Photo by Carol Toler.
Nestled deep in the corner of Vantage Point Drive between the Outback Steakhouse and a group of apartment communities lies an Extended Stay America hotel. Dallas police say it’s a perpetual crime hub, repeatedly hosting drug dealers, sex crimes and even murder. Neighbors call it the “hotel from hell.”
Councilman Adam McGough has hosted several community meetings seeking input from constituents on how best to improve the property. He’s been approached by developers interested in remaking the hotel rooms into market rate efficiency apartments, but that idea earned lukewarm support. A new proposal to create permanent supportive housing units there is being led by Mark Melton.
Melton is a law partner at Holland & Knight who became Dallas’ most prolific eviction specialist during the pandemic. He and wife Lauren saw that folks were losing their jobs, then their homes, while Covid raged, so they created the nonprofit Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center in 2020. Since then, as Dallas’ housing crisis has ballooned and evictions have skyrocketed, their eyes have been opened to “the vast number of tenants that get railroaded inside eviction courts.” They’ve devoted themselves to helping, and they are.
Melton is working with Volunteers of America, a nonprofit organization which signed a letter of intent Monday to purchase the property on Vantage Point and convert 136 units there to 105 efficiency-size apartments. Although they are small, the units could accommodate families, he says, and a section of parking lot no longer accessible to vehicles due to the widening of LBJ could be retrofitted as playground and recreational spaces for families.
Angela Morehead, VP of Housing Development for VOA, says the nonprofit has “vast experience developing and managing properties like this,” including the conversion of hotels, warehouses, schools, hospitals and other facilities into apartments. VOA began 125 years ago as an offshoot of the Salvation Army and helps clients re-enter the housing market equipped with a wide variety of wraparound services.
Melton and Morehead say the Vantage Point site is perfect for permanent supportive housing. It’s a quick walk to the LBJ DART station so residents can get to work, and the nearest single-family homes in Hamilton Park are separated by train tracks. Management by VOA would include increased security, screening of tenants and a host of support services. The transformation from “hotel hell” would be dramatic, they say.
And the need for affordable housing in Dallas is undeniable.
“The housing supply shortage is severe,” says Melton. “We’re adding only 105 units and we need 70 to 80,000, so it’s just a drop in the bucket. We have other plans and other opportunities across the county, but this is a strong one.”
“Everyone wants and needs a safe place to live,” says Morehead, who pledged to add cameras, on-site managers and other security measures to safeguard the property’s new residents. “You want to be able to walk your dog, and you don’t want somebody jumping out and robbing you.”
The 2.881 acre site at 9019 Vantage Point is currently zoned MC-4 Multiple Commercial District, which allows for use as a hotel, but not multifamily housing. The proposed zoning change to MU-3(A) is scheduled to go before the city council Feb. 22, and neighbors may register online here by Feb. 21 to speak for or against the proposal.
