Several economic development projects are on track to show some results in 2020 in neighborhoods in southern Dallas.
“The Lancaster Corridor has seen a great deal of investment. I’m very excited about the fact that we have in the making an agreement with E Smith Communities to give an economic incentive for jobs and other retail,” said Dallas City Council Member Carolyn King Arnold. “They have taken the old Urban League building, and we should see some movement with that project in the next couple of months.”
The City of Dallas awarded $750,000 to the company owned by former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith last year to convert that vacant building at 4315 S. Lancaster Road into new retail space with a community center. One of the goals of the project is to create up to 200 new jobs paying $13 an hour.
Arnold recently held a community clean-up initiative in the neighborhood near 8th Street and I-35E in Dallas. She’s also optimistic about the city’s efforts to help Dallas homeowners clear up any problems with their home’s title.
“We put about $250,000 in that program to help some of those residents clear up the confusion as to who owns the home…so they can begin to build the wealth in that home and capitalize also on the economic boom that’s coming around them,” she said.
The City Council last year approved a three-year contract with a private firm to help residents dealing with home title problems in probate court.