Over one hundred North Dallas homeowners gathered at Dallas City Hall Thursday afternoon to protest the construction of a new high-rise apartment complex.
The 15.5-acre mixed-use development at Pepper Square will include a 12-story high-rise apartment complex with 984 housing units. Of those, 116 units will be designated for retirement housing. At least 35,000 square feet will be dedicated to restaurants, retail, and other services.
Originally, 2,300 housing units were proposed for the development, but that number was reduced to 1,550 and then to 984. Still, several North Dallas neighborhoods remain opposed to the mixed-use Pepper Square redevelopment project at Preston and Belt Line, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The Dallas City Plan Commission approved the revised development plan by a 12-2 vote at Thursday’s meeting. However, the Dallas City Council must still approve the development before construction can move forward.
Pepper Square homeowners expressed concerns about increased traffic and strain on emergency services. Additionally, some said the new development would look “out of character” compared to the surrounding suburban neighborhoods.
“We’re here to advocate for a revitalized Pepper Square, a development that would serve local residents, newcomers to the city, and the applicant,” said resident Marc Lombardi at the meeting, according to Fox 4 KDFW. “However, we feel the proposal does not meet that standard.”
“Taller buildings [with] denser housing are better suited for downtown, while shorter buildings with less focus on residential and more focus on community shopping are better suited for suburban areas,” added resident Janet Markum, per Fox 4. “We can all agree that Pepper Square is not downtown.”
Developers disagreed, saying the proposal would help revitalize the area.
“We are hoping to build something really special for this area that we can all be proud of and that we hope will help serve the neighborhood and help the city grow,” said developer Greg Miller, Fox 4 reported.
Commissioner Melissa Kingston expressed her approval of the plan, saying that the additional housing would produce less traffic than what already exists.
“If you want really nice retail and you want nice restaurants, the only thing that supports that is density,” Kingston said. “Greenville Avenue struggled for years with vacancies and a revolving door of closing restaurants because we just didn’t have enough density to support it.
“Then we got two big apartment complexes near Belmont and Greenville, and all of a sudden, we had enough density, with a couple thousand more people living in the area to really make that area thrive. If you want the type of amenities that you say you want, part of that comes only with the type of density [that] developments like this are going to bring,” Kingston said.
Despite the public outcry, the proposed development will move on to the next planning stages.