On Wednesday, Fort Worth city leaders broke ground on a new phase of transformation for the Stop Six neighborhood on Wednesday.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions is gearing up for the construction of Babers Manor, the latest mixed-income, multifamily development in the Stop Six Choice Neighborhood Initiative, which was launched in 2020.
The 80-unit community will include a combination of affordable homes and amenities for dozens of families.
"In a few short months, we're going to be able to welcome 80 families across the street into beautiful town homes and garden style apartments with amenities they deserve in a neighborhood that's being redefined," said Mary-Margaret Lemons, President of Fort Worth Housing Solutions.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
The project is located at Ramey Avenue between S. Hughes Ave and S. Edgewood Terrace, near the Eastside Boys & Girls Club of Greater Tarrant County. Babers Manor joins the current Stop Six CNI developments Cowan Place Senior Living and Hughes House, which is also under construction.
The funding for these new projects stems from the landmark Stop Six Choice Neighborhood effort that launched in 2020, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded FWHS and the City of Fort Worth a $35 million Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The project is named for distinguished community leader, Mr. Clarence Donald Babers, a Fort Worth native who lead a very prolific career with HUD and was instrumental in bringing the HUD funding to Stop Six.
“Babers Manor is the next step in the transformation that is happening before our eyes in Stop Six,” said Lemons. “The groundbreaking is a celebration of true community and partner collaboration. We were honored to name this property after Mr. Babers and celebrate his lasting legacy in Fort Worth and beyond. We also look forward to the day when families make Babers Manor their home.”
Babers was raised in Fort Worth and earned his bachelor’s degree in history and Sociology from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1969, where he was among the first African American students to graduate after the desegregation of colleges and universities.
He worked for HUF from 1970 to 2012 and took on many roles and responsibilities during his tenure, most notably as Recovery Advisor/ Chairman of the Board of the Housing Authority of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Babers Manor now continues his legacy in the community.
"Looking out in this crowd, at the members of Stop Six that have been here for generations and who have been begging the city to do their part. I'm proud to tell you we are finally stepping up. We are fulfilling our promises," said Mayor Mattie Parker at the Wednesday groundbreaking. "We are the 12th largest city, with so much promise and opportunity. But you have to start with neighborhoods and the people that live in them. This will be a home for individuals that will transform their lives and generations to come."
The HUD grant is being spread across six phases of development and is expected to leverage $345 million in investment for the neighborhood. In all, FWHS and partners will develop approximately 925 new units across the Stop Six community. The City of Fort Worth has planned additional infrastructure improvements, including a new community hub and aquatics center.
Babers Manor is also financially supported by numerous partnerships including Hunt Capital Partners, Aetna, CVS Health, Urban Strategies, Inc., McCormack Baron Salazar Development, Inc., GMA Construction, RPGA Design Group, Inc. and Mason Joseph Company.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions, the agency spearheading many of the changes in Stop Six, operates 38 mixed-income properties in high-opportunity areas across Fort Worth and a total of 6,797 units at those properties and some scattered sites. Of those, 89% are offered at various levels of affordability to income-eligible residents who earn 80% or less of the area median income.
"So not only are we bringing affordable housing but market-rate housing as well as economic development, commercial space, and some place-making opportunities to really transform Stop Six into a neighborhood of choice for anybody that wants to move to Fort Worth or come back to the neighborhood that they grew up in," said Lemons.
Babers Manor construction is anticipated to last 18 months.
