Fort Worth City Council unanimously approved the rezoning of land along West Drew Street and McCart Avenue to make way for a community land trust and redevelopment of the site.
The rezoning affects 15 acres in the 4000 block of Lubbock., Merida, Sandage and McCart avenues. to “urban residential,” or areas that can act as a buffer between industrial and single-family housing.
On the west side of the property are industrial companies such as Structural & Steel Products and Thomas Plastic Inc., alongside Alice Contreras Elementary School. The eastern edge of the property has a mix of commercial and residential while property to the south is mainly single family residential.
The land trust development of the area will coincide with the city’s McCart Avenue Corridor Study. The study aims to develop land use and improve transit, bicycling, and walkability to make the area safer and accessible.
Once a section of student housing at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the 15 acres, also known as Carroll Park, was bought in August 2023 in partnership between the city and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. The goal was to use the Fort Worth Community Land Trust to address concerns about a lack of affordable housing and neighborhood stability.
In a land trust model, a family or individual purchases a home but the land trust retains ownership of the ground on which the home is built, effectively reducing the price of the home. Homeowners agree that if they later sell their homes, they will do so at a restricted price to keep the home affordable.
The problem of affordable home ownership in Fort Worth was highlighted in a 2023 report of the city’s Neighborhood Conservation Plan and Housing Affordability Strategy. It showed that a family making the median income in Fort Worth cannot afford the median priced home in most areas of the city.
The home affordability problem is magnified for Black and Hispanic people.
In 2024, the median income in Fort Worth was up to $77,082, according to the city, but for Black families it was $55,317 and for Hispanic families it was $68,874.
The median income for white families in Fort Worth was $94,421, the city said.
The land trust will partner with Fort Worth’s Housing Channel, a housing nonprofit organization, to develop 200 homes on the property — 145 new homes and the renovation of 55 existing homes.
Construction is expected to begin in late spring or early summer and end by 2029. The goal is to have the first set of homes to be available by September.