Award-winning redevelopment project receives $3M investment in energy, water-saving improvements

Reimagine RedBird (redevelopment of Red Bird Mall) is the City of Dallas’ latest Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) project. PACE brings an extra investment of $3,350,000 in energy and water-saving improvements to this award-winning redevelopment in southern Dallas. Improvements in LED lighting, HVAC, and plumbing upgrades result in 40% of utility savings for RedBird and its tenants.

“We annually faced expensive repairs and maintenance on the old Chillers and dated, high utility usage lighting making the site expensive to operate, notes owner Peter Brodsky. “PACE allows improved comfort and indoor air quality, improved lighting and working conditions, reduced operating expenses, and more efficient and environmentally friendly cooling for our guests and tenants, reduced downtime and improved reliability.”

The RedBird redevelopment has drawn regional attention as the D-CEO 2017 Best Redevelopment or Renovation Award. The project was also recognized as the 2019 Dallas Business Journal Deal of the Year and as a finalist for Most Creative Financing of 2019 and Best Mixed-Use Development of 2019.

“When the City of Dallas was presented with the opportunity to partner on the redevelopment of the old Red Bird Mall site, we jumped at it. It’s a model for the type of impactful investment we want to bring to southern Dallas,” explained Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson, Chief of Economic Development & Neighborhood Services for the City of Dallas. “Intricate projects like Reimagine RedBird require the wide variety of tools available to us and the PACE program was undoubtedly one of them.”

In 2016, Dallas was the first Texas city to implement a PACE program at no cost to taxpayers. The Dallas PACE program has facilitated a cumulative investment of more than $42 million in energy and water-saving improvements, almost 30% of the total PACE investment in Texas.  PACE projects also contribute to the goals of Dallas’ Comprehensive Environmental Climate Action Plan.

PACE is a proven financial tool that incentivizes Texas property owners to upgrade facility infrastructure with little or no capital outlay. The PACE program enables owners to lower their operating costs and use the savings to pay for eligible water conservation, energy efficiency, resiliency, and distributed generation projects. Owners gain access to private, affordable, long-term (typically 10-20 years) financing that is not available through traditional funding avenues.