Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, August 28, 2020 Page: 6 of 20
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property was destroyed by the fire.
of this year. With renovations just set to
ASD checked the property regularly.
after six months of stress caused by
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Hoping for
bigger and better
AIDS Services Dallas was about
to start renovating a property
acquired more than a year ago;
a Saturday night fire means
starting from scratch
DAVID TAFFET I Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
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288
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Livingston said he's ready to start
opening the properties in slow, incre-
mental steps. And he hopes to get the
project at 511 N. Lancaster underway.
That would be one way to accommodate
some of the 148 people currently on the
waiting list for ASD housing.
No matter what HOPWA, insurance
and other government funding comes
through, rebuilding bigger and better is
going to take additional fundraising, m
To make a donation, visit AIDSDallas.
org and click on the 511 Lancaster tab. Scroll
down to hit the donate button.
though, ASD CEO Traswell Livingston
is optimistic that what will replace the
planned renovation will be bigger and
better new construction.
The blaze that broke out at about mid-
night Saturday, Aug. 22, leveled one of
the two buildings and severely damaged
the second. The property was purchased
in 2019, and the renovation project broke
ground in February just before the be-
ginning of the pandemic shut down.
Residents of the new property will
mostly be people who currently live at
other ASD properties but have become
more independent.
Zoning for the neighborhood allows
construction up to eight stories. Liv-
ingston said it's unlikely they'll build
that high because there wouldn't be
enough room for parking without an
underground garage, which would be
extremely expensive. He said a new de-
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fire that destroyed a
two-building apartment
complex owned by
AIDS Services Dallas
that was about to
be renovated into
affordable hous-
ing for people
living with HIV could turn out to be a
blessing in disguise for AIDS Services of
Dallas: Plans had called for the property
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6 dallasvoice.com 08.28.20
to be renovated into 16 affordable apart- sign would surely be for a three-story —
ments for people living with HIV. Now, maybe four-story — building.
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But before any new plans for the prop- One of the two buildings is nothing
erty get underway, Livingston has sever- more than rubble after the fire. The sec-
al steps ahead of him. ond is severely damaged, but city inspec-
The fire that destroyed the buildings is tors haven't decided if it needs to be torn
under investigation. down. The fire damaged the roof and
Atmos Energy was on site during the part of the structure, and it would take
fire. Gas had been turned off at the prop- quite a bit more money to rehab what is
ery, but water and electric services to the left.
buildings were still on. The property was Livingston said he's not sure how the
uninhabited and the buildings secured, fire will affect the existing HOPWA fund-
But fire investigators will be looking for ing, but the city does have two funds that
any signs of arson. As of press time, Dal- he's hoping ASD can tap into to provide
las Fire and Rescue gave ASD no indica- some of the money they'll need to pro-
tion what may have caused the fire. ceed.
Now Livingston has to deal with the One of those sources is Community
insurance company. Thankfully, the Development Block Grants, which "fund
property is covered, but what he doesn't local community development activities
know yet is whether insurance will cov- with the stated goal of providing afford-
er expenses ASD has already paid — like able housing, anti-poverty programs,
the architect's fees for a design to ren- and infrastructure development," ac-
ovate existing buildings that will now cording to HUD. The other is HOME,
have to be scrapped in favor of a design another HUD program that "provides
for a whole new building. grants to state and local governments
In February, work was about to begin to create affordable housing for low-in-
when the pandemic hit. Design plans come households."
were finalized earlier this month, and The original plan was for the new
work was again about to begin when the property to open to residents by the end
2201644*
"We did everything we could to secure COVID-19, and ASD lost one resident to
the building," Livington said. "From the virus.
time to time, we had to re-secure the Still, during the pandemic, ASD was
place." able to take in 14 new residents. Most
While building something better than had been sleeping on cots while living in
what was there before was always the the makeshift shelter at the Dallas Con-
goal, Livingston said he didn't know vention Center.
what obstacles there are to building "They can much better maintain their
something bigger. health at Hillcrest House," Livingston
Part of the renovation was being fund- said.
ed with federal funds though HOPWA— During the pandemic, ASD had to re-
Housing Opportunities for Persons With strict all visitors from coming into their
AIDS. That funding, which comes from residences, and, Livingston said, "Isola-
the Department of Housing and Urban tion builds anxiety."
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ASD kept the property fenced and begin, the opening date had been pushed
boarded up between February and Au- off until summer 2021. Now, Livingston
gust. The agency also kept the lawn said, the fire postpones the project until
mowed and trash taken out. Still, Living- at least spring 2022.
ston said, there was evidence that some- He said among residents there is dis-
one was sleeping there, even though appointment and frustration. That's
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Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, August 28, 2020, newspaper, August 28, 2020; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1460993/m1/6/: accessed May 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.