A Restaurant is Slated for the Late Mayor’s 107-Year-Old Oak Cliff House

After battling an ongoing dispute over parking, major Oak Cliff real estate developer Jim Lake got the go-ahead from city council last week to revamp the former mayor’s home in Oak Cliff into a modern-day eatery, the Dallas Morning News reports.

The 107-year-old home belonged to Major George Sergeant, the former chief justice of Dallas' 5th Court of Appeals who served as Dallas’ mayor from 1935 to 1937. He presided over one of Dallas’s most ambitious endeavors ever: the 1936 Texas Centennial. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor reportedly visited the home during their trip to the Texas Centennial.

Now the ramshackle two-story Craftsman home will be restored to its former glory. Lake bought the property in 2010 after it was listed on the market for $149,000, but hadn’t been able to redevelop the house into a restaurant because of the parking problem.

Nearby residents of the property at 635 N. Zang Blvd. argued that streets are already too congested, but the property didn’t have enough space for the required 30 parking spots. Council let Lake slide by with 22 spots, even though the compromise was initially shot down by the City Plan Commission in September.

Construction is slated to begin in early 2018, and the revamp will be finished in the second or third quarter of next year, says Hannah Roberts of Jim Lake’s office. Several interested tenants were already in talks with Lake before the redevelopment was stifled by the parking problem. Now that they have the go-ahead, Lake’s group plans to re-approach interested parties, according to Roberts.

“He’s open to the type of user, but wants it to be a unique tenant who adds to the district and fits in with existing developments,” says Roberts.

Check back for more details as the project unfolds.

• Late Dallas mayor's 107-year-old home to be reborn as north Oak Cliff eatery [Dallas Morning News]
• Restaurant could open in Mayor’s house a year from now [Oak Cliff Advocate]