January 11, 2005

Council Voting on Tax Incentives for Historic Lake Cliff Tower

Chris Heinbaugh / WFAA-TV

The Dallas City Council will vote Wednesday on $4 million in tax incentives to help restore a historic North Oak Cliff structure.

The former Cliff Towers Hotel sits just across the Trinity River from downtown, at Zang Boulevard and Colorado.

For close to 80 years, it's been a familiar beacon in that part of Dallas. Cliff Towers began life as a hotel, and ended as a nursing home. It has now been vacant for five years.

"It's old, and it's horrible, and it will be turned into a residence," said developer Steve Everbach.

Everbach and his colleagues are bringing the tower back to life.

"This area, believe it or not, will be a two-bedroom home with a den," Everbach said, pointing to the old, dilapidated kitchen on the main floor. "It will command the whole corner, and You're literally situated right in the trees of Founders Park."

And atop the building, a former penthouse will be converted into a 1,400-square-foot condominium. The current machinery will go, but spared will be such decorative touches as a giant compass now etched into the floor.

There's also a rooftop tower over the bedroom.

"We're going to put windows in there, so you could put your bed in there," Everbach said. "You'll have one of the towers up there, and you'll have a skylight."

To the south, the building - soon to be renamed Lake Cliff Tower - overlooks scenic Lake Cliff. The deal-closer, though, is the view to the north.

"This is where I walked up, and my jaw just dropped," Everbach said. "You'll be sitting here looking at downtown between the Calatrava bridges."

The gateway neighborhood to Oak Cliff around the tower has struggled for decades. The hope is that this new project, including a retail complex across the street, could fire up the area's economic engine.

However, infrastructure and renovation costs are high. The developer wants help via the city tax incentives the council will look at on Wednesday.

"The public sector, to spur this type of growth, has to participate," Everbach said.

Success is not guaranteed, but the signs are good. The retail center is one-third leased, and more than half of the tower's 60 units have already sold.

Opening day is still at least one year away.

Original article appears in WFAA.