DALLAS — Redevelopment in Dallas’ southeast neighborhood, Mill City, is underway. Community leaders broke ground Monday on the largest single-family home development project in that area.
For many, Mill City is home.
“I love this community with all my heart,” said Antong Lucky, Urban Specialists president.
Lucky said he has always been willing to protect his neighborhood.
“I ended up joining and starting a gang here incorrectly thinking I was protecting this neighborhood from other gangs. That led me to prison,” Lucky said.
Prison, he said, also helped open his mind.
“What was birthed to me in prison was a desire to come back to my neighborhood and clean up,” he said.
Lucky is working with Matthews Southwest and community leaders on Mill City 50, an affordable housing project in the southeast Dallas neighborhood.
“We want to start preparing residents in this community to be homeowners,” said Lucky.
Over the next 18 months, Mill City residents will see 50 two-story single-family homes built throughout the area. The first eight homes are near Spring Avenue. They are expected to be completed by this December.
Leaders said the project aims to help low to mid-income families and address a shortage of 33,000 affordable housing units.
“That’s one of the reasons why it took us so long to get to this point, because making sure that people were not gentrified, removed,” said Shannon Brown-Key, Good Urban Development president.
Brown-Key is one of three women of color spearheading the project.
“Preserving our prosperity…to be able to provide tax abatement and tax freezes, so that people can benefit from their property value going up but not be harmed by the property tax go up,” said Brown-Key.
Lucy Cain and her family have lived in Mill City for more than 70 years. She said the project and efforts to address affordable housing are greatly needed.
“It brings and refreshes what used to be. People always want the best for their neighborhoods,” said Cain. “This particular project is going to revitalize and rejuvenate and bring youth to this city. That’s what our future is and that’s what we need.”