Dallas City Hall Screws One of its Best Friends in Affordable Housing
On the one hand, this new story about the city screwing over some affordable housing developers is depressingly familiar. On the other hand, it’s utterly inexplicable.
Every single thing I ever reported in some 15 years covering the Lockey & MacKenzie case about the city shafting affordable housing developers is confirmed and validated in a new lawsuit filed Friday. But this new suit comes from people who were supposed to be City Hall’s best friends.
Of course, downtown developers Curtis Lockey and Craig MacKenzie were City Hall’s best friends, too, until they weren’t. Quick takeaway? Don’t be Dallas City Hall’s best friend. You might as well paint a big bull’s-eye on your back with a sign that says, “Place knife here.”
The new lawsuit claims the city has stiffed the partners in a downtown development, Hamilton Properties, a for-profit developer; and CitySquare, City Hall’s favorite housing and poverty nonprofit, for $8 million. The money is a subsidy the city agreed by contract to pay.
Read more: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/city-hall-screws-one-of-its-best-friends-in-affordable-housing-11753819