Atlanta, GA – Purpose Built Communities is proud to announce that its newest Network Member is the Renaissance Heights Development Group in Fort Worth, TX, the second Network Member from Texas and the 11th nationally. It is the “community quarterback” organization that will help implement the shared vision of the community and partners known as the Renaissance Heights United Initiative. The initiative is primarily focused on a 200-acre site in southeast Fort Worth.
For nearly 100 years, the Mason Heights area in southeast Fort Worth functioned as an orphanage operated by the Masonic Lodge. When funding for the orphanage dried up, the Masons closed the orphanage and then sold the land in 2005. Today the area is home to an emerging 200 acre master-planned, mixed-use development 4 miles southeast of downtown Fort Worth. To date, more than $125 million has been invested in the site, including 330,000 square feet of retail space, providing neighborhood residents close proximity to a grocery store and other retail/commercial entities. The Renaissance Heights United initiative builds on the positive momentum of other efforts currently underway in the larger southeast Fort Worth area, with a specific focus on these 200 acres.
The numerous partners in this effort, ACH Child and Family Services, Columbia Residential, Cook Children’s Health Care System, Uplift Education, the YMCA and The Shoppes at Renaissance Square have built or are building major facilities within the 200 acre site. North Texas Area Community Health Centers, Inc. and Texas Wesleyan University are located close to Renaissance Heights and UNT Health Science Center is operating a mobile clinic in the neighborhood. These organizations are committed to improve the quality of life for the people that call these neighborhoods home.
“Becoming a part of the Purpose Built Communities Network offers us a unique opportunity to collaborate in a way that would not have been possible otherwise,” said Larry Tubb, Chairman of the Renaissance Heights Development Group. “The speed with which we’ve come together is a striking testament to the power of like-minded collaborators working to improve where we live, work, play and pray. Thanks to the efforts of a host of others in the community, the recently developed retail and commercial space on the site is already complete and occupied. There is no question that this partnership will make Renaissance Heights a crown jewel in southeast Fort Worth and the entire city.”
The Renaissance Heights United initiative will include the construction of new mixed-income housing, a cradle-to-college education pipeline and community wellness programs and facilities within the 200-acre site and will provide services and resources to families in the broader southeast Fort Worth community.
“We are very excited to welcome the Renaissance Heights Development Group to the Purpose Built Communities Network,” said Carol Naughton, Senior Vice President of Purpose Built Communities. “This is an outstanding group of committed partners with strong leadership and we have no doubt they will make a lasting impact on this neighborhood that will provide opportunities for children, families and individuals for generations to come, creating a place of possibility for people of all income levels.”
