ASD prepares property damaged by fire for construction, now awaiting building permits

DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com

AIDS Services Dallas is ready to begin construction on its new property at 511 Lancaster Ave. in Oak Cliff, where a then-existing building was destroyed by fire last summer, as soon as the city approves the permit. CEO Traswell Livingston said he’s been told delays in issuing permits are running as much as 10 weeks behind as a result of Winter Storm Uri in February.

“We are getting close to starting construction,” Livingston said.

Director of Development Chris Turman said he’s raising an additional $500,000 for the project as a result of the fire that destroyed one of the two original buildings and the increased cost of lumber and building materials since Uri’s devastating freeze.

ASD, which provides housing to people living with HIV, acquired the Lancaster Avenue property in January 2019 and began a capital campaign then to renovate the properties into independent living apartments for its residents who no longer need a higher level of care.

After a successful capital campaign, the agency broke ground on the renovation project in February 2020. But then, just weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the state and work never got started on the remodel. So the property was kept fenced and locked.

In August 2020, however, one of the buildings on the property burned to the ground, and about 20 percent of the second building sustained damage.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. But remodel plans had to be revised.

At the time of the fire, Livingston said the new design might be for a three-story building, but this week confirmed the project would be two stories with the same 16 units originally planned. Without an underground garage, building more units is not feasible, Livingston explained, and that need for additional parking made a larger project cost-prohibitive.

One of the biggest improvements the agency was able to put into place was adding washers and dryers in each apartment rather than having a central laundry room outside.

The property will be gated with covered parking and will include an area for dogs to run.

Last week, rubble from the fire was cleared to allow construction to begin as soon as the permits are issued. Only the remains of the one building destroyed in the blaze were cleared. After the fire, Livingston said he wasn’t sure if city inspectors would allow the second building to remain, but damage turned out not to be as extensive to the structure as originally thought.

Original plans called for both buildings to get a new roofs. The new design, though, extends the roof over the balconies so that they’ll be covered. And entirely new plumbing was always in the plans, so the February freeze didn’t change that part of the design.

Turman said he is still fundraising for the project, but insurance money, money already raised and federal grant money from HUD will allow the project to begin. To donate to the project, visit the organization’s website at AIDSDallas.org or call Turman at 214-941-0523.

Livingston said he’s hoping for a much better year, financially, for ASD, with the return of No Tie Dinner in April 2022 and what he called a firm completion date for the Lancaster Avenue project in the summer of 2022.