Dallas Developer, City Hall Kill Land-swap Deal for New N. Oak Cliff Apartments

A land swap between Dallas City Hall and a proposed mixed-use development near Oak Cliff’s Founders Park won’t be sent to voters in May after all.Despite support from North Oak Cliff council member Scott Griggs and the city’s Park and Recreation Department — as well as preliminary approval from the Park Board and the City Council’s Quality of Life committee — developer WindMass Capital backed away from the land swap late last week.The Uptown-based WindMass faulted unexpected complications and political pressure for the decision.The Dallas City Council followed suit and officially killed the deal Wednesday. They voted unanimously to deny a motion to hold public hearings next month on the swap — a required step if the issue was to be placed on the May ballot.“As the developer doesn’t move forward with this, there’s no reason to consider it,” said Griggs, who is running for mayor.The swap would have exchanged 1.37 acres of park land on the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Marsalis Avenue — of which approximately a quarter is covered with a parking lot for a building that no longer exists — with an adjacent 1.37 acre lot currently occupied by an aging apartment complex.  Continue reading...