Construction began on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, a $93 million catalytic project that would forever alter the Dallas skyline and finally connect the “island” of West Dallas to the urban core and economic center of the city, piquing the interest of developers who had long overlooked the area..

That year, a trio of investors, Stuart Fitts, Larry “Butch” McGregor, and Phil Romano, began strategically acquiring land throughout La Bajada and El Aceite — the historic West Dallas neighborhoods immediately adjacent to the new bridge — under the name of their real estate development company, West Dallas Investments

When the bridge officially opened seven years later in 2012, the City of Dallas voted to extend the Sports Arena Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District into West Dallas to create a “vibrant gateway” into West Dallas and further incentivize development in the area. The increased development interest led to countless land acquisitions and zoning changes coupled with exceedingly generous development entitlements and TIF subsidies.

That same year, residents of the La Bajada community successfully organized to implement a Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay (NSO), a zoning tool designed to preserve the character of single-family neighborhoods. The NSO, which seemingly limited the height of new construction in the neighborhood, slightly diminished speculative development interests in the area, but only briefly. 

In 2013, West Dallas Investments opened Trinity Groves, a 15-acre restaurant and retail development at the base of the new bridge. A 352-unit apartment complex, Cypress at Trinity Groves, would follow in 2018.

The real estate company received over $17 million in public subsidy, combined for both projects, via the TIF District. The City of Dallas devoted an additional $2.5 million in economic development dollars in 2015 to relocate the Argos cement plant from its location at the foot of the bridge to allow for West Dallas Investments to acquire the land underneath.

In 2016, the City of Dallas voted to raise minimum housing standards to address slum conditions in rental properties. Instead of bringing his properties into compliance with the new law, one West Dallas landlord decided to serve eviction notices to over 300 West Dallas families, mostly in the Los Altos neighborhood. While some of those families were eventually offered the opportunity to purchase, the majority were forced to move. With rents rising in the area and few affordable rental options left, most families were displaced not only from their homes but also from the neighborhood altogether, forever altering the community fabric of Los Altos.

West Dallas homeowners began to feel the pressure in 2017 and 2018, when the Dallas Central Appraisal District (DCAD) began reappraising land values on parcels east of Hampton. Land values that had remained stagnant or experienced nominal appreciation for decades were seeing exponential appreciation from one year to the next. Lots valued between $4,000 to $5,000 in 2016 were suddenly valued at $50,000 in 2018, placing a heavy and unexpected burden on many low-income homeowners. That value has only continued to grow at a dizzying pace in subsequent years as new development persists.

Today, West Dallas faces a new double-edged threat in the form of the planned Harold Simmons Park, a 250-acre, $325 million state-of-the-art park centered around the portion of the Trinity River between West Dallas and downtown. The park, which is anticipated to draw 3 to 5 million visitors each year, is expected to further increase property values and attract even more development to the area, exacerbating the displacement pressures on low-income and legacy residents.