First Look: Oakhouse Dallas Brings Mixed-Income Multifamily to North Oak Cliff

The property is the latest project from Mintwood Real Estate, founded by former Gables Residential exec Katy Slade in 2018.

By Audrey Henvey | July 11, 2024|2:24 pm

Courtesy of Mintwood Real Estate

The downtown Dallas skyline is now framed within a bedroom window at 900 E Colorado Blvd. It’s a key feature of the six-floor multifamily building on the site–in fact, about 40 percent of the units of the just-finished property offer a skyline view. 

The property is the latest notch in the belt for Mintwood Real Estate, founded by Katy Slade in 2018 following a decade-long stint with Gables Residential. Led by Slade and partner Nick Venghaus, Mintwood projects include the 55-unit 212 Melba Apartments and Peridot Luxury Apartments at Santander Tower. It’s also responsible for developments across the country in markets like San Francisco, Denver, and Washington, D.C.  

The 219-unit complex on Colorado Boulevard in North Oak Cliff is directly off of Interstate 35. The land was purchased from investor Cienda Partners.

“They’ve been working with the city on different initiatives and improvements, including Colorado’s upgrading and updating and Jefferson (Boulevard’s) access over to downtown,” Slade said, “and they brought us on as part of their team to think about what to do from a master planning perspective. That’s when we plugged into realizing that this site, this land, of all of this acreage that they had, was really the best first phase for multifamily because it’s got great visibility and access.”  

Half of the units at Oakhouse are set aside for households making up to 80 percent of area median income. “There are so many people moving to Dallas, and so many people who are looking to spend somewhere between $1,300 to $1,800 for a one-bedroom unit, and not enough options that exist this proximate to downtown Dallas,” Slade said. 

Since preleasing kicked off about three weeks ago, Oakhouse has had about 12 to 15 tours per day. “They’re interested in all different pieces, the essential housing, the market rate housing, and all of it,” Slade said. The first resident moved in on July 8.

The property is one of Dallas’ first Public Facility Corporation projects since the city’s PFC was formed in 2020. The funding structure is an economic development tool that allows for mixed-income housing by providing a property tax exemption.

“This pays about 25 percent of what the property tax value is to the Dallas Public Facility Corporation as a lease payment, and then that funds other housing projects throughout Dallas,” Slade explained. “It’s an incredibly impactful tool and one of the fastest ways that I’ve seen to build and deliver essential housing to a city.” 

Mintwood, the PFC, and New York-based M Squared partnered on the project.

Oakhouse provides two design packages for its units. One features white cabinets with a pale blue kitchen backsplash, and the second with gray cabinets and a white backsplash. Floorplans range from about 500 to 1,400 square feet and from studio to three-bedroom options. Units boast 13-foot ceiling heights. 

Intentionality of design was a key factor in tailoring the project to the area and to the people moving to the neighborhood. “They’re coming from other cities where they typically have smaller kitchens and smaller components where they just want to live in the cool neighborhood and they want to live in the great place, and they’re willing to make other tradeoffs in order to be able to live there,” Slade said.  

She uses the example of a kitchen island, which can be slimmed down and placed strategically to maximize space depending on unit size. “What people value is about being in the great location,” Slade said, “not about having all of the big Texas things that come with big Texas apartments.” 

The property, which provides both essential housing and market-rate options, offers a luxury feel and easy access to the Bishop Arts District. A first-floor library and pool lounge were designed by design house Swoon the Studio, which has experience in commercial, private residential, and hospitality–including a recent refresh of The Adolphus.

Mintwood used Swoon for its residential project at Santander Tower, too. “We appreciated that they just looked at the project in a different way,” Slade said. “They looked at the front leasing desk not as just the conventional sales experience that every multifamily designer looks at. Instead they said, ‘OK, well, this is about where you greet your guests and how you frame the arrival experience.’” 

The library seating area at Oakhouse features rounded mod furniture with warm wooden accents and books about Texas gardening and poetry. The stage for the indoor pool lounge is set with a gauzy white curtain, and nestled seating areas have rattan chairs and earthy red tiling. 

A sixth-floor sky lounge and patio oriented to the downtown Dallas skyline is scheduled to open in November. The patio will feature various seating areas separated by planters.