The office of a Mill City neighborhood nonprofit focused on creating homeownership and economic development has received a facelift, thanks to a group of real estate professionals committed to neighborhood revitalization.
The Innercity Community Development Corporation’s headquarters at 4907 Spring Ave. is located in Mill City, a neighborhood east of Fair Park. The headquarters received new paint, landscaping and signage through the Young Guns, a professional development program for young commercial real estate professionals.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony occurred Friday to celebrate the project, which included new light fixtures, striping and glass replacements, transforming the exterior of the two-story building that has served as the development corporation’s headquarters since 1998.
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“This is not just for show,” said Mill City resident Theresa L. Jackson, president of the Innercity Community Development Corporation’s board. “We’re giving a vision to people, showing this is a place that people care for.”
The money for the renovation comes from The Real Estate Council, a trade group of members from different real estate fields, such as architects, engineers, contractors and developers. The Real Estate Council’s Young Guns renovated the space as a part of the group’s “Dallas Catalyst Project: Mill City,” which is a three-year, $1 million initiative to revitalize the area.
The initiative, which was announced in December 2023, will help renovate at least 18 vacant lots, upgrade outdated infrastructure, and create a boxing gym and urban farm as community spaces, as well as build up to eight affordable single-family homes.
The Innercity Community Development Corporation builds single-family affordable homes in an effort to fight the displacement of legacy residents in the area, said Billy Lane, the nonprofit’s executive director.
The nonprofit’s Spring Plaza headquarters serves as a business center and resource for residents seeking a pediatric dentist or grocery access, Lane said.
Robbie Frazier, a concierge with Grocery Connect, assists Thelma Warren with a digital Kroger order at the Spring Plaza building on Friday, June 27, 2025, in Dallas, Texas. (Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer)
The nonprofit also leases space to Dallas College, which operates a workforce training center at the site, and Prism Health North Texas – which operates the South Dallas Health Center and a pharmacy at 4922 Spring Ave. and 4907 Spring Ave., respectively, he said.
“Before this infrastructure was here, there were dilapidated buildings that had long since been abandoned,” said Lane, who is seeking additional tenants and businesses for the neighborhood.
“Our goal was to not only build single family affordable homes,” he said, “but to bring the kind of commercial development that would enhance that [quality of life].”
The Real Estate Council’s next Mill City project is to create a STEM Lab at the Paul L. Dunbar Learning Center, where the group wants to help Dallas ISD serve over 600 pre-K through fifth-grade students, according to The Real Estate Council.
Renovating that space will cost approximately $100,000, according to The Real Estate Council’s philanthropic arm, The Real Estate Council Community Investors.
That funding includes a $52,000 grant from the philanthropic arm, a $30,000 donation from Tackle Tomorrow – a nonprofit serving families in underserved communities throughout Dallas – and technical support from Veritas, a Texas-based global information technology solutions and services provider.
Once completed, the project will include a reimagined interior with a new workbench area, media entertainment wall, hallway art wrap and acoustic ceiling tiles, as well as other cosmetic and furniture enhancements and improved electronic capabilities, according to The Real Estate Council.
Renovation work at the school will begin in August and should be completed by early next year, said Dominique Pryor-Anderson, senior director of community investment for The Real Estate Council Community Investors.
“They’re building something that the school’s never had,” she said. “We need to make sure that we put that same STEM education into the hands of young people at Dunbar as every other elementary [school] has, and so we want to help them be competitive, not only across DFW, but just globally.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.