Fort Worth had enviable economic growth in the past decade, but the city now faces massive housing challenges exacerbated by an increasing population that approaches 1 million.
About 20 years of “perfect storms” created the current housing situation, according to Ray Perryman, president and CEO of The Perryman Group, who was speaking at the 2025 Live Local Housing Summit on April 23 at the Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown Hotel.
Those storms included the 2008 Great Recession that collapsed the housing market, the COVID-19 pandemic that crippled homebuilding and the last decade’s unprecedented growth rate, which increased the cost of local housing, he said.
That left Texas needing about 320,000 more housing units, with about 100,000 of those in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and about 40,000 in the Fort Worth area, Perryman said.
“You end up having a pretty substantial housing shortage and then with the 20,000 or so housing units you build annually, you just about absorb that with the population growth,” he said. “You’re not gaining any ground. That’s the challenge that you’re talking about today.”
There are several ways to deal with the issue, and state legislators have introduced some bills that could help, Perryman said. The Texas Senate advanced a bill allowing smaller homes on smaller lots in cities across the state, among other proposals related to zoning.
“There is a lot being discussed in the Legislature right now about that,” he said.
Perryman also noted that one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders “basically said to the federal government, do everything you can to make housing more affordable.”
That order didn’t outline any plans but it does indicate that the issue has become a priority, he said.
“I do think, even at the federal level, there is a commitment and a recognition that affordable housing is going to be a very important part of what we need to work on going forward,” said Perryman.
Bryan Tony, executive director of the Dallas Housing Coalition and one of at least 125 summit attendees, said his organization has been following much of the proposed legislation.
He cited Senate Bill 15, which relates to size and density requirements for residential lots, as helpful to developers who want to build on smaller lots. That would help increase the number of homes that could be built in a development, Tony said. However, the proposal has evoked emotional opposition from homeowners and officials, including some in Tarrant County, who say the bill would “decimate” zoning authority at the local level.
State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has proposed a bill that would create a fund for affordable workforce housing, Tony said.
“Those are some of the issues we’re watching closely as we go into the final few weeks of the Legislature,” Tony said.
New housing partnerships
Nontraditional partnerships are becoming more common in Fort Worth affordable housing developments, panelists at Partnership Home’s first housing summit said.
Developers are partnering with local nonprofits and churches to find funding opportunities for affordable housing projects that also provide community services and resources for tenants.
“We had to get incredibly creative,” Megan Lasch, owner and president of O-SDA Industries LLC, said.
Tax credits are among the tools that help developers get projects built, Lasch said.
O-SDA, she said, has been part of more than 25 successful 9% Housing Tax Credit applications for projects in Texas since 2011.
Rachelle Defillo, Gulf Coast senior program director for Enterprise Community Partners, said her 43-year-old organization has sought partnerships with churches and other faith organizations since 2006.
Churches, she said, often own large tracts of land and “they don’t know what they want to do with that.”
Defillo pointed to national nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, which is working with 19 houses of worship in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio to support and guide 800 affordable housing units in those cities.
Zoning issues can be roadblocks at times, but many affordable housing projects are successful when they incorporate multiple uses such as retail and community spaces, panelists said.
Multipurpose developments that incorporate services such as budget planning, child care services and homeowner education training for residents can help stabilize low-income neighborhoods — and make those investments attractive to lenders.
Paige Charbonnet, executive director for LVTRise, a Fort Worth nonprofit effort dedicated to improving the lives of residents in the Las Vegas Trail area, said the organization has helped fill 1,500 vacant units in the westside neighborhood.
Providing stability in the Las Vegas Trail area, she said, has helped reduce crime and aided in improving literacy.
Lasch said O-SDA Industries has focused on a lot of in-fill developments to provide affordable housing to residents in areas that are walkable and accessible to good-paying jobs.
Such projects, especially with City Council support, can help redevelop neighborhoods with new mixed-income luxury housing.
Among the company’s Fort Worth projects is Sunset at Fash Place, a senior community in the Meadowbrook neighborhood that was built with community input. The eastside complex features two two-story buildings with 66 affordable housing units, which sets rents for residents earning 30%, 50% and 60% of the area median income. Eleven of those units are set at the market rate.
Cindy Boling, president of the Central Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association, said during a question and answer session that Lasch met with community leaders numerous times to make sure the project addressed neighborhood concerns.
“Megan met with us for I don’t know how long,” Boling said.
Lasch said her company takes similar approaches to other affordable housing projects.
Charbonnet said she acts in a similar role in the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood. She described herself as the “bridge” between the community and developers for housing projects. Those strategies can be replicated in many other areas.
“We could do this in almost any community,” she said.
Disclosure: The Fort Worth Report was a media sponsor of the 2025 Live Local Housing Summit. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Robert Francis is business editor at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at robert.francis@fortworthreport.org.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
Related
Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.
Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details.
