Developer Making Sure Dallas' Southern Sector Has Same Access To Resources As Other Parts Of City
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - He helped bring a grocery store to an area of south Dallas considered a food desert for many years -- Glen Oaks Crossings at Loop 12 and I-35 created hundreds of jobs.
Now, developer Terrence Maiden is taking on a new project.
"This is home for me so I really do care about this community," Russell Glen CEO and Managing Partner Terrence Maiden said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dallas' southern sector zip codes are seeing some of the highest number of cases.
"I think a lot of that is lack of access to quality health care options and also the lack of grocery stores," Maiden said.
Maiden is continuing to address those challenges. Right now, he's working with a team of developers on the Red Bird Mall redevelopment.
A Parkland hospital clinic is being built which is expected to open next year and there are plans for a UT Southwestern medical office. He's in talks with grocery stores.
The overall goal is to make sure people who live in surrounding neighborhoods have access to the same resources as people who live in other parts of the city.
At Wednesday's city council meeting, council members approved a plan that will take $3 million from 2018 bond funds to put towards redeveloping the mall.
"It is putting people back to work," Dallas City Councilman District 8 Tennell Atkins said. "It is serving everyone."
On top of this, the city council also approved a plan to put $660,000 of federal coronavirus relief funds towards mobile COVID-19 testing for people who can't get to a drive-thru testing site.
It will be available for zip codes with high numbers of coronavirus cases: 75215, 75216, 75217, 75227. All of them are located south of I-30.
"There's been a lot of excitement from the community," Maiden said. "It's fulfilling when you know you can come in and address a void in the area."