Inside the Dallas Opportunity Housing Fund

The Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund (DHOF) is an investment vehicle promoting fair housing  through the creation and preservation of affordable housing options for Dallas residents. The fund aims to create or retain housing units for households earning at or below 120% of the area median income of the City of Dallas. (to understand income calculations, see our blog here) The DHOF leverages municipal funds with private capital to drive much-needed development in Dallas, and DCH is one of the recipients of its fund. 

Founding of DHOF 

The DHOF was seeded with $6 million from the City of Dallas, in partnership with The Real Estate Council Community Investors (TREC CI). Already the fund has produced two housing developments so far, which are bringing a combined 158 units of rental housing to the East Dallas community, most of which are affordable to families with low-to-moderate incomes. Additionally, Truist and Sunflower Bank invested in the fund, managed by LISC Fund Management, LLC (LFM), a subsidiary of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

DCH and DHOF 

DCH is a proud developer recipient of this fund that will provide access to low-cost capital. We are part of a growing trend of local housing funds and inclusive developers that are taking on the nation's affordable housing crisis by using municipal funds to raise private capital to drive equitable development. This is an effort  meant to promote fair housing by fostering investments that dismantle long-standing patterns of modern day and remaining red lining in Dallas’s past. 

How much investment is in Dallas and Can we do better? 

In 2020 there has been $10.8 billion in multifamily housing investments in Dallas, however not all of that capital helps drive expansion that is diverse. 51% of low-income Dallas households are considered cost-burdened by housing, spending more on rent than they can afford and less on other goods and services. Soaring rents and home prices make it difficult, if not impossible for essential workers such as teachers, firefighters, retail clerks, and health workers to find homes within their means near good jobs and schools.The DHOF is working to address these challenges by working with developers, like DCH, to identify opportunities for development. 

Putting DHOF Funds to Work 

The Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund is a critical initiative in Dallas’s effort to promote fair, affordable, and equitable housing. The DHOF, and DCH, as recipient developers who have access to lower cost capital, are working to address the challenges of soaring rents and home prices that make it difficult for essential workers to find homes within their means near good jobs and schools. We are working with funds like DHOF and more, at a grassroots and national level, to try to help achieve Dallas’s goal of providing and promoting fair, affordable, and equitable housing. This is just one example of how public-private partnerships are used. Would you like to learn more and help support DCH? Contact us!