FRAZIER REVITALIZATION

The Frazier neighborhood is part of the South Dallas/Fair Park community that includes approximately 24,000 residents, adjacent to Downtown Dallas and South of I-30. This once proud, middle-class community of over 70,000 mixed-income residents had steadily declined, until about 10 years ago, with high unemployment, a concentration of liquor establishments, high crime rates, and a dilapidated housing stock owned by absentee slum lords. All of these conditions have begun to change with numerous revitalization initiatives underway, including the Cedars, ICDC/Spring Street, Jubilee, South Fair, Bonton, Bexar Street, St. Phillip’s, Forrest Heights and Frazier.

The Frazier Revitalization (encompassing 1150 acres and 6,500 residents) was born directly out of the dreams of neighborhood residents and then launched with a decision by the Dallas Housing Authority to replace Frazier Courts, a 50‐acre concentration of public housing originally built in the early 1940s. In 2003, the Dallas Housing Authority secured a $20 million HOPE VI grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which it leveraged into nearly $60 million including tax credit financing to replace the entire project. In its place, DHA built 300 new townhome‐style multifamily units, 40 single-family homes and a new Head Start pre-school facility.

To multiply the impact of its investment, DHA hired internationally known urban planner Antonio DiMambro to work with residents of the Frazier area to produce a comprehensive land use plan for the entire neighborhood. The plan, completed in 2004, calls for more than $270 million in new development, including housing, retail, industrial and healthcare facilities. The goal is a mixed-use, mixed‐income neighborhood with ample fit and affordable housing for both current residents and newcomers, plus a full range of basic services. In 2006, the Dallas City Council formally adopted the Frazier Neighborhood Plan as part of the City’s ForwardDallas! comprehensive plan.

In 2005, the Foundation for Community Empowerment formed Frazier Revitalization, an independent 501(c)(3), non-profit organization for the purpose of providing leadership and support for the implementation of the Frazier redevelopment vision.