City

Fort Worth’s first city-partnered community land trust is in the works

City Council is loaning $11 million for 15 acres on the south side for the first city-partnered community land trust that will address housing affordability in Fort Worth.

By Kate Mazade
, August 23, 2023
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The city is seeking alternative financing through a community land trust to add more affordable housing.

Photo courtesy of the City of Fort Worth

Affordable housing is on the way — earlier this week, City Council made the first step in establishing a community land trust.

The city will loan $11 million to the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation (FWHFC) to purchase 15 acres from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for affordable housing. The property in Rosemont includes space for 140 low- and moderate-income families in former seminary dormitories.

By 2024, FWHFC will select a nonprofit partner to develop and manage the property through a community land trust — which owns the land on behalf of the residents, dividing the cost of land ownership from the cost of home ownership and lowering the price of homes.

Plans for the 15-acre property include duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes.

Map by Proxi

At the end of February , the FWHFC entered a non-binding agreement with several other nonprofits to purchase the parcel outright, but the joint-venture deal fell through.

Next, City Council will review a new Neighborhood Conservation Plan and Housing Affordability Strategy that will outline future affordable housing in Fort Worth.

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Kate Mazade
Kate is a Fort Worth native, having returned home after studying architecture and journalism in Alabama and New York. Her writing has appeared in interntional and national publications including Dezeen, Metropolis, Madame Architect, American Theatre, and Architectural Record. She is the co-author of “Dearest Babe, Letters from a World War II Flight Surgeon.”