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The former Our Lady of Victory building will become mixed-income housing after closing its doors as a school in 2021.<\/p>\n
Joyce Marshall<\/p>\n
Star-Telegram<\/p>\n
A historic south Fort Worth building has been transformed into an affordable housing complex \u2014 and it\u2019s opening soon.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Declining enrollment and other education options, such as charter schools, led the school to close in 2021.<\/a><\/p>\n In 2004, according to that handout, the building was renovated to become the Victory Arts Center.<\/p>\n Now, that building will provide housing \u2014 and free pre-K services \u2014 for families making between 30% and 80% of area median income.<\/p>\n The development has studio apartments and units up to three bedrooms.<\/p>\n United Community Centers will also provide on-site pre-K services, which will be bilingual and offered to up to 40 children.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The complex will also have a clubhouse and community room, a business center, a fitness center, and Wi-Fi in common areas.<\/p>\n The complex was funded using a patchwork of state and federal tax credits, grants, and loans, according to the handout from O-SDA.<\/p>\n Another apartment complex, the Livano Victory Forest development<\/a>, has been planned nearby at 3320 Hemphill St. for several years but is not completed.<\/p>\n In the mid-2010s, the building also briefly served as the home of a small Catholic college.<\/a><\/p>\n