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.