An affordable housing development named after a local community leader held a grand opening Wednesday morning on the east side of Fort Worth.
Babers Manor, named after the late Fort Worth native Clarence Donald Babers, is an 80-unit, $30.5 million property containing a mix of two- and three-story apartment buildings and townhomes at 4400 Ramey Ave. in the Stop Six neighborhood.
The housing development will have 51 of the 80 units set aside for low-income households broken out into properties reserved for residents earning up to 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% of the area median income, along with four permanently reserved as supportive housing. The remaining 29 homes will be rented out at market rate.
The complex is part of the $35 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant, which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded to Fort Worth Housing Solutions in April 2020. The Stop Six Choice Neighborhood Initiative aims to replace 300 former Cavile Place units with about 1,000 new, mixed-income units. The project will include apartments set aside for former Cavile Place residents, who will get first pick.
The goal is to leverage $345 million in development activity in the Stop Six neighborhood.
“Fort Worth is such a special city and community, and I just want us to recognize that these types of projects just don’t happen,” Mayor Mattie Parker told the more than 50 people in attendance. “There are cities all over the country that would do anything to make affordable housing projects happen in their communities, and we’re doing it right here in Stop Six.”
The development will offer residents on-site social services, two shaded playgrounds, a fitness center, resident clubhouse and business center.
Esther Shin, president and CEO of Urban Strategies Inc., a nonprofit that specializes in community revitalization and engagement, has tracked the accomplishments of past and current residents since the grant was awarded.
Residents’ income has increased by 201%, employment has increased by 65%, 82% of adults have retained a job for more than two years and 100% of children have health insurance and access to primary care, Shin said. The introduction of Meals on Wheels at Cowan Place Senior Living and Hughes House — earlier phases of the initiative — has reduced food insecurity by delivering 420 meals a month, she added.
Council member Deborah Peoples gave her respects to Babers, the community leader and housing advocate after whom the development is named. Babers was one of the first Black students to attend the University of Texas at Arlington after integration and was honored in 2006 with a Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive, the highest award for a federal civil servant.
Babers died in 2020 at the age of 74.
“He loved his family dearly, but more than that, he loved his community, and the work he did laid the foundation for us to be sitting here in this nice, cool tent today,” Peoples said. “And so, while I am grateful to all of the individuals who made this possible, I will be eternally grateful to Clarence Donald Babers for the work that he did, and the fact that his legacy will live on in this amazing facility.”
Tamara Brown, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at UT Arlington, announced the establishment of the C. Donald Babers Memorial Scholarship Endowment in his memory. The $25,000 scholarship will support needs-based first-generation students. Currently, the C. Donald Babers Memorial Scholarship Fund recognizes outstanding undergraduate students at UT Arlington’s Department of History and Geography.
Babers Manor is the third phase of the Stop Six Choice Neighborhood Initiative.
The first phase, Cowan Place Senior Living, opened in November 2023. The 174-unit complex at 5400 E. Rosedale St. serves residents 62 and older. It includes a library, fitness studio, salon and spaces for private meetings with medical professionals.
Hughes House I had a grand opening last October. The apartment complex at 4830 E. Rosedale St. has 162 units, of which 145 will be set aside for affordable housing. It also includes the CVS Workforce Innovation and Talent Center, which will partner with Aetna to provide access to health education, benefits navigation assistance and screenings.
Hughes House II, a complex at 5028 Avenue G, held a groundbreaking ceremony in June. It will offer residents 302 units, including one- to four-bedroom options with a mix of affordable housing, tax credit units and market rate units.
Additionally, Hughes House III, 4912 E. Rosedale St., began construction in September 2025 and is estimated to be completed by 2027. It will provide 78 units, of which 55 will be reserved for affordable housing. The remaining 23 will be at market rate.
T’Shawna Brown, a former resident of Cavile Place and a single mother of three, lives in Babers Manor and said she is grateful for the opportunities given to her. She has a backyard for her children to play in, access to a quality childcare center, and a washer and dryer in her home.
She currently works at Texas Health and Environmental Services and said she has a passion for supporting elderly people and cooking. She doesn’t know if culinary or nursing school is in her future, but she’s confident she can rely on a community willing to help on her journey, she said.
“I don’t know exactly which road I will take yet, but for the first time, I feel like there are roads in front of me,” Brown said. “I know I’m destined to do more.”
Kamal Morgan is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at kamal@fortworthreport.org.
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