GCU News & Blog

Category: DFW Real Estate News

  • Dallas Developer Pleads Guilty to Bribing City Officials in Real Estate Scheme

    Source: KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA / pexels.com

    Sherman Roberts, a real estate developer from Dallas, pleaded guilty to bribing two former city officials. He did this to get support for his apartment projects, according to federal authorities. Roberts, 70, used to be the president of City Wide Community Development Corporation. He admitted to paying bribes.The bribes were given to former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway. He also paid bribes to former City Council Member Carolyn Davis.

    Source: Sherman Roberts (right) and Dwaine Caraway (Facebook, Getty)

    In return, Davis lobbied for Roberts’ projects, including Serenity Place, Runyon Springs, and Patriot’s Crossing. She pushed for low-income housing tax credits and voted to approve a $1.9 million loan for Serenity Place. Court records reveal Roberts texted Davis shortly after the vote, celebrating their financial gain. About a month later, Davis demanded more money, which Robert agreed to provide.

    Roberts collaborated with Caraway to prevent any competing bids for development and secure the Patriot’s Crossing project for cash payments and a monthly stipend. In 2019, Caraway was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion, receiving a prison sentence exceeding four years; Davis had already pleaded guilty to bribery but died before his own sentencing.

    Roberts now faces up to five years in federal prison, with sentencing scheduled for March 2025. His case is part of a broader bribery scandal involving multiple developers, including Devin Hall and Russell Hamilton, both of whom also faced charges for similar schemes.

  • Dallas Builders Face Permit Controversy in Historic Elm Thicket/Northpark Neighborhood

    A city panel last week sided with Danny Le and Akber Meghani, two builders whose permits Dallas officials pulled after the builders constructed non-complying structures in the Elm Thicket-Northpark neighborhood. The panel acknowledged the city’s role in the permitting mistake and weighed violations concerning height restrictions, roofing standards, and land use.

    The panel rescinded Meghan’s permit revocation, citing the city’s role in the permitting error. The city did not act quickly enough on the violations and allowed construction, referencing documentation that showed the site’s land use did, in fact, originally allow for duplexes. The board members voted to hold the case until the next meeting in November, showing they want to review documents again. Thirteen of 172 permits were still out of compliance, and six property owners have not taken any action.

    Community residents asked the board of adjustments to uphold the city’s decision, citing that the builders, in particular Le-, knew full well the constructions were illegal. The City Council voted in 2022 to change zoning in order to prevent displacement and preserve this area’s legacy as a historical black neighborhood.

    For more than five years, legacy residents in the Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood in Dallas had fought to cap the size of new builds in the historically Black community. The city passed rules in 2022 to limit home size but appeared to fail to update the zoning information in their system when approving those construction permits. Preliminary fact-finding showed that permit applications for projects in the Elm Thicket-Northpark neighborhood reviewed between October 12, 2022, and June 2, 2023 used outdated zoning information, and some permits may have been approved in error.

    Staff identified 29 homes to investigate; 19 violated the new zoning. Those developers are appealing the orders to the Board of Adjustments. One said it could cost another $100,000 to bring his construction into compliance. Interim City Manager Kim Tolbert is looking at larger systemic changes to ensure this type of error does not happen in the future.

    The Dallas Board of Adjustment has scolded city officials for issuing permits and plans using outdated codes that resulted in 14 stop work orders and 17 more letters advising builders in the Dallas Love Field-area neighborhood of Elm Thicket that their projects didn’t comply with updated zoning passed almost two years ago.

    The call for a decision delay or disapproval elicited disappointment from residents who spoke on behalf of the Save Elm Thicket activist group, as little precedence exists in the city to preserve historic neighborhoods and said progress comes at the expense of Black and Brown neighborhoods. The Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood is an old Freedman’s Community that is important for its character to be preserved, displacement, and gentrification.