Butler Place
Thousands of families have called Butler Place home since 1940. That year, Fort Worth’s new housing authority opened the apartment community to hundreds of the city’s residents who had been living in substandard dwellings on Chambers Hill. Read about Butler’s rich history.
Today, Butler’s residents are relocating to beautiful new apartment homes in good neighborhoods throughout the city through HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program.
The agency’s highest priority continues to be Butler Place’s residents and their successful relocations. Read about how residents are choosing their new homes from more than a dozen FWHS apartment communities through a lottery process. All the residents will be moved into new homes by the end of 2020, and the 42-acre Butler property will become vacant.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions hosted two public workshops to discuss the future of Butler Place in September 2019, led by City of Fort Worth Assistant Manager Fernando Costa. Stakeholders included residents and representatives from the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Association, Black Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, NAACP, Downtown Fort Worth Inc., Tarrant County College, Trinity Metro and other important groups.
Participants discussed redeveloping the site into something “transformative” and “catalytic” that aligns with the City of Fort Worth’s strategic economic development plan. Others concurred that proceeds from any sale of the 42-acre property be dedicated toward a museum focused on the city’s African American history. Click here for a report about these workshops.
FWHS has sought the community’s input and established a Butler Advisory Committee to make recommendations about the site’s redevelopment to the FWHS Board of Commissioners. The Commissioners will carefully deliberate on the matter and not rush into a decision. “This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we intend to get it right,” said FWHS President Mary-Margaret Lemons.
The community’s input is extremely important as FWHS moves forward with making decisions about the Butler Place property. Any redevelopment plan will ensure that FWHS gains the resources needed to purchase, rehabilitate and develop high-quality, reasonably priced housing for the city’s workforce. It will enable us to stay true to our mission: to develop housing solutions where people flourish.
