ASREF’s $2.1M investment transformed a long-vacant space into a job training and job creation hub in South Dallas.
4315 Innovation Center is a 29,686 SF office and retail complex in South Dallas. After sitting vacant since September 2017, ASREF’s $2.1M investment helped redevelop the site into a community-serving complex
featuring Dallas College Cedar Valley’s Second Chance Workforce Program which provides industrial trade training as well as high school equivalency training and college transition assistance.
4315 Innovation Center serves as a comprehensive ecosystem not only emphasizing technical skills training and quality job placement but also providing wrap-around services to ensure holistic support.
Since community leaders celebrated the Center’s ribbon cutting in January 2022, all training cohorts are active on site. In addition to workforce training and education services, project tenants have created 25 full-time and 23 part-time jobs on site, 95% of which are accessible to local residents. Revitalizing this site drives new business to the Lancaster corridor and advances the City of Dallas’s Grow South comprehensive revitalization strategy.
| Asset Type | Office / Retail |
| Development Type | Redevelopment |
| Previous Use | Office / Retail |
| Investment Closing Date | 2019-01-15 |
| Total Development Area | 1.56 Acres (67,954 SF) |
| Construction Timeframe | Start: Jan 2019; Finish: Dec 2020 |
$2.3M
$2.3M
$2.1M
$0.2M
$2.3M
Ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti nullam ac tortor. Posuere lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Tristique risus nec feugiat in fermentum posuere urna nec tincidunt.
E SMITH LEGACY HOLDINGS is a real estate holding company established in 2008 by NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith with business operations in infrastructure development and construction, and commercial real estate services and investment. Ranked as one of the top eight minority-owned real estate companies in the US, E Smith Legacy is well-known in the community development field and focuses on emerging minority communities.
| Location | 4315 S. Lancaster RD, Dallas, TX 75216 |
| Area | South Dallas |
| LMI Community Status | Low |
| Unemployment Rate | 15% |
| Poverty Rate | 40% |
| % Minority | 98% (54% African American) |
The 4315 Innovation Center site is in the heart of South Dallas, which was physically and economically separated from downtown after the construction of Interstate 30 in the 1960s. This interstate led to a concentration of capital and resources in the Greater Dallas Area, with businesses and labor moving closer to the city and leading to an economic downturn in the Lancaster corridor.
The building is in a Low-Income census tract with an almost entirely minority population (97.72%). The poverty rate of nearly 40% is extremely high compared to the state poverty rate of 14.7%.5 The unemployment rate in the census tract is 14.9%, also considerably higher than the 5.1% state average.6 This dire situation is true of neighboring tracts as well, as 17 of the surrounding 20 census tracts are Low-Income tracts. Lancaster is part of the larger South Dallas area, which is home to 45% of the population while representing only 15% of its tax base. This neighborhood has lacked economic growth, despite being South Dallas’ longest commercial corridor and a major multi-modal connector between the central business district and the growing International Inland Port of Dallas. The area was previously devoid of quality multi-tenant office space and commercial development.
CoStar News announces NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith's plans to develop an educational and workforce development mixed-use facility in South Dallas.
A long‐dormant former community hub in South Dallas’ Lancaster Corridor has been acquired by E Smith Communities with financing by impact investor American South Real Estate Fund (ASREF).
Irving Mejia-Hilario reports on the beginning of construction for ASREF's mixed-use project in southern Dallas.
CoStar News highlights the partnership between Emmitt Smith's E Smith Communities and ASREF to purchase a community-oriented office property in South Dallas with plans to transform it into a neighborhood destination.
Anne Stych covers plans to redevelop a former community hub in southern Dallas with financing secured by ASREF.
Community and statewide leaders including state Senator Royce West, Dallas City councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold, developer and former Dallas Cowboys player Emmitt Smith, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, and UNT Dallas President Bob Mong gathered with community residents for a ribbon-cutting on Jan. 27 at 4315 Innovation Center.
ASREF’s $2.1 million equity investment in 4315 Innovation Center satisfies the community development definition by improving conditions for LMI individuals, individuals of any income in LMI census tracts and individuals of any income targeted for redevelopment by local government plans and strategies.
