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Dallas City Council approves ForwardDallas plan on future development

Downtown Dallas Skyline

Photo by R K on Unsplash

After three years of debate, the Dallas City Council voted 11-4 in favor of ForwardDallas, an update to its 2006 comprehensive land use plan, which will decide how and where the City of Dallas should grow over the coming decades.

The plan was built around Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Connectivity, Housing Choice and Access, Economic Development and Revitalization, Community and Urban Design.

ForwardDallas was originally adopted in 2006. Since then, Dallas has undergone unprecedented growth. By reimagining how the City uses its land, it has identified new opportunities to design spaces that offer equitable access to resources, reinforce the strengths of our communities, and foster continued growth as a thriving, accessible city for all.

Today’s vote follows nearly three years of stakeholder feedback, including more than 200 in-person events, and more than 70 virtual events. The ForwardDallas 2.0 website has had more than 25,000 visits and 1,600 web map comments. The first full draft of the plan was published for public review in September 2023. The Dallas City Council Economic Development Committee, City Plan Commission (CPC), and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee (CLUP) provided guidance to the plan’s evolution and final approval for the City Council to consider.

The council took hours to vote, addin numerous amendments along the way.

Voting in favor were Chad West, Zarin Gracey, Adam Bazaldua, Jaime Resendez, Jaynie Schultz, Tennell Atkins, Kathy Stewart, Paula Blackmon, Omar Narvaez, Gay Donnell Willis, and Paul Ridley. Voting against were Carolyn King Arnold, Cara Mendelsohn, Jesse Moreno, and Mayor Eric Johnson.

“ForwardDallas 2.0 is a collaborative effort that could not have been achieved without the hard work of City of Dallas staff, elected and appointed officials, and our many residents who participated through feedback,” said Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, who also serves as the Chair of the Economic Development Committee. “This critical and much needed update creates a path forward for our City while addressing decades long, systemic land use issues. It considers the City’s future growth, provides protection for existing neighborhoods, and addresses head on historic environmental and social inequities.”

“This journey began with the goal of developing a strategic roadmap to support Dallas’ growth and social vibrancy while preserving the quality of life for all. We appreciate Chair Atkin’s leadership, the support of the City Council, the City Plan Commission, Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee and our residents for the feedback and guidance they have provided over the last three years,” said Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert. “We look forward to implementing ForwardDallas 2.0, reporting out on it and being held accountable for its progress. Finally, I want to thank our City of Dallas team who championed this effort. Their level of engagement to ensure every voice was heard is a testament to their unwavering dedication to our City and delivering Service First, Now!”

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REAL ESTATE NEWS

Nearly half of Dallas home sellers are slashing prices amid buyer’s market

Photo by Dillon Kydd on Unsplash

Nearly 58 percent of San Antonio home sellers dropped their list price in February

Prospective home buyers in Dallas may want to seal the deal this spring. According to a new Redfin report, nearly 47.3 percent of home sellers in the city dropped their list price in February.

Two other Texas cities clocked ahead of Dallas: In Austin, the number was 55.2 percent, and in San Antonio, it was an eye-popping 57.9 percent — the highest share among the 50 most populous regions in the U.S.

According to the real estate marketplace, Texas’ dominance on this list isn't coincidental. Along with Florida, the state has been building more homes than anywhere in the nation, giving prospective buyers more options and bargaining power.

Nationwide, 34.2 percent of February home sellers cut their asking price, a 31.5 percent rise from a year earlier and the highest share ever since Redfin began tracking markets in 2012. The average cut was $40,915, approximately 7 percent of the original sticker price.

Redfin attributes the discounts to a classic supply-and-demand imbalance. High mortgage rates combined with economic uncertainty have kept buyers on the fence while sellers continued to flood the market with new homes. The company speculates that the real rate of cuts may be higher since it does not account for delisted properties.

“A lot of people who couldn’t sell their homes last year opted to delist instead of reducing the price, with a plan to relist this spring because they knew that would give them a better chance of selling,” says Redfin real estate agent Aditi Jain, via a release “Some homeowners need to move immediately, but those who can afford to time the market may get a better price.”

Redfin says that spring consistently produces the lowest share of price cuts, with May having the lowest share in six of the past 10 years, and April taking the title in three others.

Sellers who closed in December faced the highest likelihood of cutting their price. Sellers who have owned their homes longest are also better protected from market fluctuations.

Owners who have lived in their homes for at least seven years cut prices at a rate of 31.8 percent, compared to 37.4 percent for those who have owned for two years or less. More recent buyers who purchased their homes at the height of the pandemic boom are now reluctant to accept what the market will actually bear.

The five U.S. cities with the highest shares of cut listing prices are:

No. 1 — San Antonio, Texas (57.9%)
No. 2 — Austin, Texas (55.2%)
No. 3 — Dallas, Texas (47.3%)
No. 4 — Tampa, Florida (45.9%)
No. 5 — Fort Lauderdale, Florida (44.9%)

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