City Walk @ Akard Development Wins National Award
City Walk @ Akard (City Walk), a fifteen-story Dallas landmark that has been transformed from a neglected and abandoned office building into a thriving mixed-use development, was recognized at the NALHFA (National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies) 2011 Educational Conference in San Francisco with the Award for Redevelopment Excellence.
The award was particularly meaningful since the title of this year's NALHFA Conference was Transformative Change in Affordable Housing. John Greenan, Executive Director of Central Dallas Community Development Corporation (Central Dallas CDC), whose vision and unflagging efforts made City Walk possible, accepted the award.
City Walk was thoughtfully restored by Central Dallas CDC into a green-minded, mixed-use, mixed-income development, including ground floor retail, two floors of office space, eleven floors of apartment homes containing two hundred affordable apartments, fifty of which are reserved for the formerly homeless, and one floor comprised of six for-sale condominiums. 7-Eleven chose City Walk as a location for one of their new urban-styled stores. The physical address for City Walk is 511 N. Akard, located in the heart of the Downtown Business District, and within an easy walk to public transportation as well as the Dallas Arts District and the emerging system of downtown green-spaces.
The Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, a sister 501 c 3 non-profit corporation, was created in 2002 by CitySquare (formerly and at that time Central Dallas Ministries) to engage in housing development for low-income residents of Dallas. CitySquare provides community life services at CityWalk as well as funding for the leadership staff of the Central Dallas CDC.
Karen Schaffner, Manager of the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation nominated City Walk @ Akard for the prestigious award. The City Walk development had the support of the Dallas City Council and The Mayor of Dallas from its inception. Central Dallas CDC worked very closely with public officials in designing the project and creating public opportunities for community input. Additionally, The City of Dallas participated in the financing of the project by providing Homeless Bond Funds in the amount of $1,500,000 and Community Development Block Grant Funds in the amount of $750,000.
This is not the first time that City Walk has been honored. The development won Dallas Business Journal's 2009 award for Best Commercial Rehab or Reuse, and Preservation Dallas' 2010 Achievement Award for Commercial Rehab or Reuse.
For more information about Central Dallas CDC, its mission, and its developments, contact Lori Beth Lemmon at lblharrison@centraldallascdc.org, or visit http://www.centraldallascdc.org/.
For information about CitySquare, its mission and opportunities for community involvement, contact Shawn Wills at swills@CitySquare.org or visit http://www.citysquare.org/.
3 comments:
Congratulations on the award and on your visionary leadership. You are making Dallas a better place for everyone.
A well deserved award.
Recycling old structures into a new productives buildings changes neighborhoods in a great manner. Last summer I went to Argentina and I rent apartment in buenos aires that previously was a barn, it was very beautiful, in fact the fanciest hood of Buenos Aires, Puerto Madero, started growing with the recycling of abandoned barns in the docks.
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