FORT WORTH, Texas — Leaders and residents of a Fort Worth neighborhood that hasn't had much attention provided to it for growth the past few decades were able to get a glimpse of a project that could change the living situation for many.
Friday, developers provided a site tour of Cowan Place, which is a 174-unit mixed-income, senior living community that forms Phase I of the Stop Six Choice Neighborhood Initiative, which was developed by residents, community leaders and stakeholders from the Stop Six neighborhood.
This neighborhood traces its history back to the 1890s, starting as a predominately Black neighborhood. Through the years, it grew into a thriving collection of neighborhoods and businesses.
However, it eventually started to be ignored and areas were torn down. There's been a lot of recent investment to reshape it and bring many people back who once lived here.
Like Carolyn Tubbs, who grew up in Stop Six when her mom brought her family there in the 1960s.
While her mom still lives there, Tubbs eventually was forced to move out from where she was living. Now, she wants to be back.
"I need to come back over here to help with my mom because she's sick," Tubbs said.
Tubbs said this project could give her that opportunity. Friday's tour highlighted how this individual $35 million project was made possible by a $345 million Housing and Urban Development grant investment in the neighborhood.
Representative Marc Veasey and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge were both at the tour.
"We've neglected for decades to build affordable housing," Fudge said. "This is their neighborhood. This is their home. This is where they want to be. And we should be able to accommodate it."
"We really just kicked off a new phase in the long history and development of Stop Six," Veasey said. "We're excited about that. I think it's a win-win for everybody."
Tubbs' cousin, Paula Washington, is one of these hopeful people. She moved to Fort Worth as an 11-year-old girl in 1969 and now is on a list to be one of the potential people to live in this senior-living community.
"Right now, it's not much, you know," Washington said, speaking on the renderings of the project. "But I'm going to take it in stride. I just love this area."