The development of Babers Manor — part of the Stop Six neighborhood in Fort Worth — is scheduled to begin in June, according to a state filing.
It comes nearly a year after the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs approved tax credits for the Fort Worth Housing Solutions project — an 80-unit residential property named after the late Clarence Donald Babers. With an estimated construction cost of $19.5 million, the 95,698-square-foot project has a scheduled delivery date of October 2025. The project is located on the 4400 block of Ramey Avenue.
“The development, situated between S. Hughes Ave and S. Edgewood Terrace, will comprise 51 low-income units and 29 market-rate units,” according to a press release from Fort Worth Housing Solutions. “Financial closure for Babers Manor is anticipated in early 2024, with construction set to commence soon after.”
The housing plan for Stop Six includes senior housing, “low-income replacement units,” permanent supportive housing units, and tax credit units, as well as “unrestricted, market-rate units,” according to developer McCormack Baron Salazar. The project is a $288 million public-private partnership between Fort Worth Housing Solutions, the City of Fort Worth, McCormack Baron Salazar, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), private banks, equity investors, and others.
“The Stop Six neighborhood is the heart of Fort Worth’s African American community and a touchstone for generations who grew up there. This formerly prosperous neighborhood — named for its location on the old inter-urban railway — is now a place of contrasts: churches and schools indicating a strong, stable community mixed with abandoned buildings and empty lots signifying disinvestment and population loss.”
According to the Fort Worth Report, Babers was one of the first black students to attend the University of Arlington following integration. The recipient of the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive for his work in the housing industry after Hurricane Katrina, he worked for HUD as Southwest regional director.