David Spence makes good space: David Spence has rejuvenated a corner of Dallas through hard work, handiwork and a drive to save the world--one building at a time.

He wanted to save the world, using his hands to rid third-world countries of despair and restore hope. He'd already labored three years in Guatamela, building appliances out of mud, exhausting his knowledge on the locals. This would be his life. Until reality, and a wife with a simple desire, intervened, prompting David Spence to rethink his goal as global savior.

So he scrapped plans for saving the world. He settled on saving a neighborhood in Dallas, helping transform a former eyesore into a source of community pride--all because he saved a few buildings from demolition, turning them into livable places.

"One thing I'm good at," Spence said, "is looking at a sow's ear and seeing it as a silk purse. I'm not afraid of an old building falling in on itself."

Spence displayed that fearlessness from the start. In 1995, Spence, then 34, inherited money from his grandmother Using his inheritance, he purchased a vacant building slated for demolition in the Bishop Arts District in south Dallas, igniting a turnaround that hasn't slowed. He's not the only self-described guerilla developer, but he has played a vital role in the change.

Polishing the Diamond

Since 1995, Spence, who started a company called Good Space Inc., has bought eight other buildings, including three more that he's turned into apartments (ranging in size from six units to 16 units). Also since that time, the Bishop Arts District, located in Dallas' Oak Cliff area, has become a trendy place to live and work, providing an urban setting with a small-town feel as salsa music occasionally fills the air in neighborhoods. It's not a high-rent district; it is a feel-good district.

"We knew we had a diamond here," Dallas City Councilwoman Elba Garcia said. "We just had to continue to polish it and make it shinier. Mr. Spence was the driving force behind it. He's brought to light an area of the city that was beautiful, but neglected and forgotten. It was full of buildings falling apart."

Not anymore, thanks in part to Spence's efforts. In a city known for its shiny new buildings, Spence employed a different strategy, enhancing the area's uniqueness. He restored the buildings to their original 1920s design and feel, while …