. “That way you can create some one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms for small families. I think we can turn it into a nice little community.”
Melton reached out to DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas and Housing Forward to see what is needed.
What happens next is in the hands of the Dallas City Council. The matter is scheduled for a rezoning hearing Wednesday, but City Hall sources say they expect it could be deferred 60 days until contracts are in place.
From ‘Habitual Crime Property’ to Affordable Housing
Residents were told at an October community meeting that Dallas police and the Drug Enforcement Administration have made numerous arrests at the Vantage Point Drive hotel involving murder, drug trafficking, sex crimes, and stolen vehicles.
Neighbors refer to the property as the “Hotel from Hell.”
Today, the property is mostly vacant, Melton said, and no significant crime has been reported in three months.
If you look at units that are voucher properties, there’s a misconception that they’re all poor and there’s a lot of crime that comes with them. The fact is, a lot of these voucher holders are young, single mothers. If they lose that voucher, they’re screwed. They go out of their way to follow the rules and make sure there are no problems. They know they can’t afford a market-rate apartment. This is their only chance to raise their kids in a safe environment.
Mark Melton, Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center
A recurring question at an online community meeting about the project hosted Feb. 14 by Melton and District 10 Councilman Adam McGough was “How are you going to deal with homeless people breaking into the units and squatting there?”
“The way you do that is you don’t have empty units,” Melton said.
The property has a new fence, increased security, and video surveillance. When community policing is active in a particular area, crime goes down, Melton said.
“This was a habitual criminal property, but the city attorney’s office confirmed that all the criminal activity is gone,” he said. “The current owners who are operating it as a hotel have stopped taking new customers. It’s not adjacent to single-family homes. It’s a perfect addition to add a multi-family property next to a sea of others. They’re small units, so you can rent them out at affordable prices.”
Housing Choice Voucher Program
Volunteers of America, a nonprofit, would spend at least $3 million to rehabilitate the property by issuing debt and securing bank financing, Melton said.
“If there’s any equity, it would be philanthropic,” he said. “There’s no for-profit involved in this deal at all. The whole intent is to create affordability that doesn’t exist anymore and provide services to the people that live there, stabilize them and educate them, and hopefully get them on a better path.”
Melton said he told Housing Forward and DHA they’ll create the kind of units that are needed. Some of it could be used to get homeless people out of encampments, but it likely would be for residents on the Housing Choice Voucher program, most of whom make really good tenants.
“If you look at units that are voucher properties, there’s a misconception that they’re all poor and there’s a lot of crime that comes with them,” he said. “The fact is, a lot of these voucher holders are young, single mothers. If they lose that voucher, they’re screwed. They go out of their way to follow the rules and make sure there are no problems. They know they can’t afford a market-rate apartment. This is their only chance to raise their kids in a safe environment.”
Peter Brodsky, chair of the Housing Forward board has said there’s a 99 percent success rate with the 1,700-plus people they’ve housed.
“The magic is the case management,” Melton said.
DHA works to connect landlords with the HCV program.
“DHA has about 16,000 voucher families who are funded and in need of affordable housing options,” a DHA spokesperson said. “If you have vacancies, we have great, vetted tenants for you.”
What’s Best For Dallas
While there’s been an effort to incentivize the private sector to build affordable housing, the city’s cheapest apartments in high-crime neighborhoods cost at least $1,200 a month, Melton said.
“I had the thought, ‘What if we just went in and bought a bunch of these lower-cost properties and owned them through a nonprofit structure?’” Melton said. “We can choose as the owners to treat people with dignity and respect and actually follow the law. When there’s not a profit motivation, all those dollars can be turned around and given back to the tenant in the form of lower rent and increased services.”
Because the building is mostly empty, they’re not facing a displacement problem.
“Ultimately we’ve got to do what’s right for the City of Dallas — and this is right for the people of Dallas,” Melton said.
