Fort Worth Housing Solutions, the city’s primary provider of rental assistance and affordable housing communities, said Monday it plans to move its headquarters to the former offices of the Simpli.fi digital advertising agency near downtown at 1407 Texas St.
Housing Solutions has purchased the property, and hired the Fort Worth-based Bennett Benner Partners architecture firm to manage interior design for planned renovations. The 26,000-square-foot building features office space, work stations and spacious conference and meeting rooms on three levels, including a basement, and includes a third-floor observation deck. Housing Solutions expects to move later this year.
Housing Solutions’ move follows the December closing of Butler Place, Fort Worth’s last public housing community, located on 42 acres on the eastern edge of downtown. The community opened in 1940 and was closed as part of FWHS strategy to deconcentrate poverty. Housing Solutions has operated from the historic Carver-Hamilton Elementary School building adjacent to Butler since 1995.
“The 2020 closing of Butler was a milestone for our city – it gave families the opportunity to relocate to neighborhoods with better access to jobs, transportation, quality schools and services, such as grocery stores,” FWHS President Mary-Margaret Lemons said in a release. “This shift allowed our agency to move to a headquarters with better access for the people we serve and the modern amenities and technology we need to support them.”
Housing Solutions has not disclosed what it paid for the Simpli.fi property, or what it plans to spend on renovations.
The Texas Street building was built in 1955 and renovated in 2015. Simpl.fi has moved its offices to the Historic Stockyards.
Housing Solutions has been working with its Butler Advisory Committee on preservation efforts related to the Carver-Hamilton building and with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on disposal of the Butler property, restricted for public housing use.
The Butler site also includes the Amaka Early Childhood Learning Center, operated by the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth. FWHS leaders are in discussions with the YMCA about ways to provide early childhood education in the neighborhoods the agency serves.