Fort Worth is growing rapidly — but for many families, the dream of homeownership is becoming increasingly out of reach. To help address this challenge, the Fort Worth Community Land Trust (FWCLT) is launching the Community Developers Program, an innovative initiative designed to expand affordable homeownership opportunities while investing in neighborhood revitalization across the city.
The program will provide community-based builders and nonprofit developers with training, technical assistance, and access to land to build or rehabilitate homes using the community land trust model. Through this approach, FWCLT retains ownership of the land while homeowners purchase the home itself, helping reduce housing costs and preserve long-term affordability for future generations.
Fort Worth has experienced tremendous growth over the past decade, expanding more than 30% between 2010 and 2024, outpacing the Texas average. At the same time, home prices in Fort Worth have increased by more than 50% in just five years, placing significant pressure on working families. Today, thousands of homeowners and renters in Fort Worth are considered cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing expenses.
Founded in 2023, the Fort Worth Community Land Trust was created to provide sustainable and affordable pathways to homeownership. Through the Community Developers Program, FWCLT is partnering with local builders and nonprofit organizations to increase the city’s affordable housing inventory while helping stabilize neighborhoods throughout Fort Worth.
As part of this effort, FWCLT has acquired land throughout the city, including in Morningside, Hillside, and Stop Six, which will be transferred to participating builders and nonprofit developers committed to creating homes for community land trust buyers. The organization’s goal is to complete between 12 and 15 new affordable homes by the end of the year.
Mayor Mattie Parker praised the initiative as an important step toward expanding access to sustainable homeownership opportunities while preserving long-term affordability in Fort Worth neighborhoods.
“There are countless neighborhoods all over Fort Worth where you can see that happening, where infill development of homes that were no longer cared for is being turned around, and we want the community land trust model to be at the center of that work for homeownership,” Parker said.
FWCLT is also celebrating progress at Carroll Park, the organization’s 15-acre affordable homeownership community in south Fort Worth. The first homes are now available for purchase, with prices beginning around $135,000. Once completed, Carroll Park will feature more than 200 rehabilitated homes designed to support income-qualified homebuyers. Eligible buyers earning between 60% and 80% of the Area Median Income may also qualify for down payment assistance.
Community leaders and partners continue to emphasize the importance of housing affordability to the long-term economic health of Fort Worth.
“Housing affordability is so important to the entire community,” said J.T. Aughinbaugh, vice chair of the JPMorgan Chase market leadership team in North Texas. “If all members of our community do not have access to housing affordability and housing attainability, it impacts everyone.”
Through strategic partnerships, community investment, and long-term affordability solutions, the Fort Worth Community Land Trust remains committed to creating pathways to stable, sustainable homeownership for generations to come.
