Duncanville’s Center Street Condos come closer to reality

by Danielle Parker of Duncanville TODAY

The Duncanville City Council continues to takes steps toward new urbanism, trading in traditional, suburban structures for mixed-use developments.

Dec. 2, the council approved an agreement with Options Real Estate as the developer for the Center Street Condominiums, a 31-unit mixed-used townhome development which will stretch across a 1.8-acre tract of land, bordered by at East Center Street, East Cherry Street and North Merrill Road.

After a Nov. 5 workshop with the council, Will Pinkerton, president of Options Real Estate Development, and Monty Anderson, president of Options Real Estate Inc., submitted modifications to the proposed project to meet the needs of the city as well as the condos' future residents.

Changes included trading single-car, detached garages for carports and using crushed granite over pavement for permeable surfaces.

Pinkerton said the adjustments would better suit the tenants' as far as space and parking and allowed the city to meet its price point.

The agreement between the city and Options includes a loan of $350,000, with a percentage of the sale of each condo going to the city until Options repays the loan.

Financing for the project also includes a $564,000 Sustainable Development Call for Projects grant from through the North Central Texas Council of Governments for infrastructure improvements, which the city received in 2005.

The Center Street Condos are believed to bring in a net profit of $221,668, with a 75 percent share for the city. City staff believes the condos will bring in more than $4.8 million in value added to the tax rolls and about $33,000 in property taxes each year.

Condos will range from $121,000- $195,000 at about $150 per square foot.

Although Councilmembers Paul Ford and Johnette Jameson oppose the project and feel it should be postponed until the housing market is favorable, the agreement was approved with a 5-2 decision.

Groundbreaking for the project is expected to be in May of 2009.