One of the largest landowners in West Dallas recently sold nearly 90 properties — 35 acres — to an out-of-state buyer. West Dallas Investments, the developers of Trinity Groves, have bought up land in our neighborhood in the two-plus decades since the City of Dallas gave a tax-incentivized status to 89 acres around Singleton Road.
But West Dallas Investments are no longer the primary West Dallas investors.
A Dallas Morning News story by real estate editor Steve Brown details the transactions, noting that the purchase by Nebraska-based investor Goldenrod Cos. is “one of the largest such property transactions in years located so close to downtown” and “signals future development.” It also references the Urban Land Institute study on Trinity Groves, finding that when West Dallas Investments began acquiring land around 2005, “land could be acquired for around $2.50 per square foot.” By 2016, land was “selling for over $30 per square foot,” and Brown’s story notes that “properties in the area now trade for more than $65 per square foot.”
In other words, property values around Trinity Groves have more than doubled in the last seven years, and are 26x higher now than in 2005.
One parcel Goldenrod Cos. purchased is the northeast corner of Singleton and Gulden, where West Dallas Investments made a major push for a 400-foot office tower that neighbors successfully halted. A substantial reason for the pushback was fears of how the tower might spike yet another increase in the value of neighboring homes, leading to another property tax hike that working-class neighbors say isn’t affordable for them.
Brown sought reactions to the sale from real estate officials familiar with West Dallas properties. Jake Milner of Davidson Bogel Real Estate called it “a game changer — bringing in a developer of that caliber with really deep pockets.” Kara Rafferty with the West Dallas Chamber of Commerce said the “area is primed for development” with “a lot of people that would like to buy stuff down there and can’t find anything.”
It isn’t yet known how Goldenrod Cos.’ development plans may differ from West Dallas Investments’, whose renderings of future plans showed several high-rise towers south of Singleton. West Dallas 1, a umbrella group for the neighborhood’s associations, has been trying for years to stay on top of the developers’ plans and City Plan Commission zoning proposals, and to band together to represent neighbors’ interests.
West Dallas 1 representatives say neighbors are all wondering the same thing:
“Now what?”
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