Council narrows direction on 22 city-owned residential lots; majority favor Builders of Hope partnership

Megan Holloway, economic development manager, briefed the Farmers Branch City Council on July 15 about the city’s housing redevelopment program and 22 city-owned lots that were acquired for demolition and rebuild initiatives. She described the program’s history and presented three disposition possibilities: transfer to a community developer, list on the open market, or a combination of the two.

Holloway said the program was created in 1999 to acquire older homes for demolition and resale, that the council approved a $4 million bond for neighborhood revitalization in 2017, and that the city has worked with Builders of Hope since 2019 to deliver attainable homes. "We have 22 lots. On the map, you'll see the 22 lots are indicated by a gold star," Holloway said.

Council members debated competing goals: preserving neighborhood integrity, preventing displacement and fiscal stewardship. Councilwoman Roman argued for selling lots in District 1 to Builders of Hope to match neighborhood character: "I think it makes sense to certainly continue down the path of, partnering with them and, selling the lots over to them so that they can develop, at least the ones in my district." Councilwoman Bennett said three Hartside lots in her district should be placed on the open market because local redevelopment already exceeds what she considers appropriate. Councilman Reid and others recommended a mix; Reid suggested a 10/10 split and limits on construction pacing: "we can... sell the properties to Builders of Hope, but put a restriction in there that they're only allowed to build 10 at a time so that it doesn't infuse too many in the market at the same time."

City staff and Ben Williamson, city manager, clarified program interactions with the Dallas County Housing Replacement Program. Williamson explained the county program is separate and that about five homeowners are moving through that program; most are expected to remain in place rather than swap into city-owned lots: "Most are not taking advantage of the opportunity to use 1 of the empty lots." Staff said the long-term goal is to exit city ownership of residential lots and gave council options for how the sales would be structured and priced.

Council discussion also covered financial history and pricing. Councilmembers asked for a clear accounting of acquisition costs and current assessed values before final sale decisions. A spreadsheet cited by staff showed $14.2 million spent since inception and approximately $8 million recovered to date; staff said they will return with detailed lot-by-lot cost and assessed-value comparisons and a tiered pricing approach for Builders of Hope offers.

While several council members expressed differing preferences, the majority indicated support for transferring most lots to Builders of Hope with a building-cap pace (example: no more than ten active builds at once) and placing a small number of lots on the open market where appropriate. Staff will return with the mechanics—sale price calculations, a tiered acquisition formula, and timing—before formal actions are taken.

No formal vote was recorded; council provided policy direction and requested additional financial detail and draft contract terms for future agenda consideration.