Council approves TIF-backed 117-unit Sona 2 project; EPA brownfield loan also cleared

The West Dallas City Council on Nov. 3 approved a purchase-and-sale and development agreement with Sona 2 LLC for a two-building, 117-unit apartment project and separately authorized a $500,000 U.S. EPA brownfield revolving loan to help underwrite remediation costs.

Patrick, the staff presenter, told the council the project will include 66 units in one building and 51 in a second building, a roughly $27.2 million overall cost and a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. "Overall, the project is 27,200,000," Patrick said, and he described average rents for studios and one-bedrooms at "between 1,500 to 1,600 a month." He said the TIF structure being offered is developer-funded and that the city would return incremental tax revenue to the development as an incentive, totaling "around $7,938,000," down from an initial developer request of about $10.5 million over 22 years.

The incentive package includes an 18-year TIF term with borrow payments closing in about 19 years and callback provisions tied to construction savings and project performance. Patrick said a portion of the incremental taxes — about 6.5% of the increment in one scenario — would be dedicated to a pedestrian trail effort that councilmembers said would help connect Mitchell and Bernal and link to the Hank Aaron Trail.

Council members and staff raised site-specific issues. Patrick noted the parcels are brownfield sites with industrial legacies and said excavation and vapor-control work will be required: "You have to manage the soils. You have to do vapor management. You can't just haul it off," he said, explaining why the EPA loan is necessary to underwrite remediation costs. The council also discussed a typographical address error in the published documents and confirmed the legal description in the record was geographically accurate.

The council approved the purchase-and-sale and development agreement by voice vote. The meeting record shows subsequent approval of Resolution 30 to accept a $500,000 EPA brownfield revolving loan fund award tied to the same property.

Why it matters: The TIF assistance and the EPA loan together reduce developer risk on a brownfield site and add public infrastructure commitments — notably pedestrian-trail funding — that council members said could benefit nearby residents. Council members repeatedly returned to the question of neighborhood benefit: the chair asked, "What's in it for the neighborhood? What's in it for the citizens?" and framed the trail and local improvements as the intended public return on the incentive.

Next steps: Patrick said construction is expected to start this year and that permits were ready to be picked up; the development includes callback provisions and performance metrics that could alter the city's net receipts if the project outperforms expectations. The council recorded the approvals and adjourned the meeting.