A historic south Fort Worth building has been transformed into an affordable housing complex — and it’s opening soon.
Developed by O-SDA Industries, an Austin and Fort Worth-based affordable housing developer, Maren Grove is a 90-unit affordable housing complex that has taken over the former Our Lady of the Victory Academy building at 801 W. Shaw St.
The academy was previously an all-female Catholic boarding school and the home of the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, who lived in a convent on the grounds, according to a handout from O-SDA. The structure was built in 1909.
Declining enrollment and other education options, such as charter schools, led the school to close in 2021.
In 2004, according to that handout, the building was renovated to become the Victory Arts Center.
Now, that building will provide housing — and free pre-K services — for families making between 30% and 80% of area median income.
The development has studio apartments and units up to three bedrooms.
United Community Centers will also provide on-site pre-K services, which will be bilingual and offered to up to 40 children.
All Fort Worth families are eligible to enroll, but those not living at Maren Grove will have to pay tuition, said O-SDA president Megan Lasch in an e-mail to the Star-Telegram. Families who do not live on site can enroll even if they do not fall within the income restrictions for the apartments.
The complex will also have a clubhouse and community room, a business center, a fitness center, and Wi-Fi in common areas.
The complex was funded using a patchwork of state and federal tax credits, grants, and loans, according to the handout from O-SDA.
Another apartment complex, the Livano Victory Forest development, has been planned nearby at 3320 Hemphill St. for several years but is not completed.
In the mid-2010s, the building also briefly served as the home of a small Catholic college.