A Legacy Site Gets a 21st Century Makeover with Help from the City of Dallas PACE Program

For more than 45 years, Red Bird Mall stood as a landmark for shopping and community in Southern Dallas. But like many aging properties, time and deferred maintenance began to catch up with the once-bustling retail center.

“We annually had expensive repairs and maintenance on the old chillers,” shared Peter Brodsky, owner of the property. “We also had very dated and high utility usage lighting.”

These inefficiencies made Red Bird Mall increasingly costly to operate and less appealing to tenants. A major redevelopment effort was needed—not just to refresh its appearance, but to make the space efficient, sustainable, and attractive to modern users.

The PACE Solution

Through the City of Dallas PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program, Mr. Brodsky was able to secure $3.35 million in financing for essential improvements in lighting, HVAC systems, and plumbing. These upgrades are part of the larger Reimagine RedBird redevelopment, a mixed-use transformation that includes Class A office space, medical offices, green space, and new retail, restaurant, and entertainment options.

“The PACE financing allows for the installation of a new chiller to replace an existing chiller that now serves as a backup,” Brodsky explained. “On hot summer days, RedBird will be an indoor sanctuary of cool, clean air.”

A Model for Impactful Investment

The City of Dallas recognized the potential in Reimagine RedBird to serve as a blueprint for equitable, forward-looking development.

“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,” said Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson, then Chief of Economic Development & Neighborhood Services. “It’s a model for the type of impactful investment we want to bring to southern Dallas.”

PACE was one of many financing tools used in the project’s complex capital stack, which also included city incentives, equity, tax credits, and senior and mezzanine debt. PACE financing played a vital role by specifically addressing costly inefficiencies in energy and water systems—key targets of the City’s Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan (CECAP).

Environmental Impact

The improvements made through PACE financing offer long-term environmental benefits:

• CO₂ avoided annually: 350 tonnes
• NOₓ avoided annually: 0.20 tonnes
• SOₓ avoided annually: 0.60 tonnes

With over 467,000 square feet of space originally built in 1975, these upgrades are modernizing RedBird’s infrastructure in line with the City’s climate and resiliency goals.

PACE in Texas: Transforming What’s Possible

The Reimagine RedBird project is proof that PACE can unlock energy and water savings even in legacy commercial properties. It answers the essential question many developers ask: "How are we going to pay for it?" With Texas PACE, there’s now a clear, replicable path forward for financing energy efficiency and sustainability improvements that support tenants, owners, communities—and the planet.

About Texas PACE Authority: Texas PACE Authority (TPA) is the nonprofit administrator of more than 100 local TX-PACE programs. TPA is on a mission to empower commercial, industrial, and multifamily property owners across Texas to make energy and water saving upgrades that save money, benefit the environment and their local communities. We work with local governments, lenders, service providers and all other stakeholders to make businesses more profitable, save natural resources, and revitalize communities across Texas. To date, our efforts have facilitated more than half a billion dollars in new investment in Texas.

www.texaspaceauthority.org