Arlington apartment complex gets a makeover. Will it start a neighborhood turnaround?

After decades of disrepair, the apartments at 420 W. Park Row Drive are receiving an extensive upgrade in an effort to revitalize a neighborhood in Arlington’s most economically disadvantaged ZIP code.

Each of the 350 units at what was once Spanish Park Apartments is being gutted and lined with new flooring, insulated windows, new kitchen appliances and updated plumbing. Outside, contractors are installing play areas, ball courts, solar panels and roofing. The finished complex will also have 18 Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant units.

Developers hope the sweeping changes at the affordable housing option, now called Paddock on Park Row, will breathe life into the community..

“By improving the habitability of the project, we could also improve the quality of life of the tenants, and that has ripple effects,” said Yoni Gruskin, an employee with California-based developer Lincoln Avenue Capital.

Census data from 2018 estimates the median household income at $36,461 for the 76010 ZIP code, well below Tarrant County’s $64,874.

The company collaborated with the Arlington Housing Finance Corp., a group organized by the city, to purchase the property in late 2018 and give it a makeover. The project started as a $14 million investment from Lincoln Avenue Capital; however, the price tag increased as developers found more issues with the decades-old buildings.

“It’s an old property,” Gruskin said, adding that the apartments were constructed in the 1960s. “It had a minor facelift in the 1990s, but really was in need of a substantial renovation in order for it to serve its purpose as providing high-quality affordable housing.”

The project thus far has cost $22 million. Gruskin said renovations should be completed by the end of October. Until then, the complex has begun leasing renovated units and temporarily moving tenants to hotels as their apartments are remodeled.

The brief displacement period has Bina Joshi, a 29-year-old tenant, worried for her children’s health. While she said the renovations were needed, Joshi and her husband do not have family in the area, and her newborn son just returned from the natal intensive care unit.

“I have a newborn and infant and I have to go to a motel during the coronavirus. I’m not comfortable, but I don’t have any choice,” she said.

Neighboring businesses and organizations, though, are excited for the finished product and the new sense of belonging the upgrades will bring.

Between appointments at his barber shop at 619 Woodcrest Lane, Oslo Woodward said the renovation may entice residents to remain in the neighborhood. Through his 10 years operating his shop and as a Freemason, he said he enjoys giving back to the community.

“They make a home out of it instead of just making it a pass-through type of thing,” he said. “You’ve got an opportunity to talk to the kids. They stay here four, five years. I have more of an opportunity to try to help them and do community outreach.”

A couple of doors down from Paddock, the Rev. Doug Widger, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, described the renovation as “timely.” Widger’s church is also in the middle of a renovation. The updated exterior, he said, may make the area seem safer and drive other apartment complexes to follow suit.

“My hunch is this will spill into the other apartment complexes,” Widger said. “As one kind of upgrades, then the others will have a certain sense of, ‘Well, if we stay up with the Joneses, we need to continue to upgrade,’ and it’ll just bring some life to the whole neighborhood.”

Widger said he hopes the church can grow with Paddock on Park Row and the surrounding neighborhood.

“That’s part of our goal — is to jump on board with what’s happening there and be a part of it as opposed to saying, ‘Well, we’re going to go to the suburbs where it’s easy,’” he said.

The partnership between Lincoln Avenue Capital and Arlington Housing Finance Corp. is the first of its kind in the city. The project was approved for a 4% tax credit, which is awarded to projects that develop affordable housing.

“It’s very much a pilot project,” said Mindy Cochran, Arlington Housing Authority executive director. “We’re monitoring it very closely.”

Gruskin said he hopes the project opens possibilities for more affordable housing options in the city, including future collaborations with his company.

“Moving forward, it’s just going to allow us to become better neighbors for this area of Arlington,” he said.

This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 6:00 AM.