CTroyMathis
21 December 2002, 02:04 PM
Developer renews push for townhomes
He says city should add affordable housing; officials dispute need
12/21/2002
By APRIL M. WASHINGTON / The Dallas Morning News
A developer seeking to build townhomes near Clark Stadium plans to pitch his idea again next month, this time touting research saying more than 3,000 city and school employees live outside Plano because of high housing costs.
Denton County developer Mitchell Vexler cited a study that his firm, Mockingbird Properties, produced using municipal and school district data. He said the study supports his argument that the city needs more affordable housing. According to the study, the city loses $6.8 million annually in sales and property tax revenue because so many workers live elsewhere.
"That's a conservative estimate," Mr. Vexler said. "We're talking millions of dollars leaving the city. The city pays the employees and then the employees spend the money in other cities."
City officials acknowledge that many municipal and school employees live outside the city. But they also say the study is flawed because employees weren't asked why they live outside the city. In any case, officials said, the research doesn't justify building the complex that Mr. Vexler has proposed.
The developer's plan – first rejected by the Planning and Zoning Commission in July – calls for building 157 townhouses on 10 acres at the southwest corner of Chase Oaks Boulevard and a future extension of Seabrook Drive. Commissioners said they were reluctant to approve a zoning change for the project because there are already a number of apartment complexes in the area.
"They're trying to make a case for urban density in an area where we are already too dense," Plano Mayor Pat Evans said. "When you start looking at what they're talking about, it's just a three-story apartment that costs upwards of $200,000. They're quite persistent and using every ploy they can."
Mr. Vexler admits his goal is to win approval for the development, but he said he stands by the report's findings.
According to the study, 48 percent of the Plano school district's teachers live outside Plano. In addition, 66 percent of the officers and staff employed by the Police Department live elsewhere, and 80 percent of the city's firefighters live outside the city.
City officials said the problem isn't new. Single-family housing tracts are quickly disappearing as the city reaches residential build-out. The average cost of a new home in the city is about $183,000, excluding the lot cost, officials said.
Doubts about proposal
But some city officials say they don't believe Mr. Vexler's proposed townhomes – ranging from $110,000 to $220,000 – would make it much easier to buy a home in Plano.
"For someone making $25,000 to $30,000 a year, a $100,000 townhouse isn't affordable," said Planning and Zoning Commission member Joy Flick.
Mr. Vexler said his townhomes aren't cheap but believes they would be within financial reach for city employees.
Wilson Middle School teacher Colleen Kugler says she knows all too well the frustration of having to commute.
Ms. Kugler, 31, said she purchased a home in Frisco last year after an exhaustive search to find a decent-sized home for less than $180,000 in Plano.
"We looked all over Plano to find a home we could afford," she said. "There are some homes, but they're older and need a lot of work.
"I'm commuting 30 minutes, but it's worth it because I live in a brand new home in a nice neighborhood. I know a lot of teachers my same age, ready to start a family, living in McKinney and Frisco because of the housing costs in Plano."
Plano school district officials said the lack of affordable housing doesn't hurt their ability to recruit new teachers, but it's a question often asked by recruits. The district works closely with real estate agents and apartment locators to find employees housing throughout the region.
Rob Stewart, assistant director of human resources for the Plano school district, said the city has a stock of reasonably priced housing. The problem is, he said, those houses are often in older neighborhoods.
"There's affordable housing in the area ... it just depends on where you want to live," Mr. Stewart said. "We have high-end, medium and lower-end priced housing. The problem is that the higher-end homes tend to make the area's housing look out of reach."
Plano neighborhood planner Laleh Soltan said that compared with the housing prices and property taxes assessed in her Far North Dallas neighborhood, the average cost of a home in Plano seems like a bargain.
"I would love the cost of living Plano citizens enjoy," she said. "My taxes are so much higher. I put my house up for sale. I plan to move in East Plano. I like the housing in the older neighborhoods; they have more character."
Other city employees say the cost of housing is only one reason they live outside the city. Plano police Officer Alicia Nors said she and her husband bought a home in McKinney in part because of its reasonable price and because the home sits on a 10-acre spread where the couple raises horses.
"It's extremely expensive to live in Plano," she said. "I know civilian employees building homes in Wylie, McKinney and Murphy on good-sized lots because you can't do that in Plano."
Projecting growth
More than 30,000 people are expected to move into the city over the next 20 years, requiring 10,700 new homes, according to the Mockingbird Properties study.
Making room for them, developers said, will require redeveloping vacant tracts scattered throughout the city and rezoning an overabundance of retail property so that new homes can be built.
City officials agree. In recent years, the city has begun taking steps to lure upscale apartment and townhouse projects such as the one being proposed by Mockingbird Properties. One example is the $16 million Amicus apartment and retail development that has sparked a resurgence of sorts in historic downtown Plano.
This week, the zoning commission cleared the way for the Haggard "new urbanism" development, a 120-unit townhouse and condo development on 30 acres along Ohio Drive in West Plano.
The city has begun taking steps to transform land surrounding DART's Parker Road light-rail station into a mix of luxury townhomes, apartments, high-rise office buildings and upscale retail.
"We're looking for an alternate use for vacant retail land," said City Council member Ken Lambert said. "The simple answer is to build apartments. That's not acceptable to me or to the community as a whole.
"Some type of ownership product like townhouses and condos could be feasible, but we're looking for a product that could be beneficial to the community as whole. Each site has to be judged on its own merits."
He says city should add affordable housing; officials dispute need
12/21/2002
By APRIL M. WASHINGTON / The Dallas Morning News
A developer seeking to build townhomes near Clark Stadium plans to pitch his idea again next month, this time touting research saying more than 3,000 city and school employees live outside Plano because of high housing costs.
Denton County developer Mitchell Vexler cited a study that his firm, Mockingbird Properties, produced using municipal and school district data. He said the study supports his argument that the city needs more affordable housing. According to the study, the city loses $6.8 million annually in sales and property tax revenue because so many workers live elsewhere.
"That's a conservative estimate," Mr. Vexler said. "We're talking millions of dollars leaving the city. The city pays the employees and then the employees spend the money in other cities."
City officials acknowledge that many municipal and school employees live outside the city. But they also say the study is flawed because employees weren't asked why they live outside the city. In any case, officials said, the research doesn't justify building the complex that Mr. Vexler has proposed.
The developer's plan – first rejected by the Planning and Zoning Commission in July – calls for building 157 townhouses on 10 acres at the southwest corner of Chase Oaks Boulevard and a future extension of Seabrook Drive. Commissioners said they were reluctant to approve a zoning change for the project because there are already a number of apartment complexes in the area.
"They're trying to make a case for urban density in an area where we are already too dense," Plano Mayor Pat Evans said. "When you start looking at what they're talking about, it's just a three-story apartment that costs upwards of $200,000. They're quite persistent and using every ploy they can."
Mr. Vexler admits his goal is to win approval for the development, but he said he stands by the report's findings.
According to the study, 48 percent of the Plano school district's teachers live outside Plano. In addition, 66 percent of the officers and staff employed by the Police Department live elsewhere, and 80 percent of the city's firefighters live outside the city.
City officials said the problem isn't new. Single-family housing tracts are quickly disappearing as the city reaches residential build-out. The average cost of a new home in the city is about $183,000, excluding the lot cost, officials said.
Doubts about proposal
But some city officials say they don't believe Mr. Vexler's proposed townhomes – ranging from $110,000 to $220,000 – would make it much easier to buy a home in Plano.
"For someone making $25,000 to $30,000 a year, a $100,000 townhouse isn't affordable," said Planning and Zoning Commission member Joy Flick.
Mr. Vexler said his townhomes aren't cheap but believes they would be within financial reach for city employees.
Wilson Middle School teacher Colleen Kugler says she knows all too well the frustration of having to commute.
Ms. Kugler, 31, said she purchased a home in Frisco last year after an exhaustive search to find a decent-sized home for less than $180,000 in Plano.
"We looked all over Plano to find a home we could afford," she said. "There are some homes, but they're older and need a lot of work.
"I'm commuting 30 minutes, but it's worth it because I live in a brand new home in a nice neighborhood. I know a lot of teachers my same age, ready to start a family, living in McKinney and Frisco because of the housing costs in Plano."
Plano school district officials said the lack of affordable housing doesn't hurt their ability to recruit new teachers, but it's a question often asked by recruits. The district works closely with real estate agents and apartment locators to find employees housing throughout the region.
Rob Stewart, assistant director of human resources for the Plano school district, said the city has a stock of reasonably priced housing. The problem is, he said, those houses are often in older neighborhoods.
"There's affordable housing in the area ... it just depends on where you want to live," Mr. Stewart said. "We have high-end, medium and lower-end priced housing. The problem is that the higher-end homes tend to make the area's housing look out of reach."
Plano neighborhood planner Laleh Soltan said that compared with the housing prices and property taxes assessed in her Far North Dallas neighborhood, the average cost of a home in Plano seems like a bargain.
"I would love the cost of living Plano citizens enjoy," she said. "My taxes are so much higher. I put my house up for sale. I plan to move in East Plano. I like the housing in the older neighborhoods; they have more character."
Other city employees say the cost of housing is only one reason they live outside the city. Plano police Officer Alicia Nors said she and her husband bought a home in McKinney in part because of its reasonable price and because the home sits on a 10-acre spread where the couple raises horses.
"It's extremely expensive to live in Plano," she said. "I know civilian employees building homes in Wylie, McKinney and Murphy on good-sized lots because you can't do that in Plano."
Projecting growth
More than 30,000 people are expected to move into the city over the next 20 years, requiring 10,700 new homes, according to the Mockingbird Properties study.
Making room for them, developers said, will require redeveloping vacant tracts scattered throughout the city and rezoning an overabundance of retail property so that new homes can be built.
City officials agree. In recent years, the city has begun taking steps to lure upscale apartment and townhouse projects such as the one being proposed by Mockingbird Properties. One example is the $16 million Amicus apartment and retail development that has sparked a resurgence of sorts in historic downtown Plano.
This week, the zoning commission cleared the way for the Haggard "new urbanism" development, a 120-unit townhouse and condo development on 30 acres along Ohio Drive in West Plano.
The city has begun taking steps to transform land surrounding DART's Parker Road light-rail station into a mix of luxury townhomes, apartments, high-rise office buildings and upscale retail.
"We're looking for an alternate use for vacant retail land," said City Council member Ken Lambert said. "The simple answer is to build apartments. That's not acceptable to me or to the community as a whole.
"Some type of ownership product like townhouses and condos could be feasible, but we're looking for a product that could be beneficial to the community as whole. Each site has to be judged on its own merits."