A five-story red-brick Gothic Revival building that once housed nuns and schoolgirls on Fort Worth's Southside has reopened as Maren Grove, a 90-unit affordable housing complex at 801 W. Shaw St. that also includes a free, bilingual pre-K program for up to 40 children. The building spent more than a century as a Catholic academy, a short-lived small college, and an artist live/work community before its latest transformation.
Our Lady of Victory Academy was built in 1909 as an all-female Catholic boarding school, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, the Belgian order that ran the school, lived in a convent on the academy grounds. The order first arrived in Texas from Belgium in 1873 and went on to build seven major boarding and day academies across the state between 1893 and 1912, per the Texas State Historical Association.
From Convent School to Artist Lofts to Housing
Ground for the original academy broke in March 1909, designed by the prominent Fort Worth firm Sanguinet & Staats at an initial cost of $200,000; the school opened on September 12, 1910, with 31 boarders and 41 day pupils, according to Wikipedia's history of the building. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 2004, a designation that later helped make the building eligible for historic tax credits used in its redevelopment.
That same year, the vacant academy was renovated into the Victory Arts Center, an artist live/work community with 46 apartments and event space, per an O-SDA Industries handout cited by the Star-Telegram. Financing for that earlier renovation came together in December 2001, when the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation approved a $7.2 million bridge loan. The building later briefly served as the home of a small Catholic college in the mid-2010s before closing in 2021, per the Star-Telegram.
90 Units Serving a Range of Incomes
Maren Grove pairs the restored historic building with a newly constructed one, together offering studio apartments up to units with three bedrooms. The complex serves families earning between 30% and 80% of area median income, the Star-Telegram reports. For context, HUD set the median family income for the Fort Worth-Arlington metro area at $101,900 for FY 2024, placing the 60% AMI limit for a four-person household at $61,140.
The project was funded with state and federal tax credits, grants, and loans, according to the O-SDA handout. The Rainwater Charitable Foundation also provided program-related investment gap financing to help offset rising labor and material cost inflation during construction, according to the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. Amenities at the complex include a clubhouse, a fitness center, a business center, a community room, and Wi-Fi in common areas.
Free Pre-K Open to the Whole Neighborhood
United Community Centers, a Fort Worth nonprofit founded in 1909, will provide on-site bilingual pre-K services at Maren Grove for up to 40 children, offering full-day licensed pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds along with freshly prepared daily hot meals and snacks, according to United Community Centers. The program is free for families living at Maren Grove, and all Fort Worth families are eligible to enroll, though families who don't live in the complex must pay tuition.
Megan Lasch, president of O-SDA Industries, which developed Maren Grove, told the Star-Telegram in an email that families not living at the property must pay pre-K tuition and may enroll even if they don't meet the apartment's income restrictions. O-SDA, in partnership with Saigebrook Development, has previously converted historic Fort Worth institutional buildings into affordable housing, including turning the 1924 Riverside Baptist Church into Cielo Place, per JPMorgan Chase.
Part of a Broader Southside Building Boom
Maren Grove's opening comes as Fort Worth grapples with a housing affordability squeeze; more than half of the city's renters spend over 30% of their gross income on housing costs, according to Fort Worth Housing Solutions, which has set a goal of adding 5,000 affordable units under its 2024-2028 strategic plan. Nearby, the Livano Victory Forest development is planned at 3320 Hemphill St. on adjacent campus acreage but is not yet completed, the Star-Telegram reports.
