Five-Story Apartment Planned Over Oak Cliff Homes in Dallas

A vacant lot along West Davis Street in Oak Cliff has sat empty for more than two decades. If the Dallas City Council signs off on a recent recommendation from the City Plan Commission, that patch of grass could soon become a five-story apartment building, and neighbors say the city may have little power to stop it.

The City Plan Commission voted on March 5 to remove deed restrictions on the undeveloped land at 715 West Davis Street, clearing a path for a five-story mixed-use multifamily development in an area surrounded by single-family homes. The vote revives a long-running zoning fight that cuts to the heart of how Texas state law is reshaping local land-use decisions across Dallas.

The lot has been vacant for at least 20 years and carries a deed restriction dating to the 1970s, when the property housed a plating shop. That restriction requires any structure on a section of the land to serve as a warehouse, loading dock, office or parking lot, and limits building height to one story. The problem is that PD 830, a sweeping 2010 planned development district that transformed zoning across North Oak Cliff, allows for five-story mixed-use and multifamily construction throughout the area. The deed restriction and the district zoning directly contradict each other, leaving the lot in limbo.

Architect Rick Garza, an Oak Cliff resident who purchased the empty lot in 2008, actually chaired the steering committee that produced the land-use study behind PD 830. He first applied to terminate the deed restrictions in 2019, seeking to move forward with a five-story apartment. The City Plan Commission denied that request, pointing to concerns about height and density near the Kidd Springs neighborhood.

Now the request is back, and the regulatory environment has shifted significantly. Senate Bill 840, which became Texas law in September, requires cities to permit multifamily and mixed-use residential development across a broad range of zoning categories. The law sets a minimum height requirement of 45 feet, roughly four to five stories, and eliminates maximum density limits on qualifying developments. Under SB 840, Dallas cannot add height restrictions to a project that meets the law’s criteria.

That detail changes the math entirely. In 2019, the commission could deny the application and preserve the height limits. Now, if the city removes the deed restriction, the developer can build to five stories and the state law prevents the city from capping it.

For neighbors in Kidd Springs and the broader North Oak Cliff area, this is the scenario they have feared. Heritage Oak Cliff led a push back in 2017 to limit building heights in the PD 830 district, and that effort failed. The concerns that drove it, about density, neighborhood character and gentrification, have only intensified since.

North Oak Cliff has watched rapid change roll through the Bishop Arts District and surrounding streets for years. Longtime residents and preservationists argue that five-story buildings dropping into blocks of single-family homes accelerates displacement and fundamentally alters the character of neighborhoods that have resisted it. Developers and housing advocates counter that the region needs more units and that restrictive zoning has fueled the affordability crisis squeezing Dallas renters.

What makes this case different from earlier fights over PD 830 is that state law is now driving the outcome. Dallas voters and council members have long debated where to draw lines on density. SB 840 pulls some of that authority out of local hands entirely, and the West Davis case is likely among the first of many where that dynamic plays out at a specific address, on a specific block, in front of specific neighbors.

The City Council still has to vote on the deed restriction removal. If it approves the change, Garza can proceed with development under the parameters SB 840 allows. If the council rejects it, the property remains subject to conflicting requirements and the lot stays vacant.

Either way, the fight over 715 West Davis is a preview of conversations headed to neighborhoods across Dallas. Austin passed a law. Now North Oak Cliff is living with it.