If you’re headed to Oak Cliff via downtown Dallas, Lake Cliff is typically the neighborhood you’ll encounter first on your way to your destination. The area is bordered by E. 5th Street on the north, E. Davis and E. 8th Street on the south, and is sandwiched between N. Zang and N. Marsalis on the west and east, respectively. Located just south of the neighborhood’s eponymous park and well-known historic residential tower, the area was full of aging historic homes and businesses for the longest time. When the Oak Cliff Gateway rezoning went through in 2015, Lake Cliff started to change and transform at a breakneck pace. With apartments popping up all over the area, how will all of these new dwellings and developments affect Lake Cliff’s character?
While rezoning isn’t inherently bad, it can have unintended consequences. Take Katrina Whatley’s duplex on N. Beckley for example. When the Oak Cliff Gateway rezoning case went through, Whatley’s building, which is next door to the boarding house where Lee Harvey Oswald spent his last days as a free man, ended up directly bordering the rezoned area. In fact, that edge went right up to her property line. Whatley’s property and several nearby are governed by the Lake Cliff Historic District overlay. The building next door was not. The developer that purchased the property next door was able to, according to the zoning enacted, build almost right up to the brick wall that separates her kitchen from someone else’s apartment balcony.
Alarm Bells in Lake Cliff
Naturally, the idea of more dense apartment buildings just a block down from Whatley’s home set off alarm bells for the North Oak Cliff resident and local Realtor. She started a Change.org petition against a proposed zoning change to the properties bordered by E. 5th and E. 6th streets on the north and south and N. Beckley and N. Zang on the west and east. The petition, which went live over the weekend, has 700 signatures at our last look.
The proposed rezoning would reduce the street-level retail requirement for the developer on E. 5th and E. 6th streets and tweak the street-level use on N. Beckley Ave. to a live/work configuration or possibly townhomes. The project would bring a seven-story multifamily development that would include 253 residential units that would conform to the existing zoning.
“If the city council approves the developer’s request to remove the retail requirement, it could send a signal that the developers who want more profits come before the benefit to the neighborhood,” Whatley told daltxrealestate.com.
Building by The Books
However, Reid Beucler, principal of Slate Properties, said that the project his firm plans to bring to the City of Dallas’ Plan Commission is actually the product of discussions with the neighborhood about the property.
“I think that there’s a little misunderstanding,” Beucler told daltxrealestate.com. “We’re not looking for a major zoning change. We’re not asking for anything new in terms of density or height.”
Instead, Beucler and zoning representative Rob Baldwin of Baldwin Associates want to remove the retail requirements for the property facing what he categorizes as “side streets,” which, if retail was allowed on those sides, the parking allotment for the retail spaces could worsen traffic — a concern of nearby property owners.
“We bought this property in January through March of last year and we’ve had multiple calls with the Lake Cliff Neighborhood Association letting them know ‘This is what we’re thinking,'” Beucler said. His organization spoke with several representatives of Lake Cliff Neighborhood Association in the fall of 2021.
It’s worth noting that the block purchased by Slate, while not technically inside the Lake Cliff Historic District, does contain a few homes that one might consider historic. The proposed demolition of the structures is a tough pill to swallow when North Oak Cliff is fighting to stem the rising tide of teardowns along the Bishop Arts District.
“The developer is already diminishing the character of Oak Cliff by tearing down several old homes and replacing them with a seven-story apartment building — and now they want to take even more from us by removing the retail requirement,” Whatley opined. “At least with some retail the neighborhood would benefit from having shops to walk to and enjoy. That would be a tiny consolation for removing parts of our history and charm.”
However, Beucler says that in conversations with neighbors, traffic on E. 5th and E. 6th streets — those that would be considered “secondary streets” in the rezoning proposal — was a major concern.
The change to allow live/work units on Beckley in lieu of retail (think: a downstairs gallery with a residence above) “should be favorable to the neighborhood as it will actually be less traffic,” Beucler said. “We’re also cleaning up a few things in the zoning that aren’t feasible like required on-street parking on Zang, which isn’t feasible with the trolley line.”
Beucler also noted that while he’s a developer, he likes to work with neighborhoods and consult with stakeholders. For instance, his firm completed a luxury apartment project in East Dallas near White Rock Lake called Doverhouse. The neighborhood was concerned about the loss of a beautiful historic church next to the proposed development. However, the sanctuary stands today — and it’s now a second location for the popular gourmet coffee shop Ascension.
“We like to think we made the neighbors happy with that,” Beucler said, later adding that his firm is looking for a “win-win for both ourselves and the neighborhood for a project that everyone can be proud of in the future.”
We reached out to Lake Cliff Neighborhood Association president Jennifer Thornton regarding the zoning proposal but did not hear back before deadline.
Following Along at Home
Beucler said that his firm has been working on this deal since the fall of 2021. In October of 2022, Baldwin Associates sent out a notice to nearby residents alerting them that they’ll be seeing a rezoning request in their mailbox soon. However, District 1 City Councilman Chad West, who recently won reelection besting opponents Mariana Griggs and Albert Mata, says that the rezoning case is still very much in early days.
“My general policy on opening up PD overlays like PD 468 (the Oak Cliff Gateway) and PD 830 (the Bishop-Davis PD) is that it should only be done for a very good reason, such as additional benefits to the community that weren’t contemplated when the zoning was originally drafted and passed,” West told daltxrealestate.com. “Here, I understand that the developer’s representative has spoken at least once with the neighborhood association for that area, Lake Cliff NA, and there were some concerns from neighbors about traffic along the Beckley Ave. side (if the retail was allowed to move forward as it is, by right, there). I don’t know where those discussions ended up, because the process hasn’t risen to the CPC or Council level yet.”
You can follow the zoning case at home by following the official zoning case number in the city’s dashboard here.
